12 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
Beating the inkjet blues ...
Date of Review: Apr 10, 2009
The Bottom Line: A good level of bang for the buck. For household or in-home office use this machine should fit the bill especially if you're looking for wireless compatiblity.
... was one of the primary reasons I looked into a laser printer. This printer is for use in my home and so I can't attest to its durability in heavy office use ...I have had it now for about 3 months and so far I'm very happy with this machine. I was getting tired of being held hostage to the ever increasing prices for inkjet cartridges; I assessed my needs and decided that, for regular use, I could forgo color in my printed documents. The color trade-off was worth it; the print quality is outstanding, the printing is water proof (you can use a highlighter without worrying about having the ink start to run or smudge), the number of copies from a toner cartridge is incredible (when compared to inkjets) and I don't have to suffer the waste of cleaning clogged inkjets.
I like the fact the machine will take both letter and legal-sized paper (and a host of less than legal sizes); the caveat to this is having to manually unload, reset and reload the single paper tray. The machine will take just about any kind of paper so you don't exclusively need to buy laser printer paper for it. The manual feed on the front of the unit can be a bit clumsy (it's used for thick paper, envelopes and label sheets); care must be used as it is easy to cock the material as it is drawn into the machine. I had printed some label sheets and found I needed to use care when feeding the sheet in order to keep the printing square on the labels. My possible mistake was not following the instructions (duh) and opening the back outfeed tray as the book suggests.
The machine prints quite rapidly for my needs. It takes a few seconds for warm up from its energy-saving "sleep" mode. Be aware the machine will draw some amperage as it begins its warm-up cycle; it's rated at a max of about 9 amps (versus 1/2 amp for my inkjet) and may cause any lights on the same circuit to flicker briefly.
As a copy machine it works quite well for my purposes; copies are clear and sharp. The only function I have not used is the fax capabilities but given how the other features work I have no reason to doubt the fax functions work just fine.
As a scanner I have only used it for non-photo use and it works well with good detail in scanned documents.
On par with its printing prowess is the wireless connection option ... this clinched the deal for me. I have wireless DSL in my home; being able to setup this printer just about anywhere without the need for cabling or a dedicated computer (which always had to be left running) is great. I was a bit leery about setting my wireless connection (I am but a rank amateur in the wireless world) but it all worked like a charm; my advice ...READ THE STRUCTIONS CAREFULLY
...and take it step by step. Just because you think you're a wireless wonder don't assume you know how to do it. I got all three of my home computers setup and running using the software that comes with the printer without a single glitch.
I traded the wireless connection for the duplexing function; the MFC-7840W does not have auto-duplexing (the ability to print on both sides of the paper). Duplexing can be done manually (which is what I was doing with my inkjet) and for me this wasn't as important as the wireless capability. The instruction manual says the wireless connection provides the slowest data transfer when compared to the other connection options (USB and 10/100 cable); I haven't seen this as a factor in my usage.
Some folks have indicated the flimsiness of some parts on the machine. If the 7840 was going to be used in heavy office use by many people, I would be concerned as to it's durability. The unit is built to a "price point"; the money has been spent on internals and as such some of the plastic pieces are probably not compatible with heavy commercial use.
Overall, for my use in a home environment, I could not be happier with the performance of the 7840W. It does everything well and I have yet to have any problems with it. The wireless connection gives the machine great flexibility in placement and allows any computer on the network direct access without the need of a dedicated computer. I would highly recommend this multi-function laser printer to anyone looking to replace their daily use inkjet printer for household and light in-home office use.
