• Multi-function fax, scanner, copier, and printer
• Parallel, USB 2.0, and Ethernet interfaces
• PC and Mac compatible
• 50-page automatic document feeder capacity
• Up to 17 pages-per-minute print speed

This digital flatbed all-in-one provides four high quality functions in one - laser printer, copier, fax, and color scanner - making it a versatile, all-round performer. With its various time saving features, the MFC-8820DN is ideally suited to your office environment, making it the ideal solution for the workgroup.

Works great, we did have a problem, the local printer repair shop accepted the warranty, and repaired it for free. Very happy so far (coming up on the 1 year mark when the warranty runs out...)

The performance of this printer is below par. All the claims that this is a very good printer are really ****.

Installing this printer was a big chore as it DID NOT come with any printer drivers or software CDs. I had to spend time searching and downloading printer drivers to PC. Even after downloading the software it took a lot of pain and time to get everything to work.

I have had problems with this printer from day one. The copies made are too light - I have to crank the contrast all the way up to get a good readable copy, the ADF scanner glass is a bit clouded, the paper tray was very badly scratched and the face plate of the printer is of a diffrenet model which is infact not even pasted properly on the printer. It was already coming off when the printer reached me. The printer uses too much power so-much-so that when it starts to print the lights of the whole house dim!

It is supposed to be a network-printer. I have attached my PC with this MFC through a network hub (the USB cable to connect to the PC did not come with the machine!). It took 3 hours to get the MFC to talk to the PC even after I tried to connect the PC directly to MFC without any hub.

Although it works for now, but if it is not in use for a few hours it aparently goes in somekind of a 'sleep' mode and in such a condition if I try to print to it, it just sits there without doing anything. I have to physically turn the MFC off and turn it back on to get it to work.

The scanning quality of the machine is very very poor and it does not produce good resolution scans.

Lately it has also started making a strange noise while printing. Whenever I print, it makes a noise like that of a horse golloping accross. I have even tried using different kind of paper without any encouraging results.

The 'world renound' service of brother is so good that even after repeated attempts they refuse to acknowledge any problems with the printer. They even refused to provide me with a software CD for the printer! After numerous calls, I was asked to contact Amazon.com for returns and/or exchanges on the product.

Now I understand why someone returned this machine and why Brother's coustomer Service is world renound.

This MFC is not at all worth throwing your hard earned money at.

This is an excellent multifunction device. It has all of the features I could ever want. I upgraded from a Brother MFC 9600 and really like the duplex and network connectivity capabilities. I was a little concerned buying a remanufactured unit but I can not tell the difference from a brand new device.

Copying and faxing works nicely. The fan is a little bit loud
and stays on for a few minutes after using the device.

I was really looking forward to 2 features:
(1) scanning directly into a multipage pdf format
(2) scanning and faxing directly to an email address

After reading the manual several times and spending a few
hours in trying to figure out how to set up these features
I called their customer support. They told me that these
features do not work yet, but they are trying to fix them.
However, I didn't belive them, as the last firmware updatate
is almost 1.5 years old!!! I think the real problem is the
network card NC-9100h. I was really looking forward to do
scanning and sending the files diretly to my email without
having to boot my PC. Now, if you wan't to scan or send
an email fax you have to have your PC running. This kind
of takes away the real usefullness of a network scanner!

(...)

I just saw that Dell has a multifunction laser printer
1600n in a similar pricerange. It might be worth taking
a closer look at its features.

The multi-function printer/scanner/copier/fax was easy to setup hardware-wise.

The printer drivers had to be installed with the CD's setup program which was a little annoying. I would have preferred just setting the IP address manually (which I did) and simply configuring a new IP port on the workstation to print to it. I think they were trying to make the process as "user-friendly" as possible. In diagnosing my problems I saw that the network card had a red light, which usually indicates a problem so I spent some time on this. Eventually found out that the light is always red and all I needed to do was use the setup program on the CD. They should allow the more advanced user to set it up manually as with any other network printer. I suspect this problem and the red light on the network card were the reasons the printer was returned/refurbished in the first place.

Printing and copying are quick and the output looks crisp enough. Duplexing worked as described, which is one of the main reasons I chose this model.

Have not printed any pictures or graphics but I have a color inkjet for those purposes. Have not tested its scanning capabilities either. Eager to confirm how well it can scan in color.

Faxing was a breeze - receiving and sending. Now, if I can figure out how to have it hooked up while the answering machine is connected...! Both want to answer after the 4th ring but even if I set them up to answer on different rings, how can I avoid having the fax machine sqawk in the caller's ear or have the answering machine respond to a fax machine?

The only real objection I have, and I was aware of this before I bought it, is its design. I'm not crazy about how the scanning/copying bed bulges out at the sides. Even if this was to keep the foot-print size to a minimum (to the size of the paper tray) the bulges still take up desk space and no one is fooled.

The Brother EMFC-8820DN is a perfect machine at a great price (once my rebate arrives). The only detraction is the design but hey, it's for the home office so I'm willing to overlook it.