 Happy with this all-in-one, so far |
| Review Date: October 19, 2009 |
| Reviewer: SMariner, Seattle, WA |
Just a quick note about my prior experience with all-in-ones -- I've had various HP all-in-ones over the past 6+ years; most recently I had a HP F380 & a Brother MFC-665CW all-in-ones. I would call myself an advanced user of computers & accessories.
Recently I got this all-in-one (Brother MFC-495CW) when it was on sale. It's now been 2 days since I've been using it. So far, I really like it.
PROs:
-> Includes Copier/Scanner/Printer/Fax, a color LCD and support for b/g wireless networking
-> Brother makes some of the more compact all-in-ones (including fax) on the market.
-> Setting up this all-in-one took about 15 mins & was easy. Everything came pre-assembled -- I just had to remove the plastic wrap, connect it to my PC & insert the cartridges. Some of the previous devices that I have used involved some assembly.
-> I have 3 machines (a desktop running Windows XP, one laptop running Windows Vista and another laptop running Windows 7). I connected the all-in-one to the desktop via a USB cable & to the two laptops via wireless. I had no problems installing on any of these 3 machines.
-> I chose to install only the driver (without installing Brother's software suite that comes on the accompanying CD); there were no problems doing so.
-> Printing & copying quality (in the "normal" model) seems good, so far
-> Scanning seems faster than the previous all-in-ones that I've had
-> Printing over the wireless network seemed faster than the Brother MFC-665CW
-> I have not yet tried the Fax capability
-> Navigating through the menu options are the LCD are pretty easy, once you get the hang of it. The relatively large color LCD helps in this regard.
-> Connecting the all-in-one to the wireless network was very easy.
-> Looks pretty nice. The colors are very pleasant
-> I got it when it was on sale. So, it was reasonably priced
-> I have read that replacement non-OEM ink cartridges for Brother all-in-ones are pretty cheap (one non-OEM cartridge set can be purchased for under $10 on Amazon). I have not yet tried these non-OEM cartridges. This specific all-in-one takes the Brother LC61 cartridge set
CONs:
-> I use different types of paper (eg: ordinary printer paper, letter-head, colored paper, paper with print on one side, etc) for my print-outs. Changing from one type to another type is somewhat inconvenient. Since the letter tray has to be opened each time I want to change the paper-type.
-> Since this is a new model, none of the three versions of Windows recognized this all-in-one till I installed the driver from the CD
-> Takes a little more space than the super-compact HP F380 all-in-one (note that this specific HP model doesn't have FAX capability)
UPDATE after about a month of using it: I still very much like this all-ine-one.
-> I was able to use the FAX functionality (have only sent faxes so far). It worked like a charm. Note that I use OOMA voip phone line & I had to pre-dial *99 before I could send the fax successfuly.
-> I was able to purchase a non-OEM cartridge set for less than $10 (for the complete set with all 4 cartridges). Haven't yet used it, though. |
A bargain
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| Review Date: October 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Michael McKee, Port Townsend, WA United States |
To get a networkable, multi-function, Wi-Fi capable printer for less than a $100 that uses separate color ink cartridges is a terrific deal, especially since it works with Macs. I set this up for my wife who appreciates its reasonably small size and (comparatively) light weight. Does lightweight mean not durable? Only time will tell, but since it sits in one place where it won't get banged I'm not worried about the thin case.
I've run this off Mac Leopard and Windows XP with the included drivers. Not the most current operating systems but I wait to upgrade until an OS has been out at least 6 months (forget Vista). No problems with either system. Following the instructions, setup was straight forward. As a network capable printer it should work with most any computer, though you may need some knowledge to set it up for less common or newer systems.
I was pleasantly surprised with the print speed. I had an older Brother printer that was slooooow. I set it to print a dozen pages, walked into the other room to grab something and came back to find the job done. Copying speed, on the other hand, well..., it takes a while. It's okay for occasional copies but I wouldn't consider this an office machine. But at this price, that's to be expected. I haven't used fax in a couple of years so can't comment on that.
