Brother MFC-240C Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer with Fax

This printer worked great on its first cartridges, but soon afterwards the cartridges were empty and now that I've replaced them with new Brother cartridges the printer refuses to print black, it just churns out blank page after blank page, looked all over the internet and tried every fix imaginable with no help, I think I'm gonna be getting rid of this printer even though it's less than a year old, it's just not worth the constant headache, definite no-go if you want to avoid headache in the long run, just do a search on google and you'll see the countless number of users who are utterly disappointed with this product

This printer does a fine job of printing, faxing, scanning, and copying. The only complaint (but to me a major flaw) is that the printer uses the color cartridges up even if you do not print in color. I have set the default parameters to print in black (grayscale) only, and do not print anything in color. I STILL have to change all 3 color cartridges about every 3 months because they are empty. The factory rep (in India) explains that the printer cleans the cartridges to ensure proper ink flow, but it only uses a minute amount of ink to do so. That is simply not true.

I have nothing but good things to say about Brother laser machines, but this ink jet machine is one to avoid.

I have 2 printers at home. One is a monochrome laser printer which is my main printer for day to day printing. The second one is this for my scanning, copying , faxing and color printing needs. I rarely use this for printing (I think I've probably printed 5-10 pages on average a month)and yet it seems like the ink is always empty. It seems that the printer always runs out of ink even when not in use maybe because it always calibrates the ink heads. The only reason I haven't replaced this thing is the scan and fax features are ok. Once I have enough funds I think this printer needs to go.

I have to agree with another user's review of this printer. I've had it for over 3 years now and was just looking to replace it since I don't think I can fix it, and I still have a bunch of ink left for it.

It's been fantastic for printing all my greeting cards and pictures, scanning, faxing, color, grey scale, B&W printing - I can't think of too many flaws, except when printing on greeting card stock or slick photo paper. Reaching the rollers for cleaning is near impossible and they do require cleaning or the paper doesn't grip as well.

I don't mind not having a picture preview from my camera's memory card - usually I want to quickly get the pix off my camera without going through any major hassles with the camera's software or drivers - and it's usually faster.

I think my only gripe with the printer is the display - it needs to be backlit, cause I need to don a pair of glasses and grab a flashlight to read it.

I would also suggest sticking to the manufacturer's brand of ink as the generic if used before the warranty expires, voids the warranty - but after trying generic ink from one seller, the print quality was not the same due to crappy ink - and I also ended up with overfilled cartridges that leaked during shipping. I like getting my ink at Office Max or Office Depot with a buyer's reward that I've accumulated, along with coupons - it makes for some good saving on the ink - which lasts quite some time - and I did a lot of printing. I haven't bought a greeting card in over 5 years and I haven't had my pictures printed out any other way except by me on my printer - this one has far surpassed any other more expensive printers I've owned.

I'm rather surprised at the new price from one of the sellers. I purchased mine online from Office Max with free shipping for about $70 on a holiday sale. The going price at the time was $100-149. I would never pay $250 for this printer now - I would pay less and get a new version.

At first I loved it, has all kinds of neat features, like memory card slots and is an all in one. But, what I noticed right off is that the printer chooses to cycle itself, every time you turn it on. I can only imagine how much ink it was using while it was "cleaning" the cartriges, sometimes 3 or more times per week! Then, surprise, before you can even blink, it just stops working. It will not print, and demands more ink. So, the cartridges are very expensive, like 40 or more each, and don't hold very much. So I bought the refill kit. Surprise, the machine refused to acknowledge that I put in more ink, and will not even print with the remaining available very full cartridges, it just keeps beeping and making me try OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER..... So I broke down and bought new cartridges. It didn't work. Now it is making a weird sound and grinding my sheets to bits, OVER AND OVER AND OVER and nothing will print or come out in tact!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The scanner and fax still work, but that's probably because I never used them! All I wanted was a printer, but this was on sale so I went for it, hoping I'd find some use for it and maybe increase my productivity here at the home office. This is just sitting around now, waiting until I can unload it at a garage sale for 5 bucks or donate to charity. Who even knows where my receipt is at, I gave up on that long ago. The store will not even talk to me, just suggests getting a new one. This company is obviously making money on ink. Bottom line, a TOTAL RIP, NOT WORTH ONE DOLLAR, PASS.

