Editorial Review:

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.



Accessories:
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Accessories:

• Brother LC51BK Black Ink Cartridge
• Brother LC51C Cyan Ink Cartridge
• Brother LC51Y Yellow Ink Cartridge
• Brother LC51M Magenta Ink Cartridge
• Brother LC51HYBK Black Inkjet Cartridge (900 Page Yield) for MFC-5460cn & MFC-5860cn

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

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Related Items:
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Related Items:

• Brother TN580 High Yield Black Toner Cartridge
• Brother LT5300 (250 Pg) Lower tray for HL-5200 Series Printers
• Brother DR520 (25,000 YLD) Replacement Drum Cartridge
• Brother MFC-7820N 5-in-1 Network Monochrome Laser Multifunction Center
• see more

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Rating: - Great Features but some reliability issues
For the past 1 1/2 I have purchased several of these brother MFC machines, including the MFC 8870DW. As one other person indicated, the Brother printers seem to have a flaw with the paper tray and periodically they will stop working and click. A call to Brother does not resolve the problem. The good news is that I always buy through Costco so instead of sending back the problem machine to Brother for a "refurbished" one, I merely order a new one and take the broken one back to Costco for a full refund. It certainly would be nice if Brother could figure out the problem as I am sure they are getting lots of returns (5 from me at least) but the cost per copy is so much less than other printers and the speed of printing is teriffic. Also, the duplexing I use all the time and that too is very fast. So if you are looking for lots of features and don't mind bringing back a machine or too to Costco, buy this machine at Costco and don't worry about the problems. You can just get a new machine when the old one breaks!

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Rating: - Great Printer, Horrible Customer Service
The MFC is great with double sided printing and wireless capability, but there does not exist enough expletives to describe Brother's customer service.

Thus: Printer = 5 stars, Customer Service = -10 stars.

Setup was quick and easy and printed well. But mine had a problem making copies. Fax, Scan, Print all worked great, but just copies came out blurry, light, and with toner hue inconsistently across the page. It did not matter whether using the automatic feeder or the flatbed.

So I call customer service. Go through the process of cleaning everything and checking settings as told. Copies look the same as before. Customer Service tells me to replace the drum.

I am not the smartest kid on the block, but if printouts look great from printing, why would the drum be bad? And why would I replace a 2 week old drum on my own dime? Logically, the problem would be before the process of placing toner to paper (such as the scanning portion).

I attempted to convey this to customer service. But got the answer that I have to replace the drum before they can further talk to me. I asked for the next level of help, but I was told everything was handled correctly and would not be forwarded to the next level. I asked for customer service to lodge a complaint, but was given the 1-877-BROTHER number instead of being forwarded.

If you have a problem, just exchange it or return it. Save yourself the hassle from calling Brother. If you do have to call, just lie and tell them you replaced the drum. Probably easier to scour the web, though, for an answer.

Off topic: Amazon has been great in exchanging. UPS picks it up and drops off an exchange in its place.

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Rating: - Best Multi-Function Printer on the Market
Best b/w multi-function printer money can buy. This is one of the few that has duplex capability for BOTH printing and scanning, and it is the only MF that has both capabilities and is anywhere close to this price range. The Brother MFC-8870DW would be a bargain at twice the price. We are especially happy with the wireless networking that has finally allowed us to locate the printer where we want it, rather than being constrained to being within cable range of our Mac. Highly recommended.

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Rating: - Brother Printer Review
So far, all seems to be working just fine.
Look forward to using the many features installed with this printer

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Rating: - Good but not perfect.....
My wife needed this all-in-one to replace an overloaded HP 1012, an old and balky fax machine and a flatbed scanner. The main impetus was her business was requiring scanning of multiple sheets. We've had it for 2 months now and here's the results so far:
THE GOOD: Frees up a lot of desk space; Quick & easy initial set up; big paper tray; superfast printing, quiet operation (despite some earlier reviews to the contrary); fax and document scanning has been a breeze; even the duplex feature has worked perfectly the few times we've used it.
THE BAD: Our biggest grouse is the print output - when printing large jobs the output tray gets jammed up, eventually causing internal jams. It may be the cheapo paper we're using - after 40 sheets or so they seem to curl up and don't lie flat in the out tray - we have to constantly empty the output tray every 5 or 6 sheets otherwise it shoots sheets onto the floor or jams. Also as noted in other reviews, it will print envelopes for us but they tend to come out curled and wrinkled - we'll be doing envelopes (not a high priority for us) in our InkJet. Document scanning is great, but some initial attempts to scan 4x6 photo prints were spoiled by stripes or "plaid" artifacts - solution so far has been to resurrect the old flatbed. And lastly, we went and got the top-of-the line with wireless capability in the hope that my wife could print direct from her laptop. I was unable to follow the setup instructions in the manual first time through - will try again when I'm in the mood - would probably be easy for a halfways competent IT guy.
Bottom line: vast improvement on what we had been using, for about the same aggregate price. Only intractable issue is the small and confined output tray, and that might be less of an issue if we upgraded our paper.