Prints are clean. Text is good quality, and mixed graphics and text are better than average on inkjet paper. Photos are decent. I'm quite happy with snapshots on 4x6 paper. Printing an 8x10 on Costco (Fuji) glossy photo paper was equivalent to a supermarket print, usable, but not spectacular. To be fair, Brother doesn't call this a photo printer. Scanning is straightforward and crisp.
The lcd panel is large enough to read easily and ease of operation is about average. Menus walk you through steps, so you shouldn't need to keep a manual by the thing.
Conclusion: It's a good wireless network printer at a great price that does nice scans and is useful for an occasional copy. There's fax capability, too. |
Oh Brother!
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| Review Date: November 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: B. Colonna, Somewhere in NJ |
I have been using the Brother MFC-495CW for about five weeks now. I have to say Brother did a great job packaging a lot of features into a reasonably priced product. I prefer all-in-one devices as desk space and access to electricity are often considerations when setting up a home office/work space.
Right off the bat, I like this product because it is simple to set up. Although I am in the IT field, this printer is easy enough to set up so that moist people should be able to get through it fairly quickly. You should be set up in 15-20 minutes or so.
My primary reason for choosing it is it is wireless. Although I have another all-in-one, the Brother is wireless so I was able to install it in a convenient location without having to consider a wired connection to my PC or router.
I also like that the ink cartridges are individual. As a parent of four, I go through a lot of printer ink, and if your kid is, shall we say, partial to one color, you find yourself replacing a tri-color cartridge frequently, even though "the other two colors" may not be low, let alone empty. The Brother cartridges are not expensive, which is another plus.
As for the functionality of the device...
The Copier works well. It is not particularly fast, nor horribly slow. It yields a good quality copy. I like the option to feed the paper into the device, whereas my other all-in-one is a flatbed type so I must lift the cover every time I want to copy or scan something.
Scanning is a breeze with the Brother, and their interface is robust. My HP device seems to take a long time to load its interface software. With the Brother, the scan seems quicker, which I confirmed by scanning the same document/photo on each device. The Brother was a good 30 seconds faster than my HP 2410 (a few years old!).
Printing is good quality; photos print nicely. Please keep in mind the 35 pages per minute advertised, as with all printers, is optimal. "Your gas mileage may vary"....color printing is rated at 28ppm, and photos are slower than text, and so on. That is the nature of the beast. This printer performs quickly and nicely, especially considering its price range.
Faxing worked well. The interface is pretty easy to use. The device had no trouble distinguishing fax calls from incoming telephone calls when set on FAX/TEL, which is always nice if you are using your land-line for both (unless you like picking up the phone and hearing the high-pitched wail of a fax machine training in your ear.
The LCD interface is easy to use, decent size and not too complicated.
Another nice feature is the PhotCapture Center, which will print photos right from removable storage such as USB drive or SD card. The included photo edting interface is typical of what you find included with cameras, scanners, etc.
Overall, this is an excellent all-in-one printer and I would not hesitate to buy it!
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Works well once it's set up. Nice to have a wireless printer!
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| Review Date: December 25, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Lisa in CT, |
The printer arrived promptly, very well packed, and undamaged.
Ok, first I have to say that when I bought this around Thanksgiving most or all of the reviewers were raving about how easy this was to set up. It should take about 15-20 minutes to set up?? LOL!!! It took me 15 minutes to get it unpacked and all the tape & stuff off! The directions were pretty good and a little amusing(be careful not to get the printer ink in my eyes?? How the heck is that gonna happen??) It was set up in about 45 min - an hour. Connecting it to the network went pretty well. Printing out photos was not very user friendly- the manual tells you to see the online help manual on the CD, and that is very poorly organized and not terribly clear. It took over 2 hours to figure out how to print a photo the first time.
All that aside, once you figure it out it is a good deal. It's really nice to not have to go to another room and hook up my laptop to my desktop printer. It prints, scans & copies well. I haven't tried the fax feature yet.
