I know someone else wrote a review saying they spent hours and could not find a way to reset the toner on this printer unlike ALL previous Brother printers but I'm here to tell you two things: First, trust me when I say my Kung-Fu is STRONG...
and second, there IS a way to reset the toner and save yourself a BUNCH of money by getting more bang for your buck and here are the steps you need to take:
1. Open the front toner door on the printer that would allow you to replace the toner but don't pull the toner tray out (unless you just want to for fun...but it's not necessary)
2. Press the back and cancel buttons (top and bottom buttons of the three buttons on the right) at the EXACT same time quickly (and repeatedly if necessary) and then let off (it will almost certainly take at LEAST a couple of tries and if you get to anything other than the reset screen start over). Do NOT hold the buttons down as it will definitely NOT bring up the reset screen that way. You MUST be on the "open door" message, if you accidentally back out of it, just touch the message again in the top left corner to go back to the "Open Door" screen.
3. At this point, the reset screen should pop up and you just need to select the correct toner cartidge that you need to reset (K. = black, C = Cyan, etc.) and keep in mind that each one has THREE options for regular, high yield, and super high yield toner cartridges.
4. Click yes to reset.
5. Click back button and wait for printer to reset. It takes a minute or two just like when you turn the printer off and on.
6. Print...and you print like there's NO tomorrow!!
You are *super* welcome for the money that I just saved you as inevitably the "replace toner" screen will come up when it hits a specific page count even though there's still PLENTY of toner in there and there is NO other way to get past it than either doing what I just described or replacing it with a new toner cartridge.
Also, I HIGHLY recommend after researching the poop out of all three toner cartridge possibilities for each color that you go with the "Super High Yield" cartridges and save even more money buying all four as a pack. If you break it down by cost per page for each of the three sizes, then it makes the most sense and you won't be replacing toner *nearly* as often. Yes, in order to buy all four cartridges it will cost more than the printer (unless you find a good deal) but they will last three times longer than the standard cartridge even though they are physically the SAME size. It's all about how much toner is INSIDE the cartridge...
If this helped you then please push, smash, or lightly press the "Helpful" button for the fun of it b/c really...it's the right thing to do...or not. It's ALL good either way. :-)
I upgraded my old Brother MFC-9970CDW to the new MFC-L8900CDW this weekend. It was being shipped FedEx and was scheduled to be delivered on Monday, but I called FedEx and was able to pick it up on Saturday. I spend about an hour configuring all the options, installing additional paper trays (1 250-sheet and 1 500-sheet), and testing the printer. It's a big improvement over the MFC-9970CDW, which was a workhorse in our home office.
The printer is much quieter than my old one and when compared to other brands. There is a quiet setting that makes it even quieter, but this occurs at the sacrifice of some speed. The fax machine is pretty standard for all faxes. I was able to fax without difficulty using the normal compatibility setting via a Cisco adapter that converts analog to IP for RingCentral.
I am very impressed with the L8900CDW's ability to customize scan functions. Perhaps this was present on the 9970CDW and I didn't explore it. I have mine configured with icons to scan to my iMac's desktop, scan to my personal email, scan to my wife's email, or send to a fire department where I'm medical director.
The quiet function is great (definitely can tell a difference), but it is slower (took twice as long to print a test 30-page PDF).
Also, Amazon Dash Replinishment isn't active yet. This printer isn't listed as a supported model. I emailed Brother USA and was advised it's too new and will be available soon.
Overall, this is a great printer. One of the best multi-function machines you could buy. I highly recommend it!
In addition to writing this review, I have put together a video that should give you an idea of what to expect if and when you finally decide to buy this printer.
Let me start with giving you a few good reasons to trust my opinion and highly consider this all-in-one above all others. There will be at least one negative along the way -- particularly for Mac users. Don't get antsy -- this printer works beautifully with a Mac and that is the device I tested this printer with. Windows users shouldn't have any problems either as printers generally bond with PCs better than Macs.
