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HP Photosmart Premium C309a All-in-One
by colinbmw
When the HP Phtosmart Premium (309a) works, it is a very useful bit of kit, but the build quality and the accompanying software let it down.
When I got the printer, the paper feed mechanism didn't work, and I had to get a replacement from HP (which, was reasonably straightforward), but it doesn't say a great deal for their ... quality control.
My other major problem with the device is actually due to the software HP supplies. After scanning a significant number of documents, the software can crash which means you have to do the entire job again, even though the images have appeared on screen and will have been saved onto the computer (at least in unprocessed form). The software supplied also produces huge acrobat files (.pdf's) which makes emailing the documents more trouble than it should be.
While it isn't an issue for the amount I use the device, scanning double-sided documents takes significantly more than twice the amount of time it takes for single sided-documents.
A less serious problem is that while scanning photos at 'higher colour depth' the software warns you that it will take longer, this is a massive understatement, it can take hours on this setting.
On the other hand, I find it prints very good photos, and generally the output is a high quality.
So: Not a bad bit of kit, but frustrating in that it could be a lot better. Look for reviews of newer/more reliable products.
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Brother MFC 6890CDW
by tirial
This is a Brother multi-function printer, which provides printing, scanning, photocopying and faxing functions. It prints on paper sizes up to A3, in Duplex, and I originally picked mine up because my old A3 printer died. It's since taken over all the printing duties including A4 bulk and draft, because it is cheap to run and easy to ... use, so you can probably understand why I like it.
Set up was easy: It supports wired as well as wireless networks, through a standard RJ45 network port. Since we were using a wired network we plugged the printer in, let the computer find it and put the disc in to install it on the network. It was completely painless, and as easy to get it set up on the network of four machines as a single one. For non-network use, you can connect it view wireless or wired connection to your PC and let the software on the disc handle installation.
Physically it is a bit of a beast, but given it is an A3 printer, I had actually expected something larger. The controls are at the front, with USB, and Card slots above them for ease of access. There is a keypad for faxing, a central display and four function select buttons, but when in use the control display screen doubles as a touch pad, giving you options (and instructions). The actual connection ports are at the back, if you aren't using wireless. The top lifts to reveal the scanner/photocopier plate, but the lid also houses a document feeder for highspeed scanning, taking up to 50 at a time. Below this, at the front, are the two paper trays, and to the right of those the little door to access the ink cartridges.
The main task I use this for is printing, for which it offers a very good range of options and features. The print quality is high, and it is capable of photographic quality, although its normal document mode is still very sharp.
The printer has two paper trays, with specific purposes. Tray 1, the top tray, is the most flexible, taking paper sizes from 6x4 photos to A3. It is also the one you use for high quality work. Using paper larger than A4 in it however requires physically changing the tray set up, not just the internal guides, and can be fiddly. Tray 2 is the default for A3 and bulk printing. It prints normal quality, but not photographic, but can take significantly more paper. The duplex facility is easy to use, works from both trays and we've happily used it to created programmes and leaflets with no problems.
We've also used completely customised paper sizes for invites with no problem: as long as you set the guides, and use the "Custom Size" option to tell the computer what size it is, it works fine.
It is also very, very, fast, even in duplex mode, and not prone to paper jams, which is a prime selling point for me. The final good thing about the printer is that the cartridges won't break the bank. It takes four cartidges, one for each of the standard CMYK colours, which can be swapped seperately. Available in multipacks (all four colours for under £25), you can also buy black ink on its own if, like me, you go through it much faster. Changing an ink cartidge is painless - pop the door open, press the little lever to eject the old one, pull the tab off the new one and slide it in until it clicks. Then close the door and you're back to printing.
Scanning is the other thing I have used this for often. It can scan to an SD Card or USB stick directly, which is how I normally use it, and you don't even need software or a computer - you can do the entire scan through the printer's control panel, which is useful if the network goes down (or you don't want to power up your PC). The resolution on the scan is good - my best example was using the scan to blow up a passport photo-sized image to A3, with the image still recogniseable and surprisingly clear.
Other options it offers are fax and photocopy. The photocopy is simple and easy to use (a mix of printing and scanning managed through the control panel on the printer), but we've never had to use the fax facility so I can't review it.
Some concerns we did have were sound and energy, but this is both energy efficient, with an automatic energy save mode if it isn't in use, and very quiet, particularly given the speed of it's printing.
Although I had doubts about buying a Brother printer (being a long-term Epson user), I think this is one of the best printers I have used, and I'd happily get another one if anything happened to this. Fully recommended for any user, although users with home offices or who do a lot of printing will probably get the most out of it.