I recommend this printer, but leave yourself plenty of time to set it up. |
Works with Mac OSX 5.8 & Airport Extreme
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| Review Date: January 4, 2010 |
| Reviewer: J. Nickerson, Midcoast, Maine |
I have been using an HP 895 CXI for 8+ years now,which while slow, just refuses to break or give any trouble. However I'm getting tired of going upstairs for my print (it's hooked to the airport via USB and the internet connection is upstairs), anyway, so I got this Brother all-in-one printer for Christmas and it set up really easily. Just DL'd the CUPS driver from Brother, install and it's good to go after the automatic WLAN setup on the printer. Everything went smoothly.
I love the faster speed and the copy capability. I'll only use the FAX outgoing and rarely but based on the copy quality I expect the FAX to be good as well. Wireless printing to my downstairs printer from my desktop or my laptop is wonderful and the HP will be backup for now.
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Brother MFC-495CW Inkjet Color Multifunction Centre with Wireless Networking for the Small Office/Home Office
Product Description
Product Details
Video Reviews
Customer Reviews
Recently I got this all-in-one (Brother MFC-495CW) when it was on sale. It's now been 2 days since I've been using it. So far, I really like it.
PROs:
-> Includes Copier/Scanner/Printer/Fax, a color LCD and support for b/g wireless networking
-> Brother makes some of the more compact all-in-ones (including fax) on the market.
-> Setting up this all-in-one took about 15 mins & was easy. Everything came pre-assembled -- I just had to remove the plastic wrap, connect it to my PC & insert the cartridges. Some of the previous devices that I have used involved some assembly.
-> I have 3 machines (a desktop running Windows XP, one laptop running Windows Vista and another laptop running Windows 7). I connected the all-in-one to the desktop via a USB cable & to the two laptops via wireless. I had no problems installing on any of these 3 machines.
-> I chose to install only the driver (without installing Brother's software suite that comes on the accompanying CD); there were no problems doing so.
-> Printing & copying quality (in the "normal" model) seems good, so far
-> Scanning seems faster than the previous all-in-ones that I've had
-> Printing over the wireless network seemed faster than the Brother MFC-665CW
-> I have not yet tried the Fax capability
-> Navigating through the menu options are the LCD are pretty easy, once you get the hang of it. The relatively large color LCD helps in this regard.
-> Connecting the all-in-one to the wireless network was very easy.
-> Looks pretty nice. The colors are very pleasant
-> I got it when it was on sale. So, it was reasonably priced
-> I have read that replacement non-OEM ink cartridges for Brother all-in-ones are pretty cheap (one non-OEM cartridge set can be purchased for under $10 on Amazon). I have not yet tried these non-OEM cartridges. This specific all-in-one takes the Brother LC61 cartridge set
CONs:
-> I use different types of paper (eg: ordinary printer paper, letter-head, colored paper, paper with print on one side, etc) for my print-outs. Changing from one type to another type is somewhat inconvenient. Since the letter tray has to be opened each time I want to change the paper-type.
-> Since this is a new model, none of the three versions of Windows recognized this all-in-one till I installed the driver from the CD
-> Takes a little more space than the super-compact HP F380 all-in-one (note that this specific HP model doesn't have FAX capability)
UPDATE after about a month of using it: I still very much like this all-ine-one.
-> I was able to use the FAX functionality (have only sent faxes so far). It worked like a charm. Note that I use OOMA voip phone line & I had to pre-dial *99 before I could send the fax successfuly.
-> I was able to purchase a non-OEM cartridge set for less than $10 (for the complete set with all 4 cartridges). Haven't yet used it, though.
I've run this off Mac Leopard and Windows XP with the included drivers. Not the most current operating systems but I wait to upgrade until an OS has been out at least 6 months (forget Vista). No problems with either system. Following the instructions, setup was straight forward. As a network capable printer it should work with most any computer, though you may need some knowledge to set it up for less common or newer systems.
