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Brother MFC-J870DW Wireless Color Inkjet Printer with Scanner, Copier and Fax - Brother
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HP Envy 4520 Wireless Color Photo Printer with Scanner and Copier - HP

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Brother MFC-J870DW Wireless Color Inkjet Printer with Scanner, Copier and Fax - Brother
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HP http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41USmQY22sL._SL160_.jpg
HP Envy 4520 Wireless Color Photo Printer with Scanner and Copier - HP
Rating info
eComparisons Score
eComparisons ScoreThe "Comparison Score" Is calculated based on the average number of times this item was compared with other items in this category by our users
7.6
7.8
User Rating (Amazon)
User Rating (Amazon)

Five Star Reviews:

54%
Very Nice Little Printer
April 15, 2015
Let me preface this by saying that I probably have filled a small dumpster with the HPs I have used at home and in my small office. This Brother printer, in fact, replaced hopefully the last HP I will ever have to mess with. The Brother is still running on the "sample" ink cartridges that came with the machine....impressive. I like that the ink levels are apparent in the little display screen and I don't have to scramble around trying to find the ink levels within programming. Using standard, decent but not stupidly expensive paper, we have had no jams or feed issues. Probably not overfilling the paper tray helps in this regard. Print quality is fine and the print rate is typical for this price point machine. It runs fairly quietly (note my quiet scale is a bit warped by the early pin printers that literally drowned out all ambient sounds in a room).I set this printer up for 4 laptops, 3 IPads and 2 IPhones with little or no difficulty. The laptops were running XP, Vista Home Premium and Win8, and each required a little tweaking that should not present much of a problem unless this is your first rodeo. In which case have a friend who has done this before help. In all fairness, the Apple products set themselves up once they "found" the printer. Air printing is flawless from all the devices. We'll see how long the happiness continues, but for now I guess I've drunk the Brother Koolaid.
Great printer w/CD, DVD printing
March 14, 2015
Been using an HP wireless AIO for several years. Did a decent job of printing both text and graphics, but just didn't like staying on the network. (HP J4680, just in case you're wondering - and I have 3 of them on various networks with similar problems). Plus I've grown to HATE the HP driver suite. So when I was in the market for a new unit, other than NOT being HP, my only requirement was that it could directly print to CD/DVD media. This Brother is a DREAM. Prints at least as well as the HP, seems the ink is cheaper (marginally) and it seems to last better than the HP. Network setup is quick, easy and effective - printer shows up on the network and STAYS on the network. Also, Brother has (free) apps for not only ios and android, but even windows phone 8.1 - you know, the phone OS NOBODY uses (except me...)Operationally this unit shines (literally) - the control panel is beautifully illuminated, unlike the HP, and the scanning is easily 5x faster, at least. Through in the NFC printing capability (not from my Lumia 920, sorry to say) and a very competitive price, not to mention that CD/DVD capability, and this printer is a winner in my book. Highly recommended, in case you didn't get that from the review <g>
Works Great with Yosemite! (Mac OS X 10.10.2)
February 21, 2015
I've had an ink-guzzling HP printer for a decade, and got tired of buying an expensive cartridge every ~60 pages printed. After lots of research on continuous ink supply systems in foreign markets, I decided to save myself $150 and buy this printer instead. I'm guessing I'll save myself close to $150 on cartridges a year compared to my HP using the LC103BK XL cartridges Brother makes. From what I've read and heard, I wouldn't bother refilling the cartridges or getting off-brands for this printer.I was hesitant to get this printer initially because several reviewers said it was a pain to set up with Yosemite. I found it to be very easy.I followed the instructions until step #14 when it asked for connection type. I then went to:http://support.brother.com/g/b/producttop.aspx?c=us&lang=en&prod=mfcj870dw_us_eu_asI selected "downloads", then "OSX 10.10, search", then "printer driver", then "download".After installing the driver I unplugged my Apple Airport (wireless router) for ~10 seconds, and rebooted my Mac (probably not necessary). I then used the touchscreen on the printer to select my network and enter my password.As soon as this was done I was able to print wirelessly from my macbook and iPad. The quality on "normal" is marginal, but acceptable for most print jobs. Switching to "best" greatly improves the print quality, but increases the print time from ~5 seconds to ~30 seconds per page.I almost never write reviews, but I thought this might help someone who also has a new Mac with the initial set up. It's easy!
There is virtually no warm-up for it like there was with my previous HP All-In-One
October 31, 2014
The scanner (and copier) is fast and works well on this thing. There is virtually no warm-up for it like there was with my previous HP All-In-One. The feeder works great. I've had no network problems either. (you have to have your computer on folks and connected to the network for the scanner to know where to send it)It's not the fastest printer (and I mean the printing side of the All-In-One) but that is probably my settings I have input. I'm sure I could make it faster with different settings but why print so much anyway? Save it on your computer! The more you print with any printer the more it's going to cost you in paper and ink. Printing photos is never going to produce the best image. Upload files to your favorite place and have a few sent out for a buck or two. It's better quality and you save ink and expensive photo paper.Also, I don't see many reviews mentioning the app you can get and scan or print right from your phone using NFC. It can be hit and miss but there are a lot of things that could be including whether you have your phone set up right. It does work though.I've had this All-In-One for 11 months now without any problems.
the easiest printer I've ever setup
September 13, 2013
everything was so easy to setup and use!PROS:1) very nice touchscreen2) color print quality is excellent3) Black, test printing is very good4) easy wireless setup, no connect this, do that, type this, just no plug and play, well this is the power :)5) incredible value 89$Cons:1) small paper trays2) i am just picking nits here fax default is set to print on error, not confirm, see I told you it was minor, but you can change that
I am switching to Brother printers
August 22, 2013
My first printer for my Mac was my old HP which served me for years. It sort-of worked. HP told me they no longer support the Mac drivers. I told them I was switching to Epson.The Epson printer gave me nothing but problems. I was always un-installing, then re-installing the USB drivers. I switched back to HP.My last HP printer used a black cartridge and tri-color cartridge with built-in print heads, the 74X and 75X. It had a few quirks but was usable for a good service life. Now I searched for a replacement. HP no longer uses the 74X/75X and have switched to individual color cartridges. Ok, sounds good - just replace the color which runs dry to save money. But, reviews have been dismal about ink usage and unforgiving firmware which forces the user to purchase unnecessary new ink cartridges.I have been looking for months at the new HP's, Canon, and Epson for a network printer which can FAX aka "all-in-one." I came up empty. None of these major brands produce a printer with good reviews. I'm reading about poor customer service, DOA printers, horrible ink usage, and cranky firmware.I never thought that Brother would have what I needed. I use and abuse their label maker (tip: it's much easier printing address labels than trying to feed envelopes through a printer!) This printer is amazing. Within half an hour, I had it faxing, scanning, copying, and printing. It has all kinds of little features which make life easier, such as the ability to preview a multi-page FAX before dialing and printing a confirmation page for a successful FAX. With my HP, I needed to watch the display for a confirmation.It's far quieter than my HP. It picked up an incoming FAX and I didn't even know. The touchscreen panel swivels (wow factor). The ADF folds out of the way so it's nearly half the height. As someone else mentioned, the connectors for the network, USB, and phone are inside the printer - a little weird, but more of a cord organizer to keep your desk neat. Didn't see it as an issue.Installing on a Mac was very easy... once I found the drivers, which were not on the CD. The installation experience was unpleasant. Mac owners should not worry, but note you must download the CUPS printer driver from the Brother website which is easy to find. Grab the Twain interface, too - it's amazing. I usually skip Twain since it's so much problem on a PC, but on the Mac it seems flawless.Don't bother with the included driver CD. For Mac, it's useless. It kept insisting that I go through a guided wireless installation and did not install any of the drivers I needed. If you're the type of person who likes to spend their weekends fighting with computers, by all means embrace wireless printing. I gave up years ago. I don't install USB printers or wireless printers, never again. I always run an Ethernet cable directly to my router and set a static IP address. Trust me. Macs don't like USB devices which can be turned on and off when they're trying to sleep (may cause a kernel panic). And, if you've got VMware, sharing a network printer between three operating systems is infinitely easier than switching USB devices. Google bonjour for windows and CUPS. yea, it's a painful learning process, but you only have to do it once.Even more unpleasant was finding the CD label program which is supposed to be bundled with the printer. I haven't found it yet. It's not easy to find on Brother's website, but it's mentioned in the manual. Google found it for me. I ran it - wow, really powerful CD/DVD printing program for inkjet printable media. I usually just use a Sharpie marker.If I find anything else worthy of mention, I'll update my review. But, I am almost ready to chuck my HP printer for good and switching to Brother. I just wish they'd make the Mac installation procedure a bit more friendly.
58%
Gets the Job Done
September 4, 2017
I always dread buying printers because every time I research them, they always have negative reviews that are not necessarily helpful, but make me nervous to try them. I am a new graduate student and bought this printer because I needed a more reliable one than the HP deskjet I used in undergrad. So far, I am happy with this product as it was easy enough to set up, and is the perfect size. I had no problems hooking up the printer to my wireless network and laptop, and found it was very easy to print wirelessly. I have not had this printer for very long so I can't speak to its life span, but so far I am pleased with it and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a quality printer with little to no hassle.
Compact, feature rich, and a good deal!
May 16, 2017
I am extremely satisfied with this printer. It is a relatively compact size. Bluetooth setup was a breeze. It is very quiet when printing. AND, of course, the print quality is very good! Automatic Double sided printing is great. All in all I really could not be more satisfied. For everyday use and space-saving this is a terrific choice for your home office. Also the price is excellent for the features and if you can pick one up through the Amazon Warehouse you will get an even better bargain.
wifi is good.
January 27, 2017
I replaced my old HP all in one with this one only because I wanted wifi printing and it is great! It has an email address that you can send documents to from anywhere and it will print them! The print quality isn't as good as my old one though. But I love the flat-bed scanner that lets me get copies from books.