While the print quality of this machine is very good, it is a constant problem to use. The paper constantly jams if you try to use anything except plain paper. The feeder cannot handle photo paper, card stock or or any other special paper. Unless you plan on limiting your printing to very basic documents, I recommend not going with this printer.

I got this printer as part of a bundle with a Gateway computer, and I really don't like this thing. I've had it for almost a year, and I can't stand it anymore. It takes 1 black and 3 color toner cartridges. I really hate the fact that when one of the toner cartridges are empty, the printer will not print anything at all, not even black and white. What's worse is that NONE of the functions will work until you refill whatever toner cartridge is empty. So even if you just want to scan a document or photo to send in an email, this printer/scanner/fax/copier will not let you do anything if a toner cartridge is empty. I'm not buying any more toner for this piece of crap. I'd rather apply that money to a better printer. The printing quality is mediocre at best, and I don't even want to get started on the endless paper jams. I've had multiple issues with the copier mode, and the directions are not helpful. I've had to unplug and plug this thing back in to get it to work several times. This thing just isn't worth the hassle. I'm shopping for a new printer.

We have had this printer/fax for about 18 months now (conveniently out of warranty). We use it very little, and while its constant cleaning and ink issues mentioned in other reviews are annoying, it worked fine and since we don't use it much we didn't really care. However, today I discovered it can no longer send or receive faxes. So I called tech support, who were of less help and more frustration than the machine itself. The lady I talked to INSISTED on reading to me a description of how a fax machine works when you have an answering machine on the same line. The issue is NOT my answering machine, as I can't even get a dial tone to send a fax. I interrupted her mid-paragraph to let her know I know how a fax and answering machine interact, and that I had already disconnected my answering machine anyway but still had the same problem so it really doesn't apply. The moment I stopped talking, she continued to finish reading the explanation.

(The entire time I was on the phone with Brother agents today, they basically refused to engage in conversation. Any time you say anything they immediately "apologize for the inconvenience" then dive right back into the script. I don't need further apologies, I want them to have at least two brain cells work on understanding the point I just brought up. But they don't, they just ignore anything I said and get back on track- no thinking on your feet for them. This was the case with more than one agent I spoke to today.)

Then when troubleshooting steps failed to work, her suggestion was to try them all again. So we did. No luck. Her diagnosis: the LINE jack (the one that takes the line-in directly from the wall jack) is bad. I don't understand this, because I have an extension hooked up to the fax machine that works fine. How is it that the fax can't detect a dial tone or respond to a ring, but it is able to pass both those things along the line to the extension?? She assured me that she didn't know how it worked but that is what is happening. While she appears to be correct- the fact that she can't even give me a rough idea of how it is happening is frustrating.

So I am off to buy a new combo fax/printer. I will not be buying a Brother machine. Their "tech support" clearly is not "tech savvy" and can only read from their script. Also, the machine broke with VERY light usage after less than two years- not a good value, IMO. I am also sick of running out to buy ink cartridges every time I turn around due to all the "cleaning". And for the love of Pete, PLEASE let me print in black and white even though the magenta is low- this is patently ridiculous.

Buyer beware- I should have been.

this printer crashed under warranty twice, it was a huge hassle to get brother to do anything about it. warranty is over, printer crashed again. i may have print 100/200 sheets of paper on this machine in its career with me. it seems like a deal for the price but it's actually cheaper to print at kinkos if you divide the purchase price buy the sheet.

I take back every good thing I have ever said regarding the "consumer-friendly" Brother printers.

First off, at face value this printer does a GREAT job at what it is supposed to do: printing, scanning, faxing, and copying.

HOWEVER it has a very inefficient mechanism for monitoring and handing ink cartridges that robs you of ink & usage. So while the cartridges are indeed inexpensive, you can actually use about 60% of the ink in them before the ink reservoir detector starts telling you it is time to replace.

The kicker is that the printer will NOT work once it detects an "empty" cartridge. I used my printer very moderately and suddenly it started telling me I have low ink; a day later it said I was empty.

After research I found that if you tape the clear housing with masking tape you can trick the printer into actually letting you use the remaining ink.