I was pleasantly surprised with the print speed. I had an older Brother printer that was slooooow. I set it to print a dozen pages, walked into the other room to grab something and came back to find the job done. Copying speed, on the other hand, well..., it takes a while. It's okay for occasional copies but I wouldn't consider this an office machine. But at this price, that's to be expected. I haven't used fax in a couple of years so can't comment on that.
Prints are clean. Text is good quality, and mixed graphics and text are better than average on inkjet paper. Photos are decent. I'm quite happy with snapshots on 4x6 paper. Printing an 8x10 on Costco (Fuji) glossy photo paper was equivalent to a supermarket print, usable, but not spectacular. To be fair, Brother doesn't call this a photo printer. Scanning is straightforward and crisp.
The lcd panel is large enough to read easily and ease of operation is about average. Menus walk you through steps, so you shouldn't need to keep a manual by the thing.
Conclusion: It's a good wireless network printer at a great price that does nice scans and is useful for an occasional copy. There's fax capability, too.
Right off the bat, I like this product because it is simple to set up. Although I am in the IT field, this printer is easy enough to set up so that moist people should be able to get through it fairly quickly. You should be set up in 15-20 minutes or so.
My primary reason for choosing it is it is wireless. Although I have another all-in-one, the Brother is wireless so I was able to install it in a convenient location without having to consider a wired connection to my PC or router.
I also like that the ink cartridges are individual. As a parent of four, I go through a lot of printer ink, and if your kid is, shall we say, partial to one color, you find yourself replacing a tri-color cartridge frequently, even though "the other two colors" may not be low, let alone empty. The Brother cartridges are not expensive, which is another plus.
As for the functionality of the device...
The Copier works well. It is not particularly fast, nor horribly slow. It yields a good quality copy. I like the option to feed the paper into the device, whereas my other all-in-one is a flatbed type so I must lift the cover every time I want to copy or scan something.
Scanning is a breeze with the Brother, and their interface is robust. My HP device seems to take a long time to load its interface software. With the Brother, the scan seems quicker, which I confirmed by scanning the same document/photo on each device. The Brother was a good 30 seconds faster than my HP 2410 (a few years old!).
Printing is good quality; photos print nicely. Please keep in mind the 35 pages per minute advertised, as with all printers, is optimal. "Your gas mileage may vary"....color printing is rated at 28ppm, and photos are slower than text, and so on. That is the nature of the beast. This printer performs quickly and nicely, especially considering its price range.
Faxing worked well. The interface is pretty easy to use. The device had no trouble distinguishing fax calls from incoming telephone calls when set on FAX/TEL, which is always nice if you are using your land-line for both (unless you like picking up the phone and hearing the high-pitched wail of a fax machine training in your ear.
The LCD interface is easy to use, decent size and not too complicated.
Another nice feature is the PhotCapture Center, which will print photos right from removable storage such as USB drive or SD card. The included photo edting interface is typical of what you find included with cameras, scanners, etc.
Overall, this is an excellent all-in-one printer and I would not hesitate to buy it!
Ok, first I have to say that when I bought this around Thanksgiving most or all of the reviewers were raving about how easy this was to set up. It should take about 15-20 minutes to set up?? LOL!!! It took me 15 minutes to get it unpacked and all the tape & stuff off! The directions were pretty good and a little amusing(be careful not to get the printer ink in my eyes?? How the heck is that gonna happen??) It was set up in about 45 min - an hour. Connecting it to the network went pretty well. Printing out photos was not very user friendly- the manual tells you to see the online help manual on the CD, and that is very poorly organized and not terribly clear. It took over 2 hours to figure out how to print a photo the first time.
All that aside, once you figure it out it is a good deal. It's really nice to not have to go to another room and hook up my laptop to my desktop printer. It prints, scans & copies well. I haven't tried the fax feature yet.
I recommend this printer, but leave yourself plenty of time to set it up.
I love the faster speed and the copy capability. I'll only use the FAX outgoing and rarely but based on the copy quality I expect the FAX to be good as well. Wireless printing to my downstairs printer from my desktop or my laptop is wonderful and the HP will be backup for now.
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