Brother MFCL2740DW Wireless Monochrome Printer with Scanner, Copier and Fax, Amazon Dash Replenishment Ready

Update 6/1/15:Although I had exercised the Brother's printing and copying functionality, I had not had a chance until today to use its scanning feature. And that's where I ran into my first significant bump in the road . . .I had a 4 sheet double-sided document that I needed to scan to PDF, and used the front panel touchscreen to select the scan feature. Unfortunately, my laptop did not show up in the list of PCs available as scan destinations. A few minutes of poking around in the laptop's scan settings turned up an option to register the PC with the printer, and that appeared to fix that specific issue.Since the laptop now showed as a selectable destination, I attempted to complete the scan. Unfortunately, all that happened was an alert "ding" from my laptop and an error message stating that it could not communicate with the scanner. I started working my way through Brother's troubleshooting steps.The diagnostic tool claimed that every function of the printer was working with the exception of the scan feature, and suggested I run the software update check tool. I had updated the printer's firmware and the PC-based software only a few days before, but the update tool discovered both a firmware update and a new version of the printer monitor software. Once both were installed, scanning via both the Device front panel and under PC control worked as expected.Had there not been a readily-available fix for the issue, I would have certainly downgraded my rating. At this point, though, the MFCL2740DW is everything I was hoping it to be.Original Review:After years of using HP inkjet printers (believing that they were cost-effective because my printing needs were fairly minimal), I've come to the conclusion that they're a waste of time and money. My last home office purchase started to require a thorough cleaning of the cartridge carrier nearly every time I needed to print something, the cartridges themselves were ridiculously expensive and much ink was wasted by its periodic self-maintenance, and I found that I just wasn't printing photos or other color output enough to justify the time and effort needed to keep that printer running.I decided on the MFCL2740DW because it's one of the highest-rated multi-function laser printers in my price range, includes all of the features I need, and has a footprint that fits my home office needs.The printer arrived double-boxed and the internal packing was well designed to prevent shipping damage. The paper drawer, access panels, scanner lid, etc. were all well-taped to prevent movement during transit, and the tape was easily removed during the unboxing process. Toner cartridge installation was easy, with illustrated instructions taped to the access door. Power-up and initial setup via the touch-screen display was straightforward; I used a wired Ethernet connection and the printer obtained its IP address via DHCP and registered as a uPnP device on my network.The software installation process wasn't quite as smooth, but that could well have been my fault. I decided to let Windows 7 look for a new printer rather than install from the included CD. When Windows complained about not having the necessary drivers, I installed the Brother software, but ended up with multiple instances of the printer in my Devices and Printers list. To fix this, I had no choice other than to delete all of the printers, uninstall the Brother software, reboot, scrub the registry with CCleaner (I'm not absolutely sure this was necessary, but I felt it was prudent), then reinstall the software. I then installed the latest version of the software from the Brother web site, and all was good. Scanning, copying and printing all worked as expected, and the output (even with the toner-saving feature enabled) was very acceptable for my needs.Some here have complained about the noise produced by this printer. This surprises me; I can only assume they've never had a printer before. Every inkjet I've owned goes through a periodic maintenance cycle that is much noisier, more protracted, and more unpredictable than the sounds produced by this printer. The only time it actually makes noise is when it's printing something; the inkjets would either wake up periodically to clean themselves or spend a couple of minutes cleaning (and wasting ink, of course) whenever a print job was sent to them.As others have reported, this printer draws a fair amount of current. Make sure you've plugged it into a circuit that can handle it, and DON'T plug it into a UPS. Also note that the current draw is an attribute of pretty much every laser/LED printer, but the money you'll spend on electricity will be vastly offset by the savings on ink when compared to an inkjet printer.A note on wireless configuration. I get the impression that a number of people reviewing this printer assumed that the ability to print from a wirelessly-connected device (such as a tablet, smartphone, or laptop/desktop) requires you to actually configure the printer for a wireless connection. This is not true, assuming your network's wired LAN is visible/accessible from the wireless LAN (which is normally the case in most home-office and many conventional office environments). Although my printer is connected via Ethernet, it's accessible from iPads, smartphones, and wirelessly-connected laptops/desktops throughout the house. If an Ethernet connection is convenient to the printer, it's far easier to configure . . . just plug it in and it's available on your network; no need to scan for SSIDs, enter passphrases, or even press the WPS button on your access point.I thought this printer was a good value at the previous mid-$200's price. The Memorial-day weekend price-drop to below $200 made the purchase a no-brainer. And with 3rd party toner cartridges and refill kits readily available, this is likely to be a very economical device to operate.

I love that I no longer have to worry about how much I'm printing. This is the third multipurpose printer we added to our home network. Before this we had two color inkjet printers. One of them has just become outdated and doesn't seem to want to sync with anything else on the network. The other one is almost brand new, but it seemed like every time I would turn around I was out of ink. After my second late night Walmart run to get ink so I could turn in a paper I decided it was time to make a change. Between all of the stuff I was printing out to read for class, with all of the coupons my girlfriend likes to print, and then two teenagers printing stuff for school we decided that our home office had grown to the point that we could justify the investment in a laser printer. Initially I wasn't planning on spending as much on a printer as we did on this one, but I'm glad we did for a couple of reasons.1.) The touch screen makes operation a breeze. Buttons don't have to have multiple uses, whatever menu you need just comes up on the scree, and sometimes it does it automatically. If you scan something in all you have to do is swipe to wherever you want to send the file. My girlfriend is not technologically inclined, in fact she struggles with the remote, but the menu system on this is so easy to use she was able to make copies and scan without any assistance or training.2.) Double sided scanning: One of the reasons that we went up to this particular scanner was that it would automatically do double sided scanning. This is nice, all you have to do is put it in the top feed tray and it will line everything up for you. I believe it is just a box that you check before you scan to let it know you need it to scan both sides. I have only done it once, but I didn't need to consult the manual in order to do it.3.) Wireless setup was fast and easy. There is a quick start guide that comes with the printer, and I was able to use that to wirelessly network the printer with both my computer and the family computer with ease.4.) You can print from your phone. Equally easy is using this printer to print from your smart phone or wireless device. I personally haven't tried this, but my girlfriend has printed coupons on it several times, and she said it was really easy.I talked to quite a few business professional friends before buying this printer, and they all told me that Brother was the brand to go with. They said their equipment just performs better and lasts longer, and I can't say that I disagree. It seems like a great printer, and hopefully it will last for years to come.The last comments I will give you are the only cons I've had with this printer, and they are at best just me nitpicking. First off the color of the printer is lighter than it is pictured. Also it is not all one solid color the control panel and the top flip out paper holder for the feed tray are black plastic while the rest of the printer is gray, not charcoal as it appears the entire printer is, but gray. I thought I was ordering a black printer, which would have matched everything else in the office, but other than the initial surprise it is really a non-issue for me, I'm just including it so you know, just in case its important to you. The second thing is that its a little confusing at first where the paper goes in for the feed tray that goes to the scanner. I was trying to feed in where the paper comes out. This is probably just my own stupidity for not even looking at the manual, so now I have the feed tray flipped out and can use that part of the scanner. Again, maybe its common sense, and I wasn't paying attention, but just incase anyone is wondering you do have to fold that out to use the auto feed scan function.Over all excellent printer, and now I can print in gray-scale to my hearts content.