So if you don't mind fiddling with this printer to get it to let you actually use the ink you paid for, go for it. However I would suggest you go with Lexmark or Canon. Bad form Brother, bad form...

Works great. Very functional. BUT - get ready to go through all four cartridges every couple of weeks (with even a moderate use.) And the kicker is - even if you print just B&W, you have to have ALL FOUR cartridges in........what a racket!

I always purchase brother printers. I save a lot of money on cartridges because they are very affordable.

There are so many things that are wrong with this printer and it's incredibly flawed design that I won't even get into it. STAY FAR AWAY!

The printer itself is decent but the software included is very bloated and poor quality. The CD installs 150 MB worth of crapware programs on your PC. Then it barley even works. I cant print on my vista laptop but it can scan. It cant scan on xp but it can print. I would expect the CD to only install a driver but it also installs several program that run in the background.

This is the first and last brother printer I will own.

First, you must have ink in order to print any faxes. You can not see the fax before printing so you are spending a lot of money on ink. The option is not available. If you happen to run out of ink during a fax, the machine will not print the entire fax and you have to run and buy the ink.

The OCR (optical character recognition) is so bad, it won't work unless the document is put in the right way and it will not let you select any options. It will always scan the entire page.

Excellent product for the money.
I have one at home and one at my office.
I have never faxed with it however.

I have NEVER had much trouble with printers. They get a few years old and just stop working. But I've had nothing but problems with this horrific device! From the beginning, the manual was in Chinese, the operation was so complicated that I had to refer to (and decipher) the manual over and over. Just changing the ink carts was ridiculous, as the stupid thing ALWAYS said "no cartridge" until you pounded the new one in with your fist (all three colors and black did the same thing). Had to "clean" the black each and every time I wanted to print a letter, resume, etc. More smudged and faded prints than should ever be put up with. Won't ALLOW you to print if the idiotic thing PERCEIVES that ink in ANY cartridge is low (even if it's almost half full)!!!! I would never buy anything from BroHoe again, and suggest you STAY AWAY!

This printer will tell you that its out of ink when the cartridge is still about 1/3 full. Then you have to go through the pain of taping over the window on each cartridge to get the printer to actually use the ink you paid for. In addition, the machine needlessly cleans itself ALL the time. You need to keep the printer unplugged or else all of your ink will vanish into thin air. I strongly urge you to look elsewhere.

I loathe and despise this printer. I mostly use the printer part of this machine for cardmaking and scrapbooking. I wasn't thinking when I bought this that I should have bought a machine that feeds paper from the back so it doesn't have to roll over to print. It hates cardstock and it takes several tries before I can get it to go through. I can't print on anything smaller than 8 1/2 x 11 because it won't feed and keeps jamming. I try taping the small piece to a larger piece but it just chews it up. Or it will pull several papers through at a time even though I've "fanned" them. I haven't figured out yet how to receive faxes and it won't collate multi page documents so the first page is on the top when you take them off the printer. This printer is only good for copying on paper of standard size and thickness.

I received this printer for free and realized that its nothing more than a glorified door stop. Extremely slow and has a major problem with knowing how much ink is actually left in the cartridges. As pricey as ink is these days, when your printer tells you your cartridge is empty and you actually see that its still about half full, there's a problem.

After the paper jams, ink snafus, and mystery freeze ups, the printer just stopped recognizing that a cartridge was installed period. No matter how many times I removed the cartridge and replaced it with a new one, it kept stating that I needed to install another because nothing was registering.

Will make a youtube video soon with the error and subsequent destruction of the printer by brute force!

I really enjoy using the Brother MFC-240C on my Windows XP system! Installation was smooth, except I had to call support when my USB cable wouldn't fit into the USB port on the machine. It turns out I needed a USB AB device cable, rather than a normal USB cable. The Quick Setup Guide didn't mention this, but support was helpful and I found a 6 foot cable for $6.

FAXING. I faxed my registration info with no problems, and received a confirmation fax soon afterwards. Since I have an answering machine (aka Telephone Answering Device) hooked up, I was concerned that receiving faxes would be problematic, but everything went smoothly. When I called myself to see if the answering machine still took voice messages, it did so with no problem.

COPYING. I made some b&w copies with no problems.