I have been buying heavy-duty printers for my home business for several years now. I know how to install them and I know what to expect. I also spend HOURS researching anything like this before purchasing. Please trust that I looked at all the top all-in-one consumer models from HP, SAMSUNG, CANON, etc.
Now, with every printer, you end up researching on Amazon you are going to find negative reviews. I found quite a few negative reviews for this Brother model that kind of scared me. There were problems with print issues, the scanner cover not staying down, the wireless connection being dropped.....and on and on. Yes, the chances are always there you are going to get a dud model.
However, I know Brother. I know their quality. In my opinion, they make the best and most cost-efficient printers in the marketplace. The last Brother printer I bought several years ago is still going strong. It's the cruddy Epson all-in-one that has given me nothing but trouble that I needed a replacement for.
Make no mistake about it, the L8900CDW is one of Brother's current top consumer models. When originally released a year ago it cost twice as much as it does now. So, you are getting a $1k printer at less than $500 at the time of this review.
This Brother pretty much looks, feels and prints like a $1k printer. It is a workhorse designed for a small home business. It has all the top functions you would expect from a printer at this cost including duplex printing, faxing and scanning. It also boasts a really nice 5" touchscreen that makes this an intuitive printer to use. I really did not have to resort to instructions in setting this up other than having to configure my email account on my IP webpage. More on that to come...
SETUP
Yes, this comes in quite a large box. Yes, it is quite heavy. Yes, it's better to have two people set this up but I was able to move the box up a flight up stairs, lift unpack and set it up all by myself. So those of you who want to know whether you can set this up alone, the answer is, you can!
Unpacking took under 20 minutes. There are a few pieces of tape to remove. You need to open the front door, slide out the printer tray, and remove a bunch of plastic holder pieces. Easy peasy!
Having a Mac, there is no CD drive. I simply went to Brother's support page on the Internet and downloaded their installation software applicable to this model. The software guides you through connecting the printer wirelessly (or wired) to your network. Additionally, you can do it through the touchscreen. I have to really commend the ease of use that this touchscreen and its accompanying keyboard provides.
One thing you might want to do is set up your scan to email through your computer web browser. You will need to do a printout from your printer's network settings to get your IP address. When you plug that address into your browser search bar, it comes up with your printer's utility page.
Now here's something Brother doesn't tell you...
You need a login password. I had to search the Internet for it. The default password is: initpass
I had a GMAIL account and I simply did a search for the incoming and SMTP settings, entered all that information and did a test connection from the browser. It worked perfectly and transmitted that information over to the printer.
COPY AND SCAN TO ANYWHERE
What is really neat about this printer is that you can send scans and copies to just about anywhere. Of course, there is email -- anyone's email that you wish. And there is a handful of supported Cloud Services like BOX, EVERNOTE, DROPBOX, ONE DRIVE, etc. So, I simply scan my documents and they are automatically deposited in those accounts. Each of those cloud services gives you free storage so I would recommend you take advantage of signing up with as many as you can.
What's even cooler is that you can create shortcuts on the touchscreen with which a single press will automatically fax, copy, email or deposit your document into a cloud service. You will certainly have a lot of fun setting these documents up.
PRINT QUALITY
This is where I read so many negative reviews. Well, not so many, but at least the complaints from the vocal minority do tend to stand out when reading Amazon reviews for this product.
I found the print quality to be excellent. Even more so, I found color accuracy to be just about spot on.
Text quality was as perfect as you would expect. Now, one of the downsides that I read about this computer is that it uses the color inks to do black and white printing, potentially shortening the lifespan of those cartridges. There is a way to go into settings and tell it to use the black cartridge only. The problem is, you have to keep switching it back-and-forth every time you want to print color or black and white. I am just going to take my chances and leave everything where it is.
I printed a few web pages and scanned a few magazine covers. The colors looked very similar. I didn't see anything that was way off. This printer really doesn't do photos very well -- most all color laser printers don't. Most anyone will tell you that you need a separate printer designed for photos if you want to use it for that purpose.