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Brother Fax T104
by Holland1
When I first started my working life, fax machines were commonplace and were a valued means of communication. These days, when speaking on the phone, if someone asks me to fax something over I have to stop myself from saying "FAX IT? What century are you living in?!". Anyway, some people still use faxes, and although our ... usage is rare we still have to have a fax machine in our office. We bought this one about a year ago to replace our previous one which was slowly dying, causing much stress around payroll time as our bank still relies on receiving our payroll by fax.
==Price and Availability==
We bought our fax machine from Viking Direct as we have an account with them. At the time it cost around £60.
==Features==
Now, personally I'm not really bothered about what features a fax machine has, as long as it does the following:
1 Sends faxes
2 Receives faxes
3 Prints reports to confirm that faxes have been sent
And that's it. The total sum of what I expect from a fax machine. In reality, of course, things aren't always this simple, and the manufacturers of technology seem to feel the need to promise much more. In this case, the manual is very helpful in explaining things like printing reports retrospectively, but the functions of the fax machine are so simple that everyone can use it without being told what to do.
The fax offers a few extra features, which to be honest we don't use because we have other devices to fulfil these needs, but it has an integrated telephone handset, and also acts as a basic photocopier (although given the speed of the paper going through the machine, it would take forever to actually copy anything!). This would make it a good option for a very small business which didn't have the need for separate devices for different functions.
The fax offers automatic redial, meaning that if the fax number you are sending to is busy, it will automatically attempt to re-send the fax. It also has a delayed timer so you can set a fax to be sent later the same day. I'm not sure why this would be useful to be honest, I tend to use my Outlook calendar to remind me to do things. You can programme up to 100 speed dials, but we haven't bothered programming any because it's not much hassle to just type the number in.
The fax machine is lovely and small in size, so it won't take up much room on a desk or table. I would say it is about the same length as a long ruler, and about half the size depth-wise. It is blue in colour and has clearly labelled buttons guiding you depending on what you're trying to achieve.
==My Experience==
Although my usage of this fax machine isn't overly frequent, I do use it a few times each month, and have done so for the last year. I have found that the fax machine does everything I want it to. It sends faxes, it receives faxes, and I can print confirmation reports to confirm that faxes have been sent successfully. This is particularly important when I'm faxing our payroll figures to the bank, as I'm always paranoid that if they don't receive the fax I at least have confirmation it has been sent. This would help in the event of any disputes (and means I can blame the bank so my colleagues don't all hate me for not being paid on time!).
Using the fax is very straightforward. You literally place the document you are sending face-down in the slot, enter the fax number you are sending it to, and press send. The buttons on the machine are well labelled so anyone can figure out how to use the machine, even if they have never used it before. This is one of the advantages of fax machines over scanners and more complicated means of communication, in that they are all fairly standard and universal, making it easy for anyone to figure out how to use them.
I have never had problems with the paper jamming in this fax machine whilst trying to send faxes, although I do tend to stand over it and wait until the document has been sent before walking off. Sending a fax isn't the quickest thing in the world, the paper goes through really slowly. Once it's been sent, it beeps to let you know, and then you can print a confirmation report to get this documented. To do this, you simply scroll through the report options with the up and down arrows, and press the number which corresponds to the report you wish to print (in this case you press number 1 which is called something like "XMIT Verify" - it's obvious what the reports are when you scroll through them).
The print quality of this fax machine is ok, although we have a bit of a problem with spam emails taking up all our ink! The quality isn't perfect so you can expect the odd line appearing here and there, but I think this is more due to the method of communication rather than this particular fax machine.
We have also used this machine to get reports for faxes which have been sent in the past. This has happened when someone has forgotten to print a confirmation report, and we've had to go further into the report options to get a retrospective confirmation report. It's comforting to know this can be done, and the instructions in the manual are very easy to follow.
The main issue we've had with this fax machine is that it has already started to squeak and sounds like it needs oiling or something. This isn't great as we've only had it a year, and even with everyone in the office using it, it doesn't actually get used THAT often, as most people use scanners these days to email documents. It sounds like it's not going to be very hardwearing, and I expect we'll be replacing this one before too long.
It also doesn't hold a great deal of paper in the tray used for receiving faxes, so if you get bombarded by junk mail as we sometimes do, you'll be constantly up and down to replace the paper that's been wasted by someone trying to get you to buy something from them. We only keep around 10 sheets in the tray at any one time, because any more than this and it tends to cause a paper jam.
Overall, this fax machine fulfils our basic needs, but doesn't seem to be built to last. I would only recommend it for occasional usage.
(This review also appears on Ciao under the username Gingerkitty)
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