PRINTING. I printed out a holiday card with color images and text. It looked nice, and I had no problems. Here's how to disable bi-directional printing if you want to try saving ink: click the Windows Start button, go to Settings / Printers and Faxes; then right click on the MFC-240C icon, choose Properties; on the General tab click the Printer Preferences button, then click the Settings button.

SCANNING. This was the only feature that had much of a learning curve. To take full advantage of this, you must use the ScanSoft PaperPort software that's included on the installation CD. To learn how to use the software, I downloaded the Software Manual from Brother's website (http://solutions.brother.com). You can also access it from ControlCenter3 (Device Settings, User's Guide). This information was very helpful, and I soon got the hang of it after some experimenting.

ScanSoft PaperPort gives you OCR, book, multiple page, and file management options. If you want to use the Automatic Document Feeder, simply load your pages to be scanned, and scan from PaperPort. The docs will get scanned into a single, multi-page item. The OCR function was excellent. You can get additional info from within PaperPort (Help / User Guide).

PICTURE CAPTURE. This was the only feature I didn't use.

In general, set-up and installation was smooth (except for the USB cable), and all the features I tried either met or exceeding my expectations. I'm very satisfied with this unit and would recommend it for faxing, copying, and scanning. I have a laser printer, so this won't be my main printer. I plan on using it to print an occasional holiday card or map in color, and for this it's excellent. I purchased this unit refurbished from Staples for $30, and that made it an incredible bargain as well.

- You can't print unless all ink cartridges are installed and have some ink. For example, if you want to print a black/white document, your color cartridges must be installed with at least minimum ink.
- The printer uses a lot of ink
- I never used the color ink but somehow it is slowly going away
- Paper jams are a hassle
- It is completely worthless. Please, spend a little extra and get a different brand.

I guess I know why this was on sale. It doesn't print. I've gone through two black ink cartridges ($$), and now the other three colors are "low" from all the cleanings. I still have yet to print anything... if the black ink doesn't work, nothing will print.
The help-desk was rather help-less; despite the fact that I itemized their documented troubleshooting tips ad nauseum, the advice was to do them again.... and again. Since I bought this before traveling overseas, their final piece of advice was the best. "I'm sorry, we don't have any service centers near you, why don't you bring it back to the States?".
Like I said - does anyone need a doorstop? The scanner DOES work, but I can't seem to copy without any ink either... I guess 1 out of 4 isn't bad... they DID say this was an "all-in-ONE" machine, right?

This is an excellent machine.It can do all functions with ease and relative speed.It's not a super high tech.,big $$ machine.I purchased it in July,before I had a computer because I needed a machine for Faxing,and also it was to be a prerequisite for a computer purchase.It is excellent in Fax Mode,you don't even need to have full power on,there are settings where the machine is virtually "off"and it will still receive a fax.Then the big day came when I brought home my computer. I really thought there will be all kinds of geeky things to contend with here.
To my total amazement after completing the computer set up,this machine was the virtual piece of cake. Simply plug in one USB line(optional),insert the CD
and away it goes.There are the usual questions to answer as with any machine you add to your system,but so what! In the end you have all the incredible functions installed and ready to go at your finger tips.
What more could one ask for?
Yes,I have read some of the reviews here and other places, both good and not.I look at it this way; if YOU bought this machine with the intentions of using it to the fullest,YOU should take the time in the beginning to set it up to work to your best advantage of functionality.Doing this will avoid having another person write a poor review only because they did not take the time to start with to understand such a complex machine.
Customer support is always there.I know this because I see it on-line when I check to see if it is available,and it is.Other than this I have never had to give a thought about them because I have had no problems with this machine at all.
Yes it cleans itself,I find this a plus just for the fact I know it is always ready to go.In my opinion there is not a better machine for my home office,especially in this price range.

If you are in the market for this type of machine,do yourself a favor and pick this one up today you will not be sorry, I'm not!!

When you buy this unit, buy USB cable also.

I bought a new printer specifically because I needed to print hundreds of business cards. The 240C was on sale for $60 at Best Buy and looked great from the product description. But when I set it up I couldn't print any business cards. The paper would either jam or it would print offside. I did some research on-line and found that this printer can't print business cards! What kind of printer is that!
Also, upon putting it together I could really tell it was put together with cheap plastic. I returned it the next day.