It doesn't bother me that the paper capacity is only limited to 250 sheets. Have you seen 250 sheets? That is a lot of paper. Most homes won't use that much paper in a month. For the high-capacity business use you can buy add-on paper trays for about $150.
The print speed is excellent. The most wait time you will have is from wake-up to first print. That can take about 20 seconds. Otherwise, this is a very speedy printer.
I used the top feeder to scan my phone bill which was several pages long. The top scanner did a great job of feeding each page through its feeder and properly scanned both sides of each sheet. There is an option for single or double page scanning.
Fax worked fine. I was able to send a fax to a friend and it arrived without any issues. I am always sending faxes to my Doctor, so it was really neat that I was able to set up a shortcut on the touchscreen. With a single press it dials my physician's fax machine and sends my document. No more having to remember his phone number or go through the manual dialing process.
THE ONE NEGATIVE
There is another Amazon review that touches upon this subject to which I was able to relate to...
The Brother Control Center Software that you install on the Mac (and Window PCs as well) looks like something from the 1990s. It's quite obvious this is the one product that Brother has turned its back on. It's not only archaic, but it kept freezing and then crashing on Mac Mojave. I will bet that since one Mac user has already reported this issue, all Mac users are going to have this issue. Hopefully, Brother is aware of this problem and will fix it.
Their portable app for IOS and ANDROID is also pretty bad. It has a lot of 1-star ratings. It works -- I was able to print from my phone --- but the software is just really nasty to look at and work with. Brother needs to update their software to new millennium standards.
Did it hinder my enjoyment of using the Brother L8900CDW? No. There are ways to get around using the desktop app. The mobile app works, though I would probably opt to download some other AirPrint capable app to use with this printer.
CONCLUSION
Personally, I don't think any other of the major brands can top this all-in-one at this price point. Though the software side of this printer for the desktop and mobile devices is severely lacking, the hardware itself is top-notch. For the few hours I have been putting this printer through its paces, I haven't seen any negatives to complain about outside of what I have already pointed out. Wireless connectivity is fine. Print quality is excellent. Double-sided scanning and faxing worked as expected. The speed of printing is on par with office workhorse machines.
In all, this is an excellent choice for your home or small business.
I had a black-and-white laser printer for the past ten years and it was time to move on.
After comparing various multifuction color laser printers I decided to purchase MFC L8900CDW and so far I am very pleased with my decision.
PROS:
1. Set up was very easy. I have multiple computers at home: Windows, Chrome OS, Android phones and tablets. I connected all of them through Wi-Fi and all my family members can print with ease from each computer. Just out of curiosity, I tried using ethernet cable connection and also direct USB cable through a local machine. They all work seamlessly.
2. Print quality is superb for office text/images purpose. And picture quality is good enough for me: I printed out my daughter's picture on a glossy paper, put it in a frame and placed it on my desk.
3. Print speed is very fast. It's comparable to a corporate multifunction printer I use at work.
4. My wife is a teacher and she scans I lot of texts and pictures. The scan speed is extremely fast compared to my last printer.
5. The duplex printing is fast and smooth. So far no jams or malfunctions with regular cheap office paper.
6. Based on the calculation of cost of toner/page capacity, it looks like this one of the most economical printers for operational cost out there but time will tell...
CONS:
1. It requires a little more time to print out powerpoint files with a lot of images than plain text files.
2. It takes up quite a bit of desk space for home usage.
Overall, I'm very happy with my new printer and hope it lasts many years to come.
This is an initial review. I bought this to upgrade from a Xerox Phaser 3260. I have a micro business (consulting and healthcare practice) with a home office, a lot of work on the road, and I also maintain a second location. I do not have very high printing needs - I print maybe 100-200 sheets per month or less, with occasional spikes into the 200-500 range. To explain why I bought this, one of my lines of work involves substantial document review, and some of my customers provide documents in print. I also generate paper documents, and my goal is to use a "scan and can" approach, scanning everything and then having it shredded. The cost of this was competitive to buying a high quality scanner that could do duplex ADF of >50 pages per run, and so I bought this as an upgrade to the Xerox to get color laser printing at home, but basically for the scanner.