After a year with this printer I can say it is ok. Print quality is not as good as my old C5200 though.
It wouldn't recognize the print cartridge last time I changed it so I called tech support and they said this is common and I just had to trash the driver and reinstall it. Took time to get to tech support.
I get new ink cartridges automatically so I never run out of ink.
Idk why people complain about this
January 24, 2017
I'm SO GLAD I ignored the bad reviews on here and purchased this anyway...BEST PRINTER EVER. I was worried because people said it was hard to set up, they had to reconnect it to their phone or laptop or whatever every single time they use it...blah blah blah. I haven't had any of these issues. I own my own business and don't print a lot at home but I've already printed over 100 pages in the last couple months and it's worked flawlessly.
Also- get the instant ink!!! It's so cheap and totally worth it. Spend the $5!! They give you a couple months free on top of that! Like I seriously got ink delivered a week ago and had no idea I was low!

Oh and we're short on space and sometimes pile things on top of it and it will still print just fine. Lol not that it's the best thing to do but hey I figured some other people might wonder if it would be a problem.
Good printer, very modern, automatic INK ordering, can't expect much more from a printer.
November 9, 2016
I never liked HP products until now, but the Envy is so easy to use and even has some nice gimmicks like the tray bar that opens up automatically and protects the sheets from falling down. It is not the fastest printer I've seen, but the quality is very good, and the best feature is that it actually orders ink from HP whenever it comes out. It took me about 5 minutes to set it up including the automatic ordering.
I can pretty much list the main features of this printer:
1) It easily (Really easy) prints from everywhere, including your mobile phone, computers connected to the network, you can even send an email to a designated email and it will print it. You can scan on the spot or from a far, pretty good.
2) This printer removes the worries from running out of ink and where to order it - it orders for you, and the model is different - you pay for pages printed, and not for the ink. For example - $4.99 per month (insignificant cost IMO) will get you up to 100 pages per month, if you need more, they have plans for that too. From here on out - print everything that you want - B&W or color - same costs.

Very happy with that purchase.
Great printer & Awesome Instant Ink program
June 25, 2016
I am a teacher and I bought this printer to be able to participate in the instant ink program. The printer and the iip are great!! The best part of the printer is that it auto prints on both sides! The pics are samples of a projects I printed with this printer. Great printer for the price.

Four Star Reviews:

18%
I like this printer
May 11, 2015
It has so many needed features for a low price. The print quality is not 100% but I at least give it 90% on regular paper and 75% on photo paper. One issue is that I used the ink that came with the printer and did not even go through a whole pack of 500 sheets of paper before having to purchase more ink. I purchased generic ink which works just as well as the Brother ink. So far I have used less than half a pack of paper with the generic ink and the ink levels are above half. I will see how much paper the generic ink takes me through.
Good value and features, just so-so print quality and flimsy construction.
March 5, 2015
For the money I can't complain. I've used many inkjets from all of the major suppliers and some fringe players. Brother is positioned as a value brand with lots of features for a comparatively small price.Pros:-Excellent print cost and uses same cartridges as numerous other Brother models making them economical and easy to find.-Easy to access print cartridges.-Excellent disk print capability with surprisingly good results.-Compact form-factor and good ergonomics with intuitive interface on user panel.-Paired right away via wireless, although noticeably slower than direct connection.-Wireless printing from ipad, Windows laptop both work well. Installation was smooth.Cons:-Just average print quality. Ok in normal setting, not good, colors under saturated and not real sharp resolution in photo setting.- Average to above average print speed once printing ensues.-Requires frequent head cleaning.-Software is a mess, some features accessible in control center 4, some in separate executable, some in print driver, some such as CD printing (separte install from disc - not available on website) )and print quality maintenance (only available through printer panel) not available in any of these. Brother needs to hire a useability expert as they are way behind HP/Epson.-Tray for inserting CDs is flimsy so never sure it is in there correctly. Need to make sure to snap all the way back after disc removal. Seems like there should be a visual indicator with a positive index point to let user know when DVD/CD is correctly positioned for print.-Flimsy construction - this is somewhat subjective, but compared to every HP I've used, including some really cheap ones, the Brother's construction is comprised of thin, lightweight plastics that seem to be of inferior quality. Time will tell if this is a real issue, but not confidence inspiring.If I had to do it over, I would stick
Found how to install on Windows 7 - 64 bit.
February 18, 2015
Ok, I finally found a solution to this issue. Using the complete install that came with the printer and the full install downloaded from the brother site, I kept getting the error:iso26-MoveFileData-13.This is what worked for me. I uninstalled the brother drivers, there is an uninstall package on the brother site. I rebooted. I looked at device manager under Imaging and uninstalled all old printer drivers and make sure you check the delete software check box. I turned off any other wireless printers that were not the brother printer. I went under settings on the brother printer to the wifi section and wrote down the ip address. you do not include the leading zeros when you use it later.I went back to the brother site here:http://support.brother.com/g/b/downloadlist.aspx?c=us&lang=en&prod=mfcj870dw_us_eu_as&os=93and downloaded the add printer wizard driver and placed it in a separate newly created folder where it would be easy to locate.I then went to devices and printers and clicked add a printer.The selected the network, wireless, bluetooth printer.(next)Then I selected my printer was not listed which is down at the bottom of the screen(next)Then I selected the add a printer using tcp/ip(next)Then I selected the dropdown (tcp/Ip)..do not select autodetect,Enter the tcp/ip address in the second box, do not check query the printer automatically(next)Then windows will located the printer, you need then to browse to the directory when you downloaded the drivers and select the file called BRPRI13A.inf.It then will ask you to select a printer, at this time locate your printer in this list MFC-J870DW.Once it selected and next is clicked it should install correctly and it will ask you to print a test page.I hope this helps.
trade-offs to the HP all in ones - also ink cartridge tips
October 19, 2014
I've had this printer for over a month now and have mixed feelings about this machine. I've owned several HP inkjet printers and I've had only one short-lived Epson. My review on this Brother model will be based on having owned another printer brand.Pros: Quiet (much quieter than HPs), auto double-sided-printing, very long-lasting ink cartridges, scanning/auto document feeding/copying features all work well.Cons: Cleans cartridges during idle, paper tray must be removed and cover lifted to refill paper, much slower print speed than HP machines even in "Fast" mode, colors less vivid producing low quality photo prints.The Nuance PaperPort software bundled with the Brother driver has a fast, reasonably accurate OCR but the PaperPort application slowed down my i3 Win7 computer and would crash Windows Explorer. I uninstalled PaperPort and now use the Microsoft Office Document Imaging OCR utility when scanning documents or pages from books. This workaround requires a couple extra steps but at least my computer is no longer sluggish.My two main peeves are the inconvenient paper tray (I tried removing the cover to the paper tray but that disables the ability for auto double-sided printing) and the poor quality color output for photo prints. The color is fine for regular printing but unacceptable if I want nice photos done. I've tried fiddling with the settings but could not get the quality I wanted (HP color prints are much better). I may have to buy a separate true photo printer just for that function.I cannot complain too much for the $109.00 price. There are many useful features packed into this one machine. The Brother ink refills are considerably cheaper than the HP cartridges and this may be the reason for the biggest trade-off between the two printer brands - ink price versus color output quality.UPDATE 11/5/2014: I changed the rating from 3 stars to 4 because I find the scanning function excellent on this machine..scans much faster than my old HP with good resulting images (pdf or jpg). Also, I'm still using the original color ink cartridges that came with the printer (on moderate to high usage in Normal print mode).UPDATE #2 3/4/2016: Just had one of the ink ports clog on me; the magenta would no longer print even with a new OEM cartridge. Printer cleaning cycles would not resolve it. The clog occurred in the lower needle-like ink port on the machine (youtube videos helped me figure out where the problem might be). I used a Q-tip dipped in hot water to swab the lower pin nozzle, and followed that up with Isopropyl alcohol Q-tip swabbing. Next, via the printer machine menu, I selected "Cleaning" to clean the print heads. The red ink started to flow again.Several customers mentioned they were unable to print at all when one of the ink cartridges registers empty. I use this workaround: COVER the plastic see-through ink window of the cartridge with electrical tape or blue painter's masking tape. I think there's an optical beam that monitors ink levels in each cartridge. Covering the plastic window allows me to use the remaining ink in the cartridge.BEWARE -- running the ink cartridges past empty will cause the print nozzles to clog with dried ink. I recommend replacing the cartridges before they become totally empty.
Excellent bang for the Buck
December 3, 2013
It was going to cost me $150 to replace the drum cartridge in my 50 lb.+, Dell color laser printer, so I thought I would give inkjet printers another try. My last inkjet was 5 years ago and I was disgusted with excessive ink consumption, slow, noisy printing, frequent clogging, etc., etc. A friend assured me that the newer inkjets are much improved. After reading a number of reviews I settled on the Brother MFC870DW. I have been using the printer for 3 months with moderate to heavy usage. Overall I am very pleased. Installation was relatively quick and easy. I have the printer hardwired into my router in the office. The printer software is installed on 2 notebooks that are wireless connected to the network. Pros: Excellent price, excellent driver software making it easy to configure a myriad of features, easy to understand and use touch screen control pad, Ink-saver setting, double sided printing, easy to replace ink cartridges, printer status monitor, small, light footprint, fairly quiet, and ink consumption does not seem excessive. Yes, the factory installed cartridges ran out after a few weeks, but the extended play XL cartridges are lasting much better. Cons: a little slow compared to my laser. On the other hand, it doesn't require a 30 second warm up after a period on non-use. I have the option of using a Fast print option, but don't really feel the need. Printer materials are light weight plastic, so not real rugged. Finally, I would have liked a larger paper tray.As I mentioned above, the driver software is excellent. The feature that impressed me the most was the ability to leave my notebook in the living room, go into office and scan a document. The printer’s display then asks me where to send the scanned image (both of my laptops are displayed). When I go back to the living room, my notebook has opened my document, and ready for me to process it. I would definitely buy again.
EXCELLENT MULTI-FUNCTION INK JET
September 14, 2013
After 30 years of printers, this is the best I have owned. Previous have been HP and Panasonic. Ink cost finally did become a factor with the HP printers. This printer spools faster than HP and the touch screen is a plus. The ink is loaded in the front so the shelf above it was not a factor. I would give this 5 stars except that 1.) the paper tray must be removed to load it and 2.) ink cartridges are not as readily available as HP and easy to mistake the correct cartridges. Even Amazon has identified the wrong stock number. The correct cartridge # is LC101 (standard cartridge) or LC103 (high yield cartridge)I strongly recommend this printer
15%
Good Multi Function Printer BUT!!!
August 7, 2017
Good multifunction for the price. Does not have a fax capability. Paper tray will only hold about 15 pages of paper. When printing, a page support device swing out from the front of the printer (support is about 2"x 7") and remains protruding in front of the printer. You have to manually return it to the stored location in the printer. This is guaranteed to be accidently broken off in time, sooner than later. This was purchased for a casual location for part time business and personal use. Performs well in what is does.....But with the small paper load and swing support device Iwould not buy or recommend it. It the lack of a fax, and the small paper load, and protruding paper support does not bother you, then this is a good printer.
"This is a pretty simple solution that not many people know
April 1, 2017
I have not had the problems with this printer that others have complained about. I followed advice from this poster:

"This is a pretty simple solution that not many people know, but here's how to disable the annoying instant ink pop-ups:
You can disable the notifications through Printer Server Properties. (Click on your Control Panel, then the Devices and Printers tab)
>From Devices and Printers. Highlight your printer, then look above for a tab called "Print server properties" across the top. Click the tab, then click the Advanced tab and uncheck both "Show informational notifications for local printers and network printers" boxes. Apply and click OK. Hope this helps!"
A solid triple, but no home run.
March 11, 2017
This wireless all-in-one photo printer does a good job. I had to end up hooking it up with a cable, though, because even the HP customer support rep was unable to get it hooked up in wireless mode. I also think that a port for a camera SD card should be standard equipment on these machines at this point, but this one does not come with that feature. Having made those criticisms I will say that the machine is easy to use and scans, copies, and prints well.
I am still having an odd issue with Cloud Print requiring random refreshes but overall its been a great printer.
April 18, 2016
I have had a few wifi printers and the one consistent thing is none of them work the way they claim they will. This printer replaced a Lexmark that was about five years old that I could never get working. This one is the exception to that rule.

