Brother MFC-7340 Flatbed Laser Multi-Function Center
by Brother

Brother MFC-7340 Flatbed Laser Multi-Function Center by Brother

General

Easy to install.

USB 2.0 connection.

Very easy to use - all in one Laser - prints, copy, scan & fax.

Cheap to purchase and operate - separate toner cartridge and drum.

There are many options to adjust print and scan qualities.

Printing

It prints very quickly. I normally print 1~2 pages at a time. It spits out 1st page very quickly.

It also prints out several copies quickly. You can choose not to collate to save on toner & drum.

It does not curl papers like my 10+ years old HL-1040.

Copying

I've copied a few pages. The quality is adjustable and output is fine.

Scanning

Scans fairly quickly - a lot of options to change resolution, photo/text/web, size, etc.

You can scan from the panel or from your computer using Brother's ControlCenter3 software (PC and Mac).

The included/download software provides many customization - including to customize the software's UI to perform specific functions. There are 4 sections - Scan, Custom Scan, Copy and PC Fax. Each section provides 4 buttons. Scan and Custom Scan allows you to quickly perform specific scan function (Image, OCR, eMail, File). Both Scan and Custom Scan allows you to further fine tune scan options - File Type, Target application, dpi, color or B/W, doc size, etc.

Fax

You can fax with and w/o a computer - I did not try fax.

Other Features

It comes with a 35 pages automatic flat bed sheet feeder (ADF) to copy, scan and fax pages of documents. The input tray can hold up to 250 pages. Everything is concealed and helps to keep dusts out.

Power Consumption

It wakes up quickly when in sleep mode. It also consumes very little electricity (10W - according to spec) in sleep mode - although it could be lower. From spec: Power Consumption - Sleep/Ready/Copying - 10w/75w/460w.

Although it did not cause flicker like my older HL-1040 (10+ years old), it did cause one UPS to beep while others on the same circuit did not respond.

Software

You have to install the software came with the machine first.

It will ask you to plug-in the USB cable after installation is completed. The CD will reboot the machine to complete installation. After that, you will get the Brother sets of tools including ScanSoft PaperPort 11, Brother's ControlCenter3 (to scan, copy and fax from your computer) and other diagnostic / support tools.

After installed from CD, you can download and install the updated software.

If you install the downloaded software first, it will NOT install ScanSoft PaperPort 11 (OCR software). However, I have only used it one or two times, the OCR software seemed ineffective to recognize and format the final document properly as scanned original version.

Conclusion

It has worked VERY well to suit my need. I used it mostly to scan and print; while copy and fax will come in handy.

I originally wanted to get a networked AiO machine. But I learned that their scan and other functions does not always work flawlessly and not as fast as a regular AiO one. So I settle for this. Wife complain not being able to use the new toy - not sure if she really needs it :)

I purchased a Kensington ShareCentral 5 @ Fry's on sale a few weeks ago. It worked great with this AiO. It worked beautifully. Both PCs can now scan, print, copy and fax directly to the AiO. I also plugged in a USB hub to Kensignton ShareCentral 5. It also worked well to connect my external hard drives.

Epson WorkForce 840 Color Ink Jet Wireless All-in-One with Fax (C11CA97201)

by Epson

Epson has a real winner in this machine. If I listed every feature and praise I have for this machine you would completely miss the few minor issues I found, so I'm going to list them first in case they're important or deal breakers for you, although they're non-issues for me.

CONS:

- The biggest con is with the two paper trays, in that, only tray #1 can take mixed media sizes, while tray #2 is limited to 8.5x11/A4 paper. This in and of itself isn't a problem, but the machine and software really favors tray 1. Some examples: There's a gimmicky, but fun, feature to let you print edge to edge ruled or graph paper straight from the printer's interface... but it only prints from tray #1, so you best not have 4x6 photo paper in there, and you can't have small photo paper in tray #2. Also along the same vain, some reports like network status only print from tray #1. This could be fixed in a future firmware upgrade, especially since the Copy feature from the printer does let you select your paper tray. On the software side... from your computer you can select to either print from tray #1, tray #2, or tray #1 and the #2 if empty. This covers most bases and works for me (I can just print docs from tray #2 and photos from tray #1), but it would be nice if I could say print from tray #2 first and tray #1 if empty. This minor gripe could also be fixed with a future driver update.

- The second con is, that if you want to scan to your computer you have to either 1) Be connected via USB and you can use either the software or the printer interface OR 2) Be connected wirelessly, but you need to use the software interface since the printer can not automatically find your computer on its own. This again is a minor issue for me since the printer is close to the one PC I'd scan from regularly, but if it were far away it could be inconvenient to have to load the scanner at the printer and then trek back to start the scan from the PC and not be able to monitor it's progress.

- The only other con I could find is, the default touch screen beep confirmation is slightly loud, the quieter option is an annoying sound, leaving silent "beep" as my choice... although the default beep is pleasant enough if the noise wasn't an issue.

Okay enough complaining on with the pros...

PROS:

+ This thing is fast... full page photos at a reasonable speed and regular text at near reckless speed.

+ The ink supplies are easy to install and relatively huge so less frequent refills.

+ Each ink color is separate, I always hated having to replace a tri-color cartridge after a big print project with one predominate color.

+ Wireless network setup is a breeze.

+ All the main scan/copy/fax/print features are available wirelessly... older all in ones only supported wireless printing.

+ The touch screen is responsive and only the relevant options appear or light up, making usage a breeze.

+ Huge paper capacity for an inkjet... 250 sheets in each tray, 500 sheets total.

+ Two sided printing and scanning.

+ 30 page auto document feeder that takes legal size sheets.

+ The automatic document feed folds away which keeps dust out of it.

+ No more straight through paper feed like older Epsons.

+ The ink is dry as soon as it comes out. Even when I printed a really color saturated photo where it was dark it felt slightly damp, but didn't smudge or transfer to my fingers.

+ Direct wireless printing from an iPhone (or similar) device using the Epson iPrint App. The WorkForce 840 wasn't listed in the App description in the app store, but it showed up instantly as such when I launched the app. Oh but this is another time when the paper trays could be an issue... it only prints from tray 1.

+ Almost every utility has easy or advanced modes so if you just want to scan or print you don't need to know all the technical aspects of it, but if you do know exactly what you want you can get to it fairly easily.

+ Need ruled or graph paper... no problem, just select from the printer's menu and viola, instant paper.

+ All varieties of memory card and direct print options.

I really could go on, it's a beautiful machine and would work well in an office or a busy home. One other thing to note is that the Epson WorkForce line of printers unlike the Epson Artisan line (like the Artisan 835 for example) doesn't have CD/DVD printing and it uses 4 colors of ink rather than 6 (this means less consumables to buy and keep track of in exchange for wider color range, but it really isn't noticeable for most business use). And on the other hand, the Artisan 835 doesn't have as much speed or capacity (in terms of paper storage, trays, ink, and more). So if you need the direct disk printing then you pretty much have to go with the Artisan, but for everything else I'd stick with this model.

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