Brother MFC-9840CDW Multifunction Printer

Looking for a space saver for your office? You may want to consider the Brother MFC-9840CDW Multifunction Printer.

This multifunction color laser printer replaces your copy machine, fax machine, scanner, and printer all in one nice little package.

With so many devices crowding your office today, this one makes a lot of sense.

Here are some cool things about it:

Faxing

It has a sheet feeder which can read any number of pages (quickly, I might add), store them in memory and then fax them. So if you need to fax a ten page document and then file it, you put the pages in the sheet feeder, it scans them in a few seconds, and then you take the pages and file them while the fax machine does the rest.

Oh, and don't you hate faxing forms that are printed on both sides? This machine can read both sides of the paper and then fax the whole document.

And if someone else is waiting to use the fax, they can fax their document right after you. No waiting for yours to finish.

Of course, it does all the normal fax things like store numbers in an easy display.

Copying

Let's say you need to make copies of some forms. Just put them all into the sheet feeder and tell it how many copies of each. Want them collated? Just hit the SORT button.

You can even copy them two sided if you want to save paper.

Like copying the old fashioned way? It has a lid that lifts up so it works just like a traditional copy machine.

Scanning

You can scan documents directly into your computer or connect a USB thumb drive (the connector is right on the front) and it will scan it to the drive.

Network

This printer connects to your network via ethernet port or wirelessly, so any computer in your office can print or fax directly to it.

That's the cool part - faxing right from your desktop. You print a document just like you normally would, except in the print dialog box tell it to fax, put in the number, and it gets faxed. Just like that.

Mac users can store fax numbers in the Address Book program that comes free with your Mac. Windows users may have a similar option, but I am not sure.

The price is right

It's a color laser printer, a network fax, a copy machine, and a scanner all for around $600 (at newegg.com or provantage.com).

Call up your local business equipment store and ask what a copy machine sells for these days and you will know why this is amazing.

So, what's not to like?

Well, for one thing, place an order for some High Yield Toner Cartridges and you are out a few hundred bucks.

On Amazon right now, the High Yield Black Cartridge (good for about 5,000 pages) costs about $65 and the High Yield Yellow, Cyan, and Magenta cartridges sell for about $92 each. That adds up to about $341 (plus shipping).

Of course, if you print mostly black, you won't be replacing the color cartridges as often, but if you need a new color cartridge, you can't print anything until you put it in, so you have to keep the color ones on hand just in case.

Then, after 17,000 pages, you will need a new Drum Unit for $199.

After 20,000 pages - a new Waste Toner Box for $25.00.

And after 50,000 pages - a new Belt Unit for $130.00.

These are all a cinch to install, and remember, you won't need a service contract for $150 a year because replacing all these parts yourself saves you from this unit needing service.

I did check to see if a service person was in my area (just in case), and there was one in my town, so if I do need it serviced, I have that option - but I would guess that it would be quite rare if you ever did (since so many parts are user replaceable).

What else?

The staff occassionally complains that the scan lamp takes a minute or so to warm up sometimes during periods of inactivity.

The Bottom Line

This is a great multifunction printer. It scans, faxes, and copies very, very well. It is reliable, extremely easy to use, and a space saver.

The cost of the consumables makes this MFP (multi function printer) not optimal for an office that does high volumes (20,000 copies a month), but for the small to medium sized office, this is a steal.