Setup took about 30 minutes and in that time I had it printing from devices on our home network, and via Google Cloud Print. I am still having an odd issue with Cloud Print requiring random refreshes but overall its been a great printer.
Would Recommend for Light to Moderate Use
November 13, 2015
HEADS UP -- It takes about 15 seconds from the moment you click "Print" to the moment it completes the first page, and that's without printing any images; only text. Following pages thereafter take about 7 seconds each; I'm only adding this as it matters to those intending to purchase for heavy use. This shouldn't be an issue unless you heavily use your printer (like in a very busy office space). I personally think this printer is best for home use or light office use. I print about 4-5 invoices per day so it really isn't a problem for me.

I do like the touch screen and slide menu feature, and I also really like the sleek and professional look it has. It comes with what's called "HP quick forms" (refer to photos), where you can print out a fax cover sheet, graph paper, notebook paper, calendar, check list, and even some Sudoku and other games; pretty neat. It does have a 2"x7.5" retractable paper holder, which automatically retracts when you hit print. Dimensions are approximately 17.3"x15" with paper holder in; 17.3"x21" when holder is out. The top surface is flat so since I rarely use the scanner, I use that extra space for a lightweight paper organizer. It's slightly textured so you don't have to worry about scratching it if that matters to you.

Setup was extremely easy, both by USB cable and by wifi connection. Took a total of about 8-10 minutes setting up by both methods. I use this printer on two different computer towers, one of which has no internet connection. Never have any issues connecting to the printer or getting it to function as needed on either towers.

Overall would recommend for light to moderate use.
HP 63 (not HP 61) ink cartridges!
November 13, 2015
Caution: this printer uses HP63 (not HP61) ink cartridges. That fact is misrepresented in the Frequently Bought Together section.
I was little disappointed because I thought I would utilize new unused HP61 cartridges from my previous printer. Otherwise, printer seems to be well made.

Three Star Reviews:

8%
(Connectivity) Decent printer, BUT...
October 24, 2015
...had to overcome a serious issue which took weeks to resolve. Initially, I could print, but after a (very short) period of time, I could no longer connect to the printer. The printer itself thought it was still "online" (connected wirelessly), but I could not connect to it (from Mac or PC) until I rebooted it. Then I could connect again for a short period of time until it was unable to be connected to once again. After weeks of going back & forth with tech support, I finally got a phone call schedule. Of course their initial "tips" via email were not helpful and were all things I had already tried, but once I got a tech support person on the phone (US-based, thank you), we solved the issue in minutes. She said they have dealt with many, many calls on the same issue and know the resolution by heart.The issue? Regardless of the fact that the specs above state it is compatible with 802.11n, IT IS NOT. If you have a router that broadcasts in a/b/g/n, the printer will initially connect to B but will prefer/switch to the N (5Ghz) on its own shortly, even though it is unable to communicate at this frequency. I had to split my router's broadcast into two separate networks, B and N, name them differently, and connect the printer to B directly. Once I did this, connectivity issues were solved. Tech support person did not have an answer to my question of whether or not they will be issuing a firmware update to fix this issue, and had no comment on me pointing out that it is advertised as compatible with N.Hope this helps others having the same issue, or considering this printer. This solution was fine for me, but may be impossible/unacceptable for others.
Not a wireless printer if your router isn't close by
August 26, 2015
Just received this printer today and I was a little dissappointed that I can't use it as a wireless printer because my router is in my basement and my desk is on the first floor. If I move the printer downstairs and set it next to the router, it works fine except for shooting out an extra page before printing an email. It even prints fairly quickly, which I like. I'd really like to give it at least 4 stars, but not if I have to have it wired to my laptop for it to work. That's not why I bought a wireless printer.When I had it set up as wireless, I tried printing a simple webpage and it took 15 minutes to print 3/4 of the page. It took a couple of minutes to print the same page when it was sitting next to the router. I can't even use the Printer Pro app to print a webpage either and my previous little, slow printing Epson would print using that app. It was in the same exact spot as this Brother.I'm keeping it because when it's wired, it prints quickly. About 5 times faster than that little Epson and it wasn't a wireless. But I'm still only giving it three stars because I want to let people know that it needs to be close to the router to work wirelessly and that when it does work, it prints quickly. I checked and it will cost me $150 to move the Uverse router closer to the printer and I don't want that expense. So for now, I'm using it as a wired-to-my-MacBook-Pro printer and it's back to not being able to print from my iPhone.
Disappointed For Several Reasons
August 6, 2015
I had an older Brother MFC 6490CW. It lasted 5 or 6 years and was decent. Color was good, print speed good, and took most paper (i.e., copy, photo, etc.) The last year or so, the color gave out and the MFC 6490CW wouldn't print color anymore. So, I went shopping, read all the reviews and because I had previous decent luck with Brother, I decided to go "Brother" again.I am sorry I did, because I think there are better printers out there in the same price range ($125). The setup was relatively easy, but once up and running, it jams quite easily. Have yet to have it take a sheet of glossy Kodac Ink Jet photo paper, without jamming. The color is drab and not true to screen color, by a long shot. The MFC J870DW prints black and white OK, but even ordinary copy paper will feed (sometimes) 3 or 4 sheets at a time. It's quick to respond to the print command and kicks out the black and white copies, which account for 95% of my printing, and does so at a fair rate and that is why I gave it 3 stars. Otherwise, I would have only given it 2 stars.Unfortunately, after the purchase, I took a look around Staples. I found the same printer (Brother MFC J870DW for $20.00 less than I paid, AND the Canon PIXMA MX922 (Multi Function, i.e., printer, copier, scanner, and fax) for about $30.00 less (at $96.00). I had the Staples salesperson demo the Canon for me and the color is far superior to the Brother; it actually prints an acceptable photo print (the Brother does not). The Canon PIXMA didn't jam any photo paper and according to the sales person, the PIXMA uses less ink, cartridges cost less and the machine itself is more "eye appealing".I guess I didn't do my homework well enough. I usually trust in Amazon's Reviews, but in this case I was mislead, or I mislead myself. I will not let brand loyalty dictate what I buy again and, I would not buy the Brother MFC J870DW again. I think there are better machines out there for the same (or less) money. The Canon PIXMA MX922, for example.Actually, I think if it hadn't been for the hassle of repacking and returning this printer, I would have sent it back. And, I may go buy the Canon PIXMA MX922 anyway, and just use the Brother for black and white document printing. The whole experience was disappointing. Hope that helps.
Not truely compatible with Apple products
May 19, 2015
After trying everything obvious then emailing Brother customer support I can now print almost all the time. I installed the "cups" driver on my imacs, and they access the printer by its web address, so I can now print all the time from these machines. The ipads and ipods acess it by using the iprint app. Unfortunately, the printer is not air print compatible as advertised, so I cannot print from any app that does not have an "open in" function, because this is the only way to get to the iprint app. For example I cannot print emails. This is super lame!!All that said, when I can access the printer, I am very happy with the way it works. I love the fact that the ink is cheap and the printer uses it frugally. I like the 2sided printing- very clever. The big touch screen makes interfacing with the printer simple."This printer was advertised as being compatible with airprint, but it is not. I have two macs plus several apple mobile devices and all of them have problems finding this printer! The ipads need to use brothers iprint app, and the macs don't seem to reliably print no matter what I do. The CD is not compatible with Yosemite so was useless. The WPA sequence did not work. Really what's the deal here? How can this be advertised as being compatible with OSX and air print when it so obviously is not?! This is the 2nd brother printer I bought, and it is exihibiting similar problems. The 1st one I bought I would have to reboot each time I wanted to print."
Good Machine but..........
April 5, 2015
Printer has some nice features but would not buy this again. Nice size with small footprint and was easy to set up. Print quality is good for general everyday printing and draft mode really increases the speed but will sacrifice some print quality in that mode as can be expected by any printer in draft mode. I was never able to get this to work as an NFC printer. Tried google print, I-print from daughter's Iphone 6 and 2 different Samsung Galaxy phones (which are nfc compatible). Re-installed this 3 times, no luck. Just cannot get it to work. The wireless set up went flawlessly and was easily able to connect to the network which is great. My 2 biggest issues are that the scanner quality is marginal at best. Scans reasonably well if use windows fax and scan software, however, using twain drivers in most other software produces a washed out gray color for texts and illustrations no matter what mode I use. In photo mode it is washed out in gray and have to edit the document using brightness and contrast adjustments to get it to look just acceptable. Edges of print and illustrations are not sharp at all. I tried using in text or grayscale modes but text mode is poor also, very jagged type in extremely high contract. Looks like a fax on thermal paper. I tried to adjust this but no luck. You can calibrate the printer, but not the scanner. Nothing I have found can resolve the scanner issues. Second issue is that you cannot use any after market cartridges as Brother has updated it's software to prevent this. So you are stuck using only Brother cartridges which are very expensive. I realize that Brother is not the only company which has done this as I have noticed that many users have the same issues in the reviews of other manufacturer's printers as well. You can get a reasonably priced printer but they all make it up in the ink. That is how they make their money these days. (there are ways to circumvent this issue but they involve a little work). Overall....a 3. If they would fix the scanner quality it would be at least a good 4 and if it did not block the use of aftermarket cartridges it would be a 5.
Great functionality/price, but print quality just ok and scanner quality poor to average
August 28, 2013
First: fantastic price.But...*** Printer ***Very fast printer. But, print quality was disappointing. Not as good as the 5 year (?) old HP 6980 it is replacing (using the same HP multi-purpose paper)... edges on black ink are fuzzy, lots of bleeding and DPI seemed fairly low as I could see stepping on font curves. It got alot better then I switch the paper type to "inkjet" (even though this is normal paper), but still not as crisp as the HP 6980. It was also MUCH slower in inkjet paper mode. I'm going to leave it in this mode for now, as it's night and day difference, but will be researching different paper.*** Scanner ***Auto scanner feeder is awesome, works great. But, again, quality was disappointing. In color scanner mode, 300 dpi, blacks were very light, looked gray, and colors were very washed out. In B/W mode (the only other option), blacks were very black, but no grayscale, so edges were very hard (like a fax).*** Network ***Setup was simple. Got it on our Wireless-N network easily. Linux saw it right away on the network, basically no setup.*** Web ***Setup Google Drive, and this was easy as well, and seemed to work great! Impressive!Did not test any other functions on the printer.Overall, the software on the printer rocks, setup is super simple and it basically just works. I just am very disappointed with both print and scan quality, the primary function of the thing. I wonder if higher end Brother ink jets are higher quality? I'm tempted to find one maybe 2x the price as I do like the functionality.*** Update ***I ended up returning this and purchasing the Epson WorkForce WF-3520 instead for not much more. I am very pleased with the Epson WorkForce WF-3520, check it out!
5%
HP quality at a surprisingly low price
May 27, 2017
See the update below.I have never heard anyone complain about HP printer hardware, and this printer meets that high bar. It is surprisingly small and light weight but delivers impressive performance. Some reviews complain about the "intrusive" Instant Ink feature, that requires the user to let the printer make direct contact with HP to order ink and receive updates. I was a little skeptical at first but a close look at what you get made me give it a try. It does seem to be an economical way to buy ink if you can anticipate and manage your usage. It is based on the number of pages printed and not on the amount of ink consumed. New users get the first 3 months and 300 pages free, which includes delivery of one each color and black cartridge in about 10 days after you sign up. What I have yet to determine is if the printer can tell you how many pages you've printed, because if you go over your 30 allowance there is a $1 charge for each 15 page increment after that. So take a close look at the feature and decide if it's right for you. Moving on to the printing, the first page the printer printed was an alignment page. You put that on the scanner bed and the printer aligns the print head. After that I tried scanning a color image and could barely tell the original from the copy. Next was sending an image to the printer from the computer, which meant connecting the two using WiFi. It was a slightly tedious process but one you only need to do once. I found a full size rich in color image and printed it. If I had used glossy paper instead of regular bond paper it would have looked like a photograph. Overall, for the price of printer and ink, I am impressed. I would buy it again.Update: I was really impressed with the printer at first and gave it five stars. But lately it seems to have conspired with Windows 10 and refuses to print. When I go to print a document I get the message that the printer is offline. And yet all other indications are that it is online. This makes the printer nothing more than a paper weight. Very frustrating. I think I will still to printers that connect via USB ports from now on.
It's just and ok printer. Not much more.
April 22, 2017
Going from our Epson 730 that died to the HP was pretty much lackluster results. The tricolor cartridge just doesn't deliver the eye popping color of our older printer. We were in a pinch to get something I wish I would have waited and done more research. If I had it to do over I wouldn't have purchased this printer. I will say that using the HP ink service is nice but it still doesn't make up for lost ground when it comes to printing pictures on this thing.
NOT A PHOTO PRINTER, IT'S JUST A COLOR PRINTER.
November 13, 2016
Update