First impression is very positive. This is heavy, it is definitely a two person job to move or install it. Removing the packaging takes 10-15 minutes. From there, connecting to Wifi is very easy from the touchscreen. Connecting to OneDrive for Business uses a computer (one grants the connection from a web browser and then enters a numeric code onto the printer), and from there, it can scan directly to a folder on the OneDrive (or other consumer or business cloud services, SharePoint, etc) with ease. Others have noted that there is a substantial wait between scanning the document to the device's memory (which is fast) and uploading it - 70 page documents take about 10 minutes to upload for me. The device cannot do other scanning jobs during this, but will respond to print requests. An unexpected bonus is that it does OCR straight from the device, so an additional step of running it through OCR on the PC side is not needed. This is the thing I wanted most and it does this very nicely. Overall, this itself is well worth the purchase cost, because on a Saturday afternoon while getting some work done, I am working through hundreds of pages of documents that are clogging up my home office.
The other initial impression is that it is zero-configuration on Windows 10 (1803) - it just showed right up in my list of printers and I could print to it without having to install or do anything.
Update #1: In addition to the "easy" stacks of 8.5x11 records I wanted to scan in, I have some workbook kinds of documents that I also want to scan. This is a mix of paper stock, with some booklets that I cut in half with a paper cutter, about 30-50 sheets double sided. After separating all of this into individual sheets, of all the varying content, the ADF handles it with aplomb except one item that is made of a very thin front sheet separated from a cardstock thickness back - this single document is not handled by the ADF so I have to take it out and use the flatbed scanner on this (or another scanner). The device really shines here. When scanned to searchable document, it auto rotates individual pages inside the PDF. The one downside is that a home page shortcut can be made, but this suppresses some feature choices (so skip blank pages is not an option). One other note that I hadn't encountered with the "easier" ADF scans is that if a scan jams midway, the device behavior is confusing - it continues to sheet feed through the rest of the pages, but then it does not upload anything.
I'm very happy with this, overall - I'm still focusing on the scanning capabilities, but I didn't see as much review content about that so I wanted to share my experience.
Feature Product
- ALL-IN-ONE SOLUTION: The Brother MFC-L8900CDW Color Laser All-in-One is an exceptional printer for businesses that require large print and copy volume
- BUSINESS PRINTING & COPYING: This printer increases productivity with print speeds up to 33 ppm and scan speeds for double-sided pages up to 58 IPM
- CONNECTIVITY: Built-in wireless 802.11b/g/n and Gigabit Ethernet network interface allows for easy set up and sharing on a wireless or wired network; CPU (Processor) Speed (MHz): 800
- ADVANCED SCANNING: Wirelessly scan to mobile devices with the Brother iPrint & Scan or popular destinations including SharePoint and more.5" COLOR TOUCHSCREEN: The 5" color Touchscreen display offers easy navigation of the menu and creation of up to 64 customized shortcuts
- Features maximum monthly duty cycle of 60,000 printed pages with recommended monthly print volume up to 4,000 pages
Description
The Brother mfc-l8900cdw color laser all-in-one is ideal for offices and small workgroups with higher print volumes. Brother genuine super High-Yield 6,500-page replacement toner cartridges (approximate yield based on ISO/IEC 19798) deliver low cost output. Print/copy up to 33 pages per minute in black and color. Gigabit Ethernet/wireless networking. 70-Page capacity auto document feeder with two-sided scanning at up to 58ipm; legal-size scan glass. Automatic duplex printing. Print from/scan to mobile devices over a wireless network. Scan to a variety of destinations. 5.0" color touchscreen display with customizable shortcuts. Advanced security features for network user authentication Plus device access restriction.