This printer is a 6-1 does it all from color printing, color copying, scanning, color faxing, pc faxing and photo printing from pict bridge, memory card or through your computer.

Things I really like about this printer are:

1. 10 page document feeder.
2. Memory card reader. My computer doesn't have a memory card reader so I don't have to buy one.
3. Cheap Ink only $10.00! http://www.amazon.com/Compatible-LC-51-BROTHER-MFC-240C-440CN/dp/B0014YZ36M/ref=pd_sim_e_4
4. The price I bought it for from Bestbuy is cheap compared here at amazon.

The issues I have with this printer are the following:

1. It's a bit slow when you print your documents (Even if you already set it on fast printing.
2. When receiving fax you have to set it in fax only when not around or give the caller a fax tone... I already tried a lot of settings like Fax/Telephone, Manual, External TAD but everytime somebody sends a document while i'm not around it doesn't automatically receive the fax!
3. On initial set-up under receive mode I have to set my printer to manual because I have issues with my voicemail going somewhere else!
4. You have to change your ink every six months. (I have to change mine anyway!) but for some people who doesn't use it often it's costly. I used to have an HP1350 and I don't have to changed mine for more than a year but the price on my HP to change the ink is $[...][ and above!
5. No USB ab included. I have to buy mine from Bestbuy for $30.00 but returned it after I receive my order from amazon.com Here's the link it only cost below $5.00 http://www.amazon.com/Startech-Premium-Speed-Certified-Device/dp/B000067SPP/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1223797809&sr=8-1

Anyway, The pros on this printer far more outweights the cons. I recommend this printer if you can buy it 50% less comapared to amazon.com and your purpose is for Home Use Only.

AMAZING VALUE FOR THE MONEY. I USE THE FAX ALL THE TIME. I DON'T HAVE TO USE THE COMPUTER FOR THIS FUNCTION EITHER. I CAN SEND ONE PAGE OR AS MANY AS I LIKE. MUCH BETTER THAN MY OLD EPSON CX6400. I LOVE THIS MACHINE!

Do not buy this printer. It is the worst printer I have ever seen. From the constant paper jams that are nearly impossible to unclog, false low ink readings that disable the printer, and just moodiness this printer is horrible. Some days it works, other days it decides to take a day off and will not function at all. The best are when you install a brand new ink cartridge and then it tells you that it is empty and refuses to attempt to print until you install yet another ink cartridge. I have never wanted to throw a piece of electronic equipment out the window until I met this printer.

My mother bought this printer for me because she swore up and down that she owned the same model and it was great for her. I'm not sure if she was mistaken or I got a lemon, but I was only able to use this printer for 3 or 4 months, max. I never even made it past the cartridges that came with the printer. I got paper jams every time I tried to print, and now I guess I have an 'eternal' paper jam because it won't print at all now. I've tried everything, and I'm pretty handy with jams because I remove them all the time from a much larger printer at work. Yes, it was slower than a turtle, yes, it was always cleaning.. but at least it was better than nothing. Now I can't even say that..! What a piece of junk! I guess I'll be trying a Canon now.

It's a well known fact that printer companies make the majority of their money on consumables. Well, this product has been designed with an intentional flaw that causes the printer to stop printing when the printer detects low ink. The problem is that when this detection occurs, there is still 50% of the ink remaining in the cartridge. It's extremely frustrating. I would not recommend this product to anybody.

There is a metal bar right across the middle under the glass that makes scanning impossible. None of the documents tell me how to move it. Any ideas? Otherwise it's pointless.

I've only had thic MFC for a few weeks, But have found it to work very well on all fuctions.Not hard to install with VISTA. About 2 hours out of box to finish.Not bad for me,"Im no GEEK". I've always had HP printers in the past but just basic printers. I just could not pass up the 240C for 50 bucks. What a deal. I paid more than that for my first printer 20 years ago. No five stars, Im not sure what that would be. For 50 bucks GET ONE.

It's really rubbish, keep saying empty ink even you just installed a brand new genuine ink cartridge. Waste me lot of money and time. Don't buy it.

