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(More customer reviews)First off, I just got this today, so I cannot comment on the long term reliability of this machine. From the initial setup and run through of its features, this is what I've come up with.
Print quality is awesome. I first copied the registration card as a test. It was amazing how it came out. I couldn't really tell which was the original and which was the copy. Even the handwritten portion was reproduced flawlessly. I then decided to make use of the 5 pack of high gloss 4x5 paper which is included so I figured I'd try it out on a very small prom picture of mine. It came out perfect. I copied it right onto the 4x5...expanding it to 176% and brightening it a little using only the settings on the 885CW itself to do so. The picture came out looking flawless. I also printed a quick word document that had similarly impressive qualities...the text was very dark as opposed to my old Lexmark AIO.
Then I scanned in the same picture and edited it with Photoshop. The picture looked very good at 900 pixels. No complaints there.
I also tried out the fax by sending in my registration form. It was a breeze and the fax preview proved very handy. You can have it scan the paper (either by feeding it like a normal fax (ADF) or the scanning glass), then preview it, mess around with a few settings and when it's all nice and pretty, off it goes...or skip the extra steps and just send it like a normal fax as most would probably do.
The cordless phone is an appreciated feature, and the speaker phone is loud and clear. Anyone who complained about the MFC-845CW's 20 second limit on incoming voice messages will be happy to know their feedback was heard by Brother. You can now select the time limit for messages, between 30 and 120 seconds.
I tried out the OCR feature which allows you to scan a document onto your computer and edit the text in a word processor. I was impressed with its ability to recognize typed documents, although anything handwritten is understandably out of the question.
Printing from a memory card is also simple. I did a real quick print and everything was good with it as well. There are some basic editing features on the machine, although I haven't really tried any of them and most likely won't in the future...as far as I'm concerned that's what Photoshop is for.
Overall layout of the Navigation screen was nice. The widescreen was very helpful and made selecting different options simple as you can fit more in at once. Easy navigation and very basic information...Setup was a breeze with my Linksys network...taking only the push of a couple buttons and it was good to go. I've got 2 computers currently sharing this printer...one is a laptop (wireless) and the other a desktop (USB). With the laptop comes my one and only complaint...read on...I'm running Windows XP Media Center Edition, Service Pack 2 on my laptop. The main program (Control Center 3) will not run on it. Whenever I try to load it, I get a terminal failure (The kind that asks to send Microsoft an error report). I did as much snooping around for a fix as I could...but didn't find anything. So I downloaded the latest set of utilities for the machine...but no help there. So this means that on my laptop right now I can still print, however I cannot receive information such as scans and such from the machine. I'm more then confident that when I get on the phone with Brother they will have a solution, or that an updated version of the program will be released fixing this. But I'll have to wait until Monday to do so.
To be fair I did purchase this fairly soon after its release so bugs are understandable. And they do not specifically mention Media Center Edition as a compatible operating system although it is implied when they say XP Home. My desktop is my powerhouse anyway so I do most of the editing on their...but still it's a frustrating problem none the less.I've been through my fair share of printers...from Lexmark to HP. This is the best I've come across. I'm a very demanding consumer, and spent hours researching before making this purchase. It was the most expensive on my list of "maybes"...but I figured I'd take a chance and I don't regret it in the least. I'll probably be using this printer for at least the better part of a decade so I decided to make it a good one. As far as the software is concerned, yes it is an inconvenience, but most likely a temporary one...I'm certain many people would have docked a point or two for that, but for me the excess of quality makes up for such a blaring issue with the software...and most likely the people reading this review will not have an issue with it because I'm sure my case is fairly isolated and isn't directly related to my Operating System, rather something else that's going on. In the future I'll install it on an identical laptop with the same operating system (we have 3 in my house) and see if the problem reoccurs.
Good luck with finding the right AIO for yourself. It would take a rare breed to find disappointment with the MFC-885CW, but everyone has different standards for their different uses. For me, this is perfect.
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Brother MFC-885CW Photo Color All-in-One with Wireless Networking and 5.8 GHz Cordless PhoneThe Brother MFC-885CW Photo Color All-in-One with Wireless Networking and 5.8 GHz Cordless Phone is an ideal all-in-one solution for your office. With a large 4.2-inch widescreen LCD display, printing photos, previewing faxes, and navigating menus and prompts have never been easier. The MFC-885CW allows you to print photos directly from your digital camera's media card without a computer, and the LCD display lets you automatically remove red-eye, enhance skin tone, enhance scenery, and perform other visual tricks. Accepted media types are: CompactFlash, Memory Stick/Pro, xD-Picture Card Type M/H, Secure Digital MultiMediaCards, SDHC, and USB flash memory drives.
The MFC-885CW makes it easy to connect to your network with a built-in wireless (802.11b/g) and wired Ethernet connections. With a maximum printing speed of 30 ppm black and 25 ppm color, there shouldn't be any worry of office printing jobs causing a traffic jam. With a resolution up to 6000 x 1200 dpi, photos look wonderful. The copier works without a PC and has a maximum copy speed of 22 cpm black and 20 cpm color. An automatic document feeder tray has a capacity of 10 pages for fast copying of multiple pages. The copier can scale documents from 25 to 400 percent of the original. The scanner has an optical scan resolution of 600 x 2400 dpi at a 36-bit color depth. Included is Scansoft PaperPort SE with OCR for Windows and Presto! PageManager for Mac, making it easy to organize your scanned pages. OCR software lets you convert scanned pages into editable documents.
The MFC-885CW also features fax capability with black and white and color faxing. The 14.4 Kbps fax modem allows a transmission speed of approximately six seconds per page. A cordless telephone handset is built in as well, using the 5.8 GHz frequency for great range and clarity. The phone supports caller ID and the built-in digital answering machine has up to 29 minutes of recording time. The Brother MFC-885CW Photo Color All-in-One with Wireless Networking and 5.8 GHz Cordless Phone is backed by a 1-year warranty.
What's in the Box MFC-885CW All-in-One, LC51BK ink cartridge, LC51C ink cartridge, LC51M ink cartridge, LC51Y ink cartridge, CD-ROM (software, user's guide), and user's guide.
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