So, turns out the printer I first bought is a defect, after exchange, the printer works great, though, I thought it is a photo printer, but no, it's just a color printer. NOT A PHOTO PRINTER!
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The "easy set up" process turns out not be easy at all, we had to watch multiple Youtube video to figure out how to set it up and my bf is a UX designer, and we are tech people. The whole setting up and getting started experience was just awful, we made it work eventually without even knowing how we did it. After it finally worked, we are having connection issues, ex. Printer has to be shut down and restart to be really connected even the wifi LED shows it's connected. When it enter sleep mode, and a new job got sent to the printer, it will not awake, and connection will be lost again, it requires a shut down and restart the printer to make it work again. Even shutting down is awful, there are time the display will froze, and never wants to shut down. This product looks modern, but works like an antique, and we would not recommend it to anyone.
A printer designed to sell ink...
September 20, 2016
I've had several HP printers and HP has always made decent products, but it's their software and marketing tactics that let them down and that's a shame.

This is a nice printer as long as it's for home use. Be aware that you will get a pop-up every time you print. I did not opt for the automatic replacement cartridges because I'll go out and get the ink when I need it. I should have that choice regardless of what HP thinks. Don't care that I need to use genuine HP ink cartridges as I've always done that anyway.

I'd be happier if I could get rid of that annoying pop-up. I'll live with this for awhile, then maybe I'll try another brand.
Dark Tidings
September 8, 2016
There are some aspects to this printer I really like and some I really don't. Overall, I'm left feeling just "okay" with the purchase.

This printer is, by far, the easiest I've set up. It reads the network without a hitch and the touch display makes selections easy. Copying is quick enough, as is scanning. I do both frequently, so I'm happy with the functionality there. The paper tray makes duplex printing possible at long last. And, for the price point, it is a fairly quick little printer.

Then there are the things that make me unhappy. The paper tray is located at the front bottom of the print and can get block by anything on the desk (I know, big whoop, but still...). The paper support swings out when you print. When you no longer need it, you have push it back in place or risk snapping off this thin piece of plastic. I sometimes confuse the location to lift the scanner cover and open the door to the inside of the printer instead.

