Brother MFC-8870DW Wireless Flatbed Laser Multi-Function Center

Product Description

The MFC-8870DW is the flagship model of the Brother laser Multi-Function Center product line and it leaves nothing to be desired for your small/medium business or workgroup. Built-in (802.11b/g) wireless and (Ethernet) network interfaces and built-in duplexing for 2-sided printing, copying, scanning and faxing. All making this the optimal solution for any office.

Amazon.com Product Description

The MFC-8870DW offers economical and environmentally sound duplex capability that includes automatic two-sided printing, copying, scanning and faxing. You can scan a large multi-page, single-sided document and then print them on half the paper (odd pages on front, even pages on back), and save paper costs on all other functions by using up both sides of every sheet -- without the hassle of having to flip the paper yourself.

Print, fax, scan, and copy -- all from one powerful unit. View larger.

Send scans, copies, and faxes directly from the MFC-8870DW to colleagues that are listed in your network address book.

Choose the document feeder or the flatbed.

Single or double sided -- you make the call.

With the MFC-8870DW's duplex functionality, you can take a typical document file and simply choose to print it as a duplexed document right from the MFC-8870DW's print menu, with the orientation you prefer. Your selection then happens automatically, without the need to reload the paper to print the other side. You can also copy or scan two sides of the same document and either print the copy or store the scan as two single-sided pages, or as a single two-sided page. Or, you can copy or scan two single-sided documents and produce a copy or store a scan as a single two-sided page. You can even scan a two-sided document for faxing with only one step and it will be received as two single-sided pages.

The MFC-8870DW has a convenient flatbed design that accommodates either single sheets or bound documents for copying, faxing, or scanning. With the ability to function as a digital copier, the unit supports reduction and enlargement of documents from 25 to 400 percent in one percent increments, makes up to 99 copies and includes sorting functionality. Copies up to legal size can be made from both the glass and the automatic document feeder. Print and copy speeds up to 21 pages per minute keep up with busy offices, while outstanding resolution of up to 1,200 x 1,200 dpi gives each document exceptional legibility.

As a full-function stand-alone fax machine, the MFC-8870DW supports up to 340 total speed dial locations, and also incorporates dual access and broadcast faxing features. It stores up to 600 pages for Quick Scan faxing or out-of-paper fax reception. Stand-alone fax and copy operation is standard, so no computer is required.

When operating as a scanner, the unit is capable of color scanning up to 9,600 dpi interpolated resolution (up to 600 x 2,400 dpi optical). For Windows and OS X 10.2.4 or greater based users, there is an easy-to-use "scan to" button for scanning directly to an FTP site, image application, OCR, E-mail application or file. Save time and reduce errors with instant direct access through your network connected MFC-8870DW to a virtually infinite number of e-mail and fax addresses stored in your LDAP network address books. Simply use the large, clear 5-line LCD display on the MFC-8870DW's control panel to view the contacts stored in your network address books and scroll to select the address you need. Then you can quickly send faxes and Internet faxes to your selection, and perform scan-to-e-mail-address functions.

The MFC-8870DW provides the ability for an administrator to set various levels of password protected access to certain features, for each of up to 25 different users per machine. Through this feature, you can restrict specific employees such as part-time workers or interns from access to scan-to-e-mail functions or other avenues for sending data outside your walls.

The color scanner function comes bundled with document management and OCR software. ScanSoft PaperPort SE with OCR software is available for Windows and Presto! Page Manager is available for Mac users. Meanwhile, Networking options for the MFC-8870DW include wired Ethernet and 802.11b/g wireless, allowing you to place the unit in any wireless network environment. The unit is compatible with both PC and Mac operating systems (Windows 98/NT4.0/2000/Me/2000/XP and Mac OS 9.1-9.2, OS X 10.2.4 or greater). Standard emulations of PCL6 and BR-Script3 (PostScript3) are included as well. Brother provides a one-year warranty, covering parts and service.

What's in the Box
Multifunction unit, paper tray, multipurpose tray, TN540 Standard Yield Toner Cartridge (3,500 Pages), DR510 Drum Unit (20,000 Pages) CD-ROM with drivers and utilities, printed user's guide, and warranty information.

