From Staples website it appears as if they are having special offers posted that are only valid on Fridays ,, the best one today seems to be this all in one from Brother ,, this is a cool AIO printer as it uses EXTREMELY CHEAP INK TANKS ,, you can get a set of 4 for about $10 C/Y/M/K
I realize this printer has been on closeout at other stores in the last month or so but this is a really sweet deal.
******* UPDATE *******
My local Staples pm'd the online price ... posted in-store was $99.98 - $40 = $69.98 .... this was for a new unit not refurb ... As for the ink saving tips I can see where "plain paper" is a huge savings as otherwise it would default to glossy/photo and use colored ink in great amounts to get photo quality color saturation... The ink tanks are available from many sources at about $2.50 each; as they have no print heads and are just ink tanks they are foolproof to refill if you want to go that route also...
Note: Neither of these kits mention Brother MFC240 as one that they support for refill, the process is very easy though.
Take your cartrige and cut the sticker at the back shell. The Beige plastic is only a outer casing that holds the clear, plastic, sealed inner ink reservoir. Pop the outer case halves open to expose the sealed ink reservoir. At this point you can see that Brother, to cut down on weight and cost made the reservoir with no molded plastic sides; instead laminated a plastic skin to both sides (a little thicker than packaging tape). With the larger round 'plug' at the bottom and the 'tit' at the top, puncture a hole *through just one side* and tape the one , or both holes after filling. I filled my cartridges to just under the hole in the frigging top, they do not leak. This has got to be double of what a high capacity cart has for ink. Like I said seal with a piece of tape, packaging tape probably will work the best. On re-refilling I would avoid poking the same hole or pulling the tape back. The whole side along the top is good to poke a new hole into, let alone the whole other side. BTW, to refill a empty Brother cartridge, you will not be able to fit 1 complete NCR ink in one. This leaves you with a partial NCR refill cartridge for next time. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Solid Machine, March 30, 2007 By kindasorta (earth) I was hesitant to purchase this based on all the mediocre reviews, but I am extremely happy with the 240c. I think its about the best multi-function you can get for under a hundred bucks (with the possible exception of tha Canon Pixma). First, a few of these reviews contain critical errors about the unit. First: It IS possible to scan multiple documents into a single PDF file. One simple way is to load up your documents into the top paper feeder, then scan to PDF, and every page it scans will be put into the same file. Another way to do it is to use the Presto Pagemanager software that comes on the installation CD. Second: the 240c DOES have incoming fax capabilities...you have to enable it in the Fax options on the unit's menu setup (not on your computer). It does not have a handset so you cannot use it as a phone, but at least on the 240c that I have, it can indeed receive faxes. Third: the reason the unit will not print anything even if only one cartridge is blank is because it uses a suction type cart (different from most inkjets), and damage to the unit will occur if an empty cartridge is left in. That said, here's my review.
Build quality is overall very durable, with the possible exception of the paper tray. It won't turn any heads with its bland utilitarian appearance, but its compact and sturdy for home or home office usage. It also looks like an office machine, as opposed to the flimsy Fisher-Price looking offerings from HP and Lexmark. The controls are laid out sufficiently and you should be able to figure things out by surfing through the unit's menu, although there are alot of setup options so you may have to do some searching. The only complaints about the design are the small, non-backlit display and the paper tray. The paper tray is more like a paper container with a lid, that loads like a cartridge. If you only print on one type of paper its fine, but if you want to switch and print envelopes, 4X6, etc., it can do it but you have to take the tray out, take out all the paper, adjust the slider, then put in the new paper and re-insert.
Print and scan quality are just fine. In fact, the scanner is very impressive and scans are much better quality than the Canon it replaced. Print quality is just fine...I dont see any washed out colors or anything else others have noted. Its prints as good as any unit will under a hundred bucks. The copy and scan features work just great and fast. You can either use the computer to make copies or you can bypass your PC altogether and use it as a standalone copier. Most of the features can be run either from the software or the unit itself, which is great. The top-feeding document accepter is a huge time saver. Also, the lid on the scanner is hinged allowing you to scan thicker items, like books, easily.
As far as ink usage, some settings must be adjusted to get longer life. First, disable "bi-directional printing" as it uses alot of ink and wrinkles the paper. Set the paper-type to "plain." This is huge, because if you dont, even if you select grayscale printing, it will pull ink from the color cartidges. Also, if you print mostly text, set the print quality to the "fast" settings, and it looks just fine. You want to conserve ink, since these cartridges run about 20-25 bucks for black, and around 12-14 for each color. But, the cartridges are huge so they should last average users a while. For heavy office use, you may want to look at a a higher end or laser model.
The fax feature I dont use so I cant comment much on how that works. It also accepts most major memory cards for photo printing, but without a preview screen your better off printing pics from your computer. It is also worth noting that this unit IS Mac compatible (many of the sub-$100 machines aren't), although I had to update the drivers and software from Brother's website after installing the CD to get some scanning features to work. I'm assuming this has something to do with the whole Intel / PPC switch. I'd highly advise you to do the same...their site is just their name, and the update offerings fixed the few bugs I encountered.
Overall I am very impressed with this unit. I had returned an HP c3180 multi-function because it couldnt hold a handle to this as far as overall quality and value. Highly recommended for home and light home office use.
Cheap Ink Cart 5% OFF Coupon code for INK Catridges, Use Coupon CODE: FRD5
Message edited by: range on 2008-08-15 08:54:14 CDT
Message edited by: nononotnahok on 2008-08-17 10:19:28 CDT
neidermeyer said:.....it uses EXTREMELY CHEAP INK TANKS, you can get a set of 4 for about $10 C/Y/M/K Thanks, OP. I was in the market for a printer that can take cheap ink. The link below the printer shows a black cartridge costing $24 and each color cartridge costing $13. Where do you get these cheap ink tanks for this printer, set of 4 for $10?
KayK said:just a warning.. the Staples page says no cable included.
One of life's little mysteries. When reading product reviews on printers from consumers, why is it that people expect the cable to be included when it is not in ab out 99.94% of printers sold on the planet?
I picked up two for free shipping, plus will make a good gift for someone! Thanks OP! Been looking for a new Printer that scans as my old one bit the dust and love the 10 document scanner, that will sure come in handy!
Bought one of these about a month ago to replace a scanner that fizzled and to get faxing ability. Been working fine. Fax works great. Printing is good. Haven't used the scanner part yet. For the money, it's a pretty good deal.
Guys, I do have this printer for about a year now. I ran out of color inks pretty soon I could not use the printer even to print in black without the other colors being replaced. I am not sure if there is a way to do this.
Hans23 said:Guys, I do have this printer for about a year now. I ran out of color inks pretty soon I could not use the printer even to print in black without the other colors being replaced. I am not sure if there is a way to do this.
Hans
Guys, I have this problem. I don't like to read the reviews posted by other members in the quick summary that says "Set the paper-type to plain. This is huge, because if you dont, even if you select grayscale printing, it will pull ink from the color cartidges."
Hans23 said:Guys, I do have this printer for about a year now. I ran out of color inks pretty soon I could not use the printer even to print in black without the other colors being replaced. I am not sure if there is a way to do this.
Hans
Replace the color inks. It doesn't print if any are empty. Look above your post a couple posts...the carts are $2.35 at a link someone provided.
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