Now the big one. It's a really big one, too. I hope I've got your attention because it is the one thing you should remember about this review. No matter how good the printing of text and simple images looks, when you print your really nice pictures or other images with detail, they look horrible. Every image is muddied with darkness and too much ink. I have a good idea why this happens (it's rather technical with the handling of RGB images in with a CMYK printing tool). From the HP forums, they know this happens, but don't address the issue. Their stock response seems to be for us to check the driver, software, run diagnostic tools, and print in draft mode.

So, if you aren't printing images, but are printing graphs and graphics, this is a decent printer to purchase. Just don't expect a photo printer for this price point.
Great Quality Pictures but Uses TONS of Color Ink
September 6, 2016
UPDATE: I have been using the printer for about two weeks. The picture quality is GREAT; however, I went through the starter color ink cartridge AND another store bought FULL cartridge with only having printed 14 full color photograph pages. Unfortunately, this has forced me to sign up for the Instant Ink Program, which is $36/year (which guarantees me 50 pages per month). I have spent over an hour on the phone with HP to get this far and to insist they send me another ink cartridge for free since I should get more than 10 color copies per $15 ink cartridge. This is so frustrating

ORIGINAL POST: I just received my printer today. It is much larger physically than I expected (I didn't look at the dimensions), but that wasn't a problem. It took about 15-20 minutes to set-up, but was very easy with step-by-step directions in the box. I test printed a full page picture on plain copy paper and it looks great. I also printed four pictures on a piece of glossy photo paper and it looks great as well. I am very pleased so far with the printer. I have never had a photo printer before, so the quality of the pictures is 100% better than when I was try to print pictures on a regular printer.

Two Star Reviews:

6%
An ink-aholic machine
December 30, 2016
While the functionality of the wireless printing and quality of printing on his machine is adequate, as an infrequently-used home-office printer it is fairly ridiculous. We learned after having to replace the printing ink several times (w/o doing much printing) that unless one prints regularly the ink dries up. In no way did we get anywhere close to the printed page numbers w/ the ink. Even more aggravating is that, even tho the black and (4) color ink cartridges are separate, you cannot just replace the black cartridge but are forced to replace all 5. Very expensive and a silly (purposeful?) condition when one primarily prints in B&W. Very annoyed.
Turn off When Not in Use
November 27, 2015
Decent printer, but can hold you for ransom. I've had this printer for about a year now. Print quality is normal for an inkjet and not too many cons as far as that goes. One issue I did have is that sometimes it grabs two sheets and prints half on one and the other half on the second sheet. This may be the type of paper I had since it was left over from my older printer as it didn't happen as much when I switch to a new paper packet.My biggest issue is the ink. Turn the darn printer off when not in use. The printer loves to do a self clean ever few days. When it does this, it wastes some of your ink. Over time it will finish it. I replaced all the ink cartridges when the trial ones finished. I bought the high yield for the black and normal size for color as I mostly print in black & white. I didn't have a need to print things out for a few months, but when I did there was a price to pay.The printer will tell you it is unable to print anything. Basically goes into lock down. This is because it ran out of the color cartridges from all the self cleaning it does. There was still an easy 80% black remaining but refused to print because it wants ALL the cartridges full. Even if you want to print in black & white, if you have no yellow/magenta/cyan then you basically have a nice paperweight unless you shell out more $$$ for ink.
Not recommended ... very spotty, undependable performance.
August 19, 2015
I did tried to get all the functions of this printer to work. After the initial installation (Windows 7 OS) everything seemed to work just fine -- printed, scanned, and faxed. Then things started to go wrong. For some reason, the scan function stopped working -- none of my scanning software would work, just got various errors. Sent an email to Brother Support and after about a week they responded with a generic reply that didn't help. Maybe I just don't have the right drivers installed, I thought. So I dutifully downloaded the latest drivers from Brother. The associated instructions were less than useless since they refer to files that aren't part of the downloads. But I figured out how to do a complete reinstallation, after which, everything seemed to work again. Then it stopped working again, not just the scan function but also the printing was erratic. A print job would just cut off mid-stream with data left in the printer. Scans were hopeless. Had no choice but to return this inconsistent printer. One of the undesirable aspects of this printer is that it installs a lot of junk on your computer. To get rid of this junk was not easy.
Not recommended
April 6, 2015
I've had this printer over a year now and had a chance to really use it. We bought it based on good ratings and it replaced two printers, both were HP, one quite old and used by my son, but the other was an officejet purchased in about 2008, and used extensively by me, and to a lesser extent by my wife. We do more printing than a average family would do because it's used for my work in prison ministry for newsletters, outlines, studies, correspondence courses, etc. We do print some photos, but not it's primary use and we don't print as much as a business. Here's the good, the bad and ugly on this printer:The Good: The best thing about this printer is that it is VERY economical. Printer ink is much cheaper than the HP and seems to use less of it. The setup and screen use is very intuitive and user friendly and all features (scan, print & copy) work well (we haven't used the fax feature). It's WiFi connection makes it great for the multiple computers we have it the house. Document feeder works fine. It also does a pretty good job on photos with good (but not awesome) quality.Bad: The paper tray is just too small if you are going to print any volume at all. It's fine for just a home use, but with us printing 130 newsletters on a monthly basis, and when my wife was in school printing large amounts of papers, it's just a hassle. It's also very fragile. We haven't broken anything, but it's because we are very careful because the plastic is thin and flimsy. The HP was almost bulletproof, but the Brother needs tlc in handling. If you are using only letter size paper, it works great, but the tray is poorly set up for legal paper if you are going to print more than a couple of copies. They want to fall on the floor if there's more than a dozen or so. Compared to the HP, the color quality is also "washed out." Maybe this is where the ink economy comes from, but even on it's "vivid" setting, the color on regular paper is mediocre, but photos seem equal to our HP.Ugly: This printer has terrible problems with jamming when printing large quantities of double sided print. Single sided seems fine, but it seems to hang up when trying to print the other side. It then spits out paper printed on one side and tries again. To get the 130 inserts for our newsletter, it's not uncommon for me to actually use 140-150 sheets of paper. It also doesn't like to feed a manually fed double sided print (necessary for the legal size) also jamming frequently. This is big hassle for me with our correspondence being a double sided legal size; very frustrating and time consuming.This printer may be fine for the person that uses it ONLY for home use low volume, occasionally making copies and printing photos, but I would NOT recommend this printer for anyone needing even moderate volume or anything more than letter size paper printing.
Great black ink printer, color photos are bad
March 5, 2015
It took me 15 min to set it up and print from my Android phone using their app. The touchscreen is very responsive and I didn't even need to hook it up to a computer to start printing over WiFi.Edit 03/06/15:Black prints look good but I tried printing some photos from my phone and a computer using photo paper and the color quality is very bad and washed out even after altering all the color and quality settings. If you need to print photos avoid this printer.Color prints on regular paper are also washed out even after altering print settings and cleaning print heads.If you need to print only black ink documents its ok but I returned it because I needed to print good quality pictures.
Update-not so good
August 13, 2013
Had to replace my really old printer that wouldn't work with Windows 8. The Wi-Fi only took a few minutes to set up. Was printing right away.UPDATE March 6, 2017. I know it's a little late to change my review, but this printer only lasted 3.5 years. I usually print a few pages a month. It got a lot of use during the tax seasons. I had problems with printing fairly early on that running the cleaning routine would fix. Apparently, the print head got misaligned recently. I don't know how this could happen as I never moved the printer. Brother told me the unit needed service. I have never had a printer fail in such a short time. I assume that it lasted as long as it did because I didn't use it a lot. It must have been a lousy printer from the start. Brother wouldn't offer me a discount towards a new printer. I recommend trying a different brand.
5%
Frustrating Wireless Printer
July 28, 2017
This printer has a setting that makes it fall asleep after a set amount of time and completely turn off after 2 hours -- to save energy, which is great. But you cannot adjust this setting or disable it. It just sleeps and shuts down, no user input.

