Multi-Function Printer Recommendation
Jan 4, 2008, 10:25 am
#16
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Actually we have a really cheapo Brother unit here in the office, and it *does* scan to a Mac. But it's a bit finicky. The software acts up and sometimes won't scan unless the computer is restarted. This was supposed to be fixed in one of the updates, but it seems it has not been.
I was eyeing a new low-end Canon laser unit for home, but the scanning on those definitely doesn't work on a Mac; not even sure the printing works. HP low-end laser can be tricky with Macs; the cheapest stuff doesn't have drivers.
Canon usually supports Macs, though, so maybe we'll see some Mac drivers for that eventually. The unit I'm thinking of is the MF3240 which functionally appears to be a good bet.
I was eyeing a new low-end Canon laser unit for home, but the scanning on those definitely doesn't work on a Mac; not even sure the printing works. HP low-end laser can be tricky with Macs; the cheapest stuff doesn't have drivers.
Canon usually supports Macs, though, so maybe we'll see some Mac drivers for that eventually. The unit I'm thinking of is the MF3240 which functionally appears to be a good bet.
Jan 4, 2008, 12:19 pm
#17
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: AZ, USA
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Mac user here.
I would go to cnet.com, read through their reviews. It really depends what your primary uses will be, i.e. is scanning more important, is printing good pix the priority, etc. Macworld.com reviews are also worth looking at but with leopard, you shouldn't have problems with compability.
Some are great at printing but lousy at scanning. All obviously will fax in/out.
I would go to cnet.com, read through their reviews. It really depends what your primary uses will be, i.e. is scanning more important, is printing good pix the priority, etc. Macworld.com reviews are also worth looking at but with leopard, you shouldn't have problems with compability.
Some are great at printing but lousy at scanning. All obviously will fax in/out.
Jan 4, 2008, 2:38 pm
#18
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I bought a canon MX700 3-4 months ago and so far LOVE it. It took me less than 15 minutes to set it up on the home network and then all you do is install some software on each computer and voila - each computer has network print access.
Scanning works like a treat - I have recently digitized reems of paper files. Printing is pretty good quality. faxing (both from the machine and from pc on the network) seems seemless.
The only downside of it is that it doesn't do duplex - but that wasn't a big deal for us - YMMV.
I can't say I have noticed that it uses ink any more than any other printer we have used.
Scanning works like a treat - I have recently digitized reems of paper files. Printing is pretty good quality. faxing (both from the machine and from pc on the network) seems seemless.
The only downside of it is that it doesn't do duplex - but that wasn't a big deal for us - YMMV.
I can't say I have noticed that it uses ink any more than any other printer we have used.
Jan 4, 2008, 4:28 pm
#19
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most of these econo multi machines do not paper feed the images worth a damn. so you end up standing over the machine stuffing each page of your fax into it, and when you misstuff, you have to wait til the machine quits so you can redial and start stuffing again.
Mar 21, 2008, 10:19 am
#21
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The only area I wish improvement is the ability to scan into a PDF-I find that the file size is larger than what other systems create (this is probably a function of software, and I do knock the scanning resolution down).
Mar 21, 2008, 12:50 pm
#23
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It scans in color and prints in B&W. I went for a duplexing model, the MFC-8860DN. I'm very happy with it. They also have models with wireless networking.
Mar 22, 2008, 8:17 am
#24
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It scans in color and prints in B&W. I went for a duplexing model, the MFC-8860DN. I'm very happy with it. They also have models with wireless networking.
Mar 22, 2008, 1:34 pm
#25
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If I were buying, I'd go with a Brother. They support the weird OSes I tend to run (XP Pro x64 for example). The one or two times I had to call for support they were excellent. HP has left me lacking drivers on multiple occasions.
Brother's color MFC line can be seen here.
I'd go for one with a built-in network interface. That makes the unit accessible to all machines without any particular one having to be turned on. I also like the duplexing option.
Brother's color MFC line can be seen here.
I'd go for one with a built-in network interface. That makes the unit accessible to all machines without any particular one having to be turned on. I also like the duplexing option.
Mar 22, 2008, 7:26 pm
#27
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Color laser is remarkably cheap. I recently bought a Brother HL-4040CN from Costco for $279. If you add that to the price of a fax/scanner you can see why the all-in-one units are still so expensive.
Mar 24, 2008, 8:55 am
#28
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Maybe you're right. We already have a multi function ink jet. All we need is the color laser printer portion.