Customer Reviews:

Brother, what a machine!.......2007-12-14

I have been a long-time HP customer, both laser and ink jet. This Brother MFC-8870DW is head and shoulders above any HP printer or All-In-One that I have owned.

I have been using this machine for about a month in my business. Print quality is great. It worked first time, every time.

I previously had a HP 1170C All-In-One inkjet, which frankly, was a pain to use. The ink cartridges never lasted very long, it only worked with 24# paper, and I always had to make sure that I chose to print in black only (99.9% of what I print is B&W). That's no longer a problem with this laser printer.

The wireless connection was a snap to set up. Within 20 minutes it was connected to a sever, desktop and laptop - and I'm not a techie. Very cool.

I have had occasion to use all of the features, except the Fax (I have a dedicated fax). I have scanned to e-mail, copied single sided printing to double-sided copies, printed single and double side . . . and it is all wireless!

I researched a lot of laser printers and multifunction machines at local retailers and on the Internet. At the time, none of the standard retailers (Staples, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Best Buy, CompUSA, Circuit City) even had this machine in their line. I could not touch the quality and functionality of this machine anywhere else, not to mention the great deal that I got at Amazon.

Incredible flexibility and convenience - but not for high volume use........2007-11-11

The Brother MFC-8870DW does everything I need it to do - and then some. Given the rich feature set, the price is quite low. Given the lightweight plastic feel of the paper drawer and small input rollers I have some concerns about the build quality of the paper path (but we've had no problems at all with it so far). There's no end of flexibility about how you can hook it up and make it do all the many things that it does:
* fast laser printer with fine resolution and duplex (automatic print on both sides) capability. Enabling duplex by default saves a ton of paper.
* fax machine with a ton of flexible receive options to make it coexist with answering machines on a shared line and other methods (including a well behaved manual mode).
* digital sender for network fax servers including RightFax.
* connection flexibility with network printing, faxing, and scanning (yes, to PDF too) via ethernet - as well as local via USB, and wirelessly via WiFi.
* stand alone copy machine w/50 sheet automatic document feeder
* did I mention that in addition to document scanning (with OCR) it does color scanning too?
The workstation on the network are all running WindowsXP so I can't comment on other OS support - but the included software is well behaved and feature rich. You can initiate scan jobs from the workstation, for example as well as print, fax We're into our 4th month with it. My wife has printed out several copies of her dissertation on it and the page count is several thousand and we haven't even had a jam. Our old Brother laser printer (a 1040) still runs after 8 years. The unit sure feels lightweight and plasticky. I wouldn't put this into a high volume environment - but for my home office it's killer and I've been so happy with it so far.

Solid office machine.......2007-09-20

I have owned three different HP OfficeJet all-in-one. The Brother MFC-8870dw is the best yet.

PROS:
Fast printing. Excellent first page out speed with power saving turned off.
Good paper capacity.
Built in Ethernet networking works good. We do not use the wireless capability.
Excellent faxing. Scans the item before dialing number. So a paper jam doesn't waste a long distance fee.
The best document feeder i have used.
Duplexing works great.

CONS:
The software needs updating.
Mediocre first page out speed with power saving on.

Conclusion: This is a solid Small Business Machine. It may not be suitable for home use.

Dependable Printer.......2007-08-11

This printer is reliable and heavy-duty. Our business has had good response from technical support in wireless issues with our printer. The end result has been a total success.

mfc-8870 DW Toner issues.......2007-06-24

We got this machine it performed flawlessly. both pc & macs are printing via usb & wireless, quality is tops. After, the 2nd cartridge, we have NOT been able to install a new cartridge properly. We have bought 3 different cartridges none fit in properly. We got a new machine and still the same problem. when we manage to get the cartridge in properly the paper jams all the time. Darn, it was too beautiful to last.... we are using brother stock all the way and it still doesn't work. The techs at Fry's don't seem to be able to correct this either. so it is in the repair shop for 5 weeks and we have a brand new one that has the same symptoms...Man it was too good to be true. If we don't resolve this we are going to HP. We've had several Brother machine and they did work well.

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