HP says that if you try to print something when the printer is off, it will not print until you turn the power back on. This is not true in my case. When I see the printer is off and I just tried to print something, I turn it on and nothing happens. No printing. My print job is in queue, but nothing happens with the print job until I completely shut down the printer and restart it. Because this takes a minute or two, and because I am sometimes in a rush to print something and head out the door, I end up having to unplug it and plug it back in for it to finally process the print job and print the documents I need.

For a while, for unknown reasons, I'd print something when the printer was shut down and it would just turn on and print my stuff. Later, again for unknown reasons, it just stopped doing this. Now it just won't print and I have to shut it down and restart it.

If you have this plugged into your laptop / computer with a cord, you won't have any problems, but I bought this printer specifically for its wireless capabilities and it has let me down!

One star for a frustrating experience, one extra star for the few times it has worked.
It seems like every time I print something I have issues
June 27, 2017
I don't know what's wrong with this thing! It seems like every time I print something I have issues. Usually they seem to revolve around HP's server network that the printer MUST BE connected to otherwise it won't print. Another frequent problem I seem to have is that it doesn't fit the image to the page even though the setting are correct.
This printer had issues with a phantom paper jam
October 30, 2016
I hate to write this since all the research says that this IS a great printer, but upon setting it up I kept having a paper jam issue when there WAS NO paper jam...it printed the test page fine but when trying to scan the test page according to setup directions it kept stating paper jam...lift and open up and blah blah bah...I looked inside: no bits of paper, everything looked to be in place, no broken pieces, all looked fine and dandy inside..researching HP's troubleshooting sites about it there was nothing else I could do...amazon contacted me and we came to the conclusion that this is just a defective printer. So as NOT to diss all over HP, I've had plenty of printers, many brand names and HP still seems the best, only this time I got a lemon. Oh well.
Please don't buy this printer - buy literally anything else.
October 30, 2016
This is hands down the worst printer I've ever owned. I have two major gripes with it.

1) It's marked as a photo printer, but the only feed option is from the bottom, where the paper must wrap 180 degrees around the (3/4" or so diameter) rollers to feed into the printhead. This wrap-around feed wrinkles/creases every photo I've tried to print, even when using HP branded photo papers! The print quality actually is decent, if you don't mind having wrinkly/creased photos.

2) After 2 months it just stopped communicating with my devices. I downloaded the HP printer/scanner troubleshooting software that you're prompted to install when you first get the error - it literally does nothing but asks you to turn everything off and back on, and then if you still have problems, asks you to do that again. Total waste of time. I did eventually get in touch with HP support, and through a chat session was able to provide remote access to my computer, and their service agent was able to get it working. It took over 45 minutes, and he had to download multiple HP software during this time. I was not a fan of this troubleshooting, but it is working now (for the time being).

This is the last HP product I will ever buy. I swore off their PC's years ago, and bought this only because it was the top listed printer on Amazon, however I totally regret that decision. For now, I'll continue to use this piece of junk, but when it comes time to replace it I'll not even be looking at HP (probably Epson, I've had good luck with my Epson printers).
If you want a quality wireless printer steer clear!!
October 15, 2016
Wireless? This printer is HORRIBLE if relying on its wireless "capabilities". It's not very dependable at all. I've attempted to print multiple page projects and it would stop mid project and say it was finished and go back to the home screen. After going online to find out why my new wireless printer constantly says it's "offline" I came to the realization that this is a common issue with this printer. It constantly reads "offline". My issue with this printer wasn't fixed until I uninstalled everything and reinstalled it with a USB cable connected to my laptop. It works fine...as long as a cord is attached which TOTALLY defeats the purpose of purchasing a wireless printer. I'll never recommend this printer to anyone ever. Wireless. Not hardly!!

One Star Reviews:

14%
Do Not Buy a Second Brother For a Second Home
April 13, 2017
There is a problem with the driver software that is very annoying. I liked the MFC-J870DW I use at home so much that I bought a second one for my vacation home. I figured with everything already installed and configured I would just plug the USB cable into my laptop when I was in either place. But the MFL-ProSuite software would not recognize the other printer and Windows 10 then installs a the generic Windows software. I can print but the Control Center 4 software can't find the scanner (it shows the Brother as off-line). After an hour with Brother support the only solution was to fully delete the MFL-ProSuite software and then reinstall the full package again, and then everything worked fine. Until I came home. And the same thing happened in reverse. Another another hour with a Brother support person I could barely understand who told me to either use the Windows scan software or remove the MFL-ProSuite and reinstall it. I asked for a supervisor and got the same answer. So if you want to have a second all-in-one printer/scanner at a second home, DO NOT BUY ANOTHER BROTHER, get another brand, install its software and avoid this hassle and tone deaf support. Too bad, I really liked this machine and the ProSuite, as is obvious from the fact that I bought a second one, but the other Brother (whichever that is) doesn't like being No. 2.
It makes OK copies but I feel like I was duped
February 11, 2016
I hate this printer even though it has been printing copies OK for me for about 8 months. So why do I hate it? Because I did a lot of reading about it, went by Staples and spoke to their personnel, and even called the Brother company to verify that I could use just black ink to make copies which is THE REASON I PICKED THIS PRINTER. I was repeatedly assured that I could use just black ink. I was told as long as the CMY cartridges were in place (even if they were out of ink) and the black ink cartridge had ink I could make black/white copies. WRONG! I learned the hard way this machine uses magenta, yellow, and cyan as well as black ink to print in black (I never printed one...not one color copy) and the machine continually drains the color cartridges which are very expensive to replace (and hey...I'm not printing in color!!!). If I had known the machine uses Cyan, Magenta and Yellow in addition to Black to print in black I never would have purchased this machine. Next time I will buy a machine that only prints in black, using 1 black cartridge.The other annoying thing about this printer is I am constantly receiving pop-up messages from brother about "low ink" or other messages.The copies it has produced have been fine but all these other issues
I hate this printer
February 6, 2016
I hate this printer. I selected it because I needed an all in one to replace my HP model that I had for many years. I considered HP ink to be pricy and so was excited when I found what I believed to be a printer that was ink efficient and for which ink replacements weren't costly. Unfortunately, the print quality has been terrible. Each time I want to print I need to do several test print pages and much of the time the quality decreases instead of getting better. I've been running through my ink quickly and was frustrated when I had to go out and buy another pack of ink. I have been getting high yield so I couldn't understand how I could possibly need more AGAIN! I had printed maybe 20 pages tops, and the rest of my activity had just been cleaning the cartridges because of poor quality. So, today, I put in fresh new high yield BROTHER brand ink cartridges. Again, the quality was shoddy. I ran it through cleaning, and test pages, and cleaning, and test pages. It didn't get better it got worse. After about 10 times of this I noticed my ink gauge. I have used HALF of what is supposed to be "high yield" ink because the quality is so bad. I spent $60.00 for the high yield package of 3 color and 1 black and it is now half gone and I have yet to get a single page of what I actually needed printed complete. I am utterly disgusted. I would Never Never Never recommend this to anyone. I've also been researching and found that it does this cleaning each night by default, which also flushes the ink. What a waste! I will never get another Brother printer and I am going to look to replace this one.
Disables itself if it detects 3rd party cartridges. Also has to be rebooted frequently when it disappears from the network.
August 8, 2015
The *recommended* ink cartridges I ordered with the printer didn't work because if you don't use officially digitally licensed Brother ink cartridges the printer will refuse to print. Plug in one non-brother cartridge and the printer shuts itself down. Now, after getting it working, it will periodically disappear from the wireless network, which is fixed by rebooting. I will never order another product from Brother.
Dead on Arrival, Slow Support from Brother.
June 13, 2015
If you order this printer, please make sure to check that it is not DOA immediately, while you are still covered by Amazon.I have owned this printer for just over four months, and it hasn't printed a single page. When I finally got the chance to set it up, it did not recognize the starter black ink cartridge. I tried several troubleshooting techniques, including buying a new cartridge from a major office supply store, and that one is not recognized either.I am presently working with Brother customer support, but it is agonizingly slow. I initially contacted them over three weeks ago. When they answer my e-mail response, the next step *may* be to schedule a tech support call. Given their hours, I may have to rearrange my work schedule to accommodate.I am at the point now that I'm wondering if it will even be worth the extra time and effort to try and get a working printer out of them. I may just cut my losses, buy another printer (different brand, obviously), and find something creative to do with this functionless heap of plastic. Maybe use some power tools to see if it's possible to fit this in one of the smaller USPS flat-rate boxes, to send back to Brother.
This is Brother's replacement of Model MFC-J825DW, a workhorse ...
June 10, 2015
This is Brother's replacement of Model MFC-J825DW, a workhorse printer still being sold. That older model is being sold for more money. There is a reason WHY this newer Model MFC-J87DW sells for much cheaper: Because it is a lousy printer. Its paper feed is unreliable (jams, stuttered feeds), its black ink reservoir is smaller than the J825, its control panel is awkwardly in the way of the scanner opening ... AND, this model is NOT an upgrade to the older J825. Do not buy it. Buy the J825.I've had this for about a month and it's already dying.
17%
Can you imagine even the printer I had 10 years ago works better than this thing
December 27, 2016
This is the first time I'm writing a review on Amazon cause I can't bear this printer any more. DON'T BUY IT. When you receive this thing, you'll spend a whole night to get it installed properly. What's more? Every time you will need more than 15 minutes( includes at least 5 times restarting) to get the printer connected to your device to print a single page. Sometimes it only print half of the page and you will have to start over again. If you're not patient enough you'll never get anything printed out. For last 3 months, it never work as it described even one time. I've bought 3 printers before, they all work well. Can you imagine even the printer I had 10 years ago works better than this thing. Will never buy any HP products in the future.
Arrived in product box, no outer shipping box. ...
December 19, 2016
Arrived in product box, no outer shipping box. Had clearly been used, returned then sold to me. Ink cartridges were already installed and used, corded was wadded up in top of box, inner packaging was damaged and extending paper arm popped out when I opened the box.
Instant Ink program killed the deal for me. Item returned.
November 21, 2016
There is one main reason I sent this back to Amazon. It was because of HP's Instant Ink program. Even thought I opted out of it during setup, I got an 'Instant Ink' popup EVERY TIME I printed something. Hey HP, you asked and I declined, end of story. I can buy my own ink cartridges. I don't need a constant reminder of your money making ink program. I barely print 10 pages or pictures a month..
TAKE A PASS...THIS PRINTER IS A DOG!
October 27, 2016
Worst HP printer ever! I am at my wits end. This stupid printer loses it's internet connection after each print job. I have to constantly turn the printer off to reboot. HP Tech supports answer to this dilemma? TURN THE COMPUTER OFF AND REBOOT. THIS IS THE FIX.

I am going to throw this piece of garbage out the window.

There are better printers out there. You get what you pay for.
(Re-review) Save your Money. Get a Canon printer
September 6, 2016
Just got the printer in, just connected it, half way through set-up and then bam! Fake paper jam. All I had to do was listen closely and notice that none of the cogwheels that were meant to feed the paper weren't moving. Nore were they even showing signs of responding. I'm betting it's a faulty connection. I even called customer service and after being wrongly transferred 4 times, the call time is now going on 39 minutes and I'm still on hold.

By the time of posting this, it has been 1 hour and 20 minutes. The only reason I'm not giving you two stars is because I like how the printer looks.

I will rewrite this review when I get my new unit.

Edit: This is the worst piece of crap I have ever had the displeasure of owning... Not only have both machines failed to connect to my computer, but bearly 7 months have passed and the Printer has already failed. Even with full cartridges, the printer refuses to print anything and constantly skips lines

To add insult the injury. The price of refills are ridiculous! You buy two full refills and its the price of the damn printer! Wanna find a 3rd party to compensate? there are none! save your self the trouble and go with Canon. At least if their machines break down, it's after some rough use. AND, there are 3rd party ink sellers for a fraction of the price.
BUYER BEWARE
January 5, 2016
Buyer Beware. This printer is "HPInstantInk" eligible. This translates to a pop-up in the printer control screen EVERY TIME YOU PRINT until you sign up for their Automatic Cartridge Replacement Service. HP WILL NOT assist in disabling this pop-up. Every time you replace a printer cartridge, this intimidation resets.
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Pricing info
Old Price
Old Price
Price
Price
$246.43updated: Mar 19, 2020
$99.99updated: Mar 19, 2020
Features
Answered Questions
Answered Questions
Article Number
Article Number
0012502635383
0889296228554
Binding
Binding
Office Product
Office Product
Brand
Brand
Brother
HP
Currency
Currency
USD
USD
Formatted Price
Formatted Price
$149.99
$99.99
Height
Height
279.5 in
689.8 in
Length
Length
578.7 in
751.6 in
Manufacturer
Manufacturer
Brother Printer
Hewlett Packard Inkjet Printers
Model
Model
MFCJ870DW
4520
MPN
MPN
MFCJ870DW
4520
Number of Parts
Number of Parts
MFCJ870DW
4520
Operating System
Operating System
Windows
Windows
Product Group
Product Group
CE
CE
Product Type
Product Type
MULTIFUNCTION_DEVICE
MULTIFUNCTION_DEVICE
Publisher
Publisher
Brother Printer
Hewlett Packard Inkjet Printers
Quantity
Quantity
1
1
Reviews
Reviews
Studio
Studio
Brother Printer
Hewlett Packard Inkjet Printers
Weight
Weight
70.9 oz
49.7 oz
Width
Width
633.9 in
260.2 in
Feature
Feature

Easy to setup wireless or wired Ethernet networking

2.7" TouchScreen color LCD display plus TouchPanel for interactive menu navigation

Print up to 33 pages per minute in black and 27 in color

Printer directly from USB or mobile device, or scan items to the cloud with pre-installed Brother Cloud Apps

Print on both sides with automatic duplex (two-sided) printing

You can afford to be creative with HP Instant Ink

Easy photo printing from your mobile device Your device, your choice. Easily print documents and photos from a variety of smartphones and tablets.1 Start printing and get connected quickly with easy setup from your smartphone, tablet, or PC.

Everything you need to create Print, scan, or copy quickly and easily with the 2.2-inch (5.5 cm) display-simply touch and go. Save paper and conserve resources-use up to 50% less paper with easy, automatic two-sided printing.

Do more in less space Save your space with a sleek, compact all-in-one designed to fit where you need it. Print in any room you choose-without causing disruptions-using the optional quiet mode.

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