Brother has always been a great printer making company. I've bought many other brands and Brother's have somehow managed to outlast the bigger names if there's such a thing. Brother has no competition for this market or sized models. Our office has owned many other brands and the Brother's seems to out last them all. Their toner's are also very reasonable prices too. You can scan and select your PC to save it there. Private printing, does not print until you enter you code. Lot's of nice features and to many to list. Make sure you install the software correctly on the server and workstations and you'll be fine. We're very happy with this business model MFCL8900CDW.
Amazing printer and scanner. Print quality is awesome, but what really sold us are two things: (1) easily defined a custom button for "Scan to Dropbox" and "Scan and email to <our son's school email account>", (2) super fast and wonderful scanning - both sides in one pass, and very reliable feeding even of pages I folded up and then unfolded and loaded for printing. The menus are easy to use, but the killer ability is to save custom set up (like scanning to a particular Dropbox folder, or scanning to a particular email address). This was an unexpected bonus that we love - our custom definitions are the key choices on the home screen now. My spouse thought that the scanner failed when it pulled all the pages through so fast and without flipping them over - it is AMAZING to realize that it scanned both sides perfectly and created a PDF in our Dropbox. This printer is a hit around our house - it is easy to use all our household devices... we have used it from Windows 10, MacOS, Linux, iPhones and Android phones - without any issues. We left it available to anyone on our WiFi - so people who drop by print things from their phones while talking with us in the kitchen! We highly recommend this printer - we have owned it for a month now, and printed and scanned hundreds of pages without issue.
We love this machine, very fast and easy to operate. We are not very techie lol and if we can set it up and run it anyone can!
This printer is a replacement for yet another inkjet printer that went bad. I'd had enough. I had picked another brother printer to buy but had forgotten to add it to my list so when I went back to look for it I ran across this one. I purchased this one because it was $3 more but the toner cartridges are what they call standard cartridges and the other one had "starter" toner cartridges (fewer pages). The printer is easy to setup (they have a great video on You Tube how to unbox and remove all the shipping stuff). It comes with a software CD to install the drivers required to operate it from your computer. Connecting to WiFi was easy using the touch screen on the printer. It has OCR (Optical Character Recognition) which let's you scan documents and save them as Word Documents. You have several options where the scanned document can be saved (Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, Box.net etc.) You can also save to your PC if that works better for you. Print quality will depend on the quality of paper you use (as with all printers). This is a business class printer so it should last a very long time. I'm very happy with it.
I was sick of the ink in my inkjet printer drying up and then every time I went to print, I was cleaning the print heads and replacing cartridges--usually as I was late and running out the door, right? So I finally sucked it up to buy a laser, and I read a TON of reviews and compared every laser printer in my price range that I could find. The Brother immediately jumped to the head of the line for its affordability, but I was plagued by the question of purchasing a brand with which I was unfamiliar. Also, I worried about the comments regarding cartridge life and the difficulty of setting this printer up. I will admit that it isn't the most user friendly printer that I have ever used - which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. But that is mostly about the more advanced features - of which this printer has a ton. Basic printing is as easy as plugging it in and installing the driver, and even my non-technical roommate was able to do that without my help. But I will be the first to say that Brother needs to ramp up their user friendliness. But then, so does Xerox--I have set up those machines, and this machine was no worse. You'll get through it, and once it is set up, it's not difficult to actually use. The print quality was better than I expected. The scanner is fast and does a great job. I especially like the feature of scanning to Google Drive, although I was ready to shoot the thing trying to get it set up for the first time. Once I got it working, it was a piece of cake to use. I have had this machine for a few months now, and I have yet to replace a print cartridge. I can definitely recommend this printer. One of my housemates uses it for her business, and she made a point of thanking me this morning for buying this printer, because she LOVES it, and she is definitely *not* a tech head like me. Every machine has its bad reviews, but if my experience is any indication, I would definitely buy it again.
0 comments:
Post a Comment