It is disappointing to see so many who are not aware of features. Brother is one of the few printer companies that do a good job of including a real book (not just manual-on-CD), so it's easy to find out how to operate. Notice the bad reviews stem from one feature the user can't figure out. This is a compact 3-in-1 machine not just a printer. It even does OCR for under $100.

As far as functioning without ink, very few modern printers will do this as drums/printheads can be damaged or air bubbles cause many cleaning cycles when running on empty. This is really a non-issue; just get ink. There are TONS of aftermarket inks around-- even under $5. Try that with a new Canon, HP, Lexmark, etc. that are smart chipped. You might as well buy another printer than replace the inks in low cost models that aren't Brother.

Mac problems: Get the newest driver off support site. I'm surprised Apple support can't fix this. I've installed several of these without hitches.

One caveat: It's good to print several pages each week for any inkjet to keep printhead & tubes from drying. The Brothers are designed to "sip" a bit each day to prevent problems, so they appear to use ink without printing. Just shut it off or unplug.

Head cleaning is nothing out of the ordinary.

Noise?? See "office machines." Speed? It is average; good for a machine of this class.

Brothers are VERY configurable: many options can be locked down as defaults. Functions are available through both the front panel and "Control Center" software. Again, any complaints are from those who don't care enough to glance at the directions.

This is a really good machine with tons of features at an extremely low price. It's easy to use for default printing, scanning, and faxing. The alternative supplies are inexpensive.

I am writing this review from the POV of a high school student. I use this for basic printing about 10 times a month, and the quality is good when it works. That said, the printer seems to jam more often than other printers. I am having that problem right now, and though I've removed the paper, it still says it's jammed. Horribly inconvenient. I think we bought this for around 50 bucks or less, but I wouldn't buy it again. I definitely don't recommend this to businesses. The one pro is that ink cartridges are cheap. I bought several blacks and colors for less than 4 bucks each on eBay. They work great; I wish the printer did too.

This printer has caused me much aggravation. It worked ok for about a year. Now I am constantly getting errors. I was hoping this would last longer than a year. I would not recommend buying this printer.

this all in one unit is great it holds a good amount of paper is quiet and definitly ready to use from the start of receiving it. The cost of ink for it varies but is within a reasonable range. It feeds copies from the top or one at a time by lifting the copier lid. The color quality is very good, and cartiridges easy to change.

I bought this for small business use. I needed a flatbed copier and something somewhat fast. The copier wasn't fast. It seemed to take quite a while for it to spit out a copy. Also, the flatbed cover was heavy and cumbersome to have to hold open as you tried to lay something down and align to copy. This might be an ok copier for some, but didn't work for me. Also, inkjet isn't the way to go. Much too expensive for toner and quality is not as good as laser either

I bought this all-in-one printer (model MFC-240C) two years ago for myself, and I loved it. Easy to use, good quality color or black/white prints and fax. When my parents needed a multifunction printer, I bought the same model for them. They loved it too. The auto-feeder that comes with this model is worth the extra money. It is very useful and convinient.

After having bad luck with Lexmark inkjet and a Brother Laser printer I decided to try a Brother inkjet (MFC-240C)...it's the same old story...cheap price, expensive ink...free razor, expensive razor blades!
The first ink cartridges worked fine, went fast. Bought a 4 pack of each color of aftermarket ink cartridges...so far so good. After the first aftermarket cartridges were depleted the machine has refused to recognize new cartridges aftermarket or Brother originals...nothing doing, calling customer service was useless. And since I cannot find my receipt, I now own another paperweight...service costs more than a new printer!
Anybody want some ink?
It was slow etc but it was enough for my home office needs.

Another piece of junk!

I had nothing but good things to say about this printer. But wouldn't ya know it. Almost 1 yr to the day I bought it and now it constantly jams, misfeeds or spews out crep. The only reason I'd give it 3 stars is because it lasted pretty well the 1st yr. Now, I'm fed up. DH is gonna hit the roof when I tell him we have to buy yet another printer/all-in-one. I can't say I'm too sad because the cartridges are pretty expensive. Many stores that take old cartridges won't give you credit for Brother replacements. Walgreens won't refill Brothers either. Egads!!! Back to Canon, I guess. Epson bites too.

Isn't it ironic that most printers live just past their warranty? It's a conspiracy, I tell ya!

