The Brother 4 in 1 printer is a bit of a challenge to learn. It comes with a copier, scanner, fax, and printer. It also has a telephone receiver connected to it, although if you don't wish to use it, the machine also comes with a hard piece of plastic to cover the hole where the receiver was removed. I have it connected wirelessly to my laptop and my desktop. Ok, these are the things I had problems with: I couldn't get it to connect wirelessly to my desktop, and had to call technical help. They were able to walk me through this. Then a few days later I called tech assistance again because I couldn't print forms off the internet because the printer had an error message on it. Again, this was fixed over the phone. About a week after this I couldn't scan an item to file. Again, a call to tech assistance. I was told I have to 'connect' the scanner on my computer to this printer. I was helped with this as well. Then the final time I called tech, it was because my printer message stated another error. After, this was fixed the technician suggested I never shut off my printer, because my wireless connection was volatile. Huh? He told me the printer goes into a sleep mode anyway, so it saves energy that way. Ooookay.... My complaint about the answering machine. After the phone rings, you can't pick up the phone to answer it if the message comes on. The phone makes a loud screeching noise and doesn't shut off like a normal answerer would. Also, if someone is on the extension of the phone that is connected to the printer, the printer functions cannot be used. My last beef is waiting on the phone for tecnical assistance. I have waited up to 40 minutes, with the lowest time being 14 minutes. However, once you do get them on the phone, there is no hurrying with you or any show of impatience that you have too many questions.

mailcats1

544571243

I am somewhat ambivalent to this printer. It is okay for day to day functions. I don't really use the fax capabilities, so I won't comment on that. The scanner works great and is easy to use. The color isn't that bad or that great for printing photographs. It prints fairly quickly and I like the fact that it is wireless capable. It was reasonably priced in its category. The one glaring drawback is that it runs through ink very quickly. The ink cartridges are small and expensive if purchasing the brand name. Even the black ink cartridge is too small compared to other printers. When you run out of one color, the machine stops printing entirely until it is replaced, so no just printing in black when one of the other three colors runs out. If you are using the machine for a business or for school work forget it! Also, the paper gets jammed easily and even if you can pull it out without opening the back of the printer, you still have to go through the process of lifting the top machine lid for it to reset so that it will print again. I do like the top load copier, which is nice. Otherwise, the machine is just basic.

bayoumagnolia

Baton Rouge, LA

I have owned the Brother MFC-685W printer now for a little over a year. At this time, I do not use the fax/phone capabilities, but that will change in the future. I have found the overall usage of this printer to be fairly easy to use. The accompanying booklets were easy to read and understand. The copy mode works just fine. I never had an issue with it. The fax mode worked fine the one time I used it (to fax in my printer registration and warranty info). The scanner works fine also. Again, no technical issues. The printing capabilities are also fine. My main issue has been with the ink ... One, if ANY of the 4 inks are empty, you can not print at all. So, if you are out of blue and just want to print in black only - you are out of luck. If you have plenty of black ink and are wanting to print in just black (let's say an email), you should be able to. I called technical support on this issue and all I got was a run-around about how the ink is used in routine cleaning (even when the printer is off it occassional does cleaning). Their answers had nothing to do with the question at hand. Poor service there. Secondly, the original ink you receive with the printer evidentally hardly contains any ink. It was gone very quickly.  I went and bought a bulk package of 3rd party ink from a reputable company and the ink is lasting a long long time, with quality printing results. And the 3rd party ink was SO MUCH CHEAPER than Brother ink. Then again, there is a big issue with the cost of ink from all the major brands, so this is not a surprise.  On a side note, I have not been able to find a way to successfully have 2 computers use the same printer (we use the USB cable connection). It's a minor problem for us, but might be a larger issue for another small business owner. Overall, I am actually happy with the performance of this printer. I'm a small business owner and it has held up with the frequently printing demands I have placed on it. So far, this is the first printer to last more than several months without falling apart on us like other brands have.

BarbaraNC

Taylorsville, NC