Piece of junk. If it runs out of ink in any color, NOTHING WILL WORK. You cannot scan or fax. You cannot print in black if it is out of yellow. It also runs itself out of ink by constantly self-cleaning. The price seems good at first, but an inexpensive piece of junk is still a piece of junk.

I got my a used one, but it was kinda frustated at first, but once i figure out everything it out to be great. My issue experience first was the weak Scan Feature, but can be easily solve download the latest software in the site, will greatly improve scan option.

Pro: Slim
Price
feeder (not many offer that in this price)
All in one
Quiet !!!
Ink last very long compare to most

Cons: Some confuse bottom
Look kinda ungly for recent printer
Annoying light when turn on
Paper tray kinda hard to reach.

I bought this machine without first checking the customer rating it had; big mistake. Mine CONSTANTLY experiences paper jams, mis-feeds, partial prints (for some reason), all of which have caused me to consume, WASTE, a ton of ink and paper. It spends 4 minutes cleaning itself each time I turn it on. It is very slow to receive data from my Mac and stops printing two or three lines into a page for some reason. And let's not forget the ink! THIS MACHINE IS VERY COSTLY TO OPERATE! I suppose if mine didn't jam all the time wasting so much paper, and ink I might not feel this way. Oh, did I mention the error message I get each time I plug it into my laptop; not even the Mac store can get it to go away without rebooting.
The thing is a mess and was a total waste of my money. And I can't even throw it away; it's electronic! And it's going straight to the dump!

I've been using this scanner at work to get rid of files and it is super solid. You can adjust resolution and the feeder is superb.

I love this so much. I'm getting another one for the home!

The printer seems Ok. However when I replaced the ink with a compatible one the second time. It didn't work. I tried another one, it didn't work either.

I saw this and the price was 79.99. Wow, what a bargain. Except the printing was poor. Print speed (USB in fast slot) poor in addition to the lenghtly 'thinking time' that the printer took before beginning printing. I spent two hours trying to get a two page fax sent. I consider myself to be tech savy. No fax. Paper tray is the worst that I have ever seen. You have to open a covered paper drawer to add paper, print on reverse, etc, pain! LED screen is almost unreadable due to low light and you have to stand over it to read it at all. If price is a real issue, then this will print. If you want an-all-in one and can afford another $50-60, then shop for something else. I took mine back.

I bought this item in May 2007. (Updated August 11th 2007) I've used the color photo printer, fax- (both send & recieve), copier, printer and scanner. Fortunatley, I based my choice on someone who knows this BRAND and is up on technology. You wont find a better unit for the price, PERIOD! The ink is inexpensive and only the newer version, the (MFC 440 cn) can top this models features with built in NETWORKING and (FAX to PC). Meaning a fax to the MFC 440cn can be recieved and stored on your PC prior to printing. Those who complain should be spending way more for what they are seeking. In addition, I suggest they learn how to read an instruction manual! Those who want GOOD QUALITY in a VERY inexpensive and COMPACT machine..(My biggest concern was SIZE and this unit fit).. will be very satisfied with the MFC 240!! Do your homework!!

For the sake of your wallet and sanity ... Do not buy any printer made by Brother! I bought an inkjet multifunction that broke after about 24 months. It cost $90 to fix. Then it broke again ... the same problem, the infamous "error 41" ... four months later. I also bought a Brother laser printer. I installed a replacement toner cartridge, made by Brother, which was defective and leaked all over the inside of the machine, damaging the drum. Brother refused to cover the repair cost because they said the damage was caused by a "consumable" product - their defective toner cartridge! Another $110 to repair. In short, Brother products are junk, their warranty is bogus, and you'll waste a lot of money on repairing their garbage. I finally used my brain and bought a Lexmark, which I should have done in the first place because this brand has never caused me any problems.

This is my first Brother printer. I bought it because my father, who has a Brother MFC-210C, advise me of the extraordinary quality of that brand. I can't said anything but that I am enchanted of the features of this device. Its scanner works so smooth and with a very low sound, not noise. It prints photographies with very natural colors, so as you see on your PC's monitor, and they look very beautiful even in regulatr paper. I had't try with photo paper. Other features (copier, fax, cards readers, and so on, are also very good. Thanks father, and thanks Brother.