Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I really appreciate this printer's capabilities. I print a LOT in my career, and with this Brother printer I can cut down on the amount of paper I actually use by printing two-in-one, which prints two pages on one side of one sheet of paper, side by side. It shrinks down the pages and makes them fit perfectly, and then allows automatic double-sided printing. That means 4 pages fit on one piece of paper! That's going to save me a heck of a lot of money on paper! The printer was easy to set up (much easier than others I've used), and I love that it's smaller than other all-in-one printers without sacrificing function. Scanning, printing, and copying all work very well. Pages look great, scans are nice and clear, and the user interface (not to be overlooked in a printer) is excellent. The touch screen interface is straightforward and simple. Everything is clearly labeled, and there are "wizards" to set things up and get you through the more technical stuff. It's interesting that USB, LAN, and telephone lines are fed through the machine, under the top lid, instead of merely plugging in the back. I also find it kind of amusing that the top lid (not the scanner lid, but the whole printer's top) has a built-in prop. It kind of makes you feel like you're working under the hood of a high-tech car. After using printers that do automatic double-sided printing, I can't go back to the old fashioned single-side printers. On older printers if you wanted two-sided printing, you needed to feed the paper back through manually-- Usually by reloading the tray. On this printer, it actually sucks the paper back in after printing one side, and then prints the other before spitting it out. Very cool. I can't comment on the fax feature because I've had no occasion to use it. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it has VOIP-friendly settings in the fax setup, though, which means I should have no problem sending faxes via my Ooma service. Ink loading is easy enough. You don't even need to open the top lid of the printer and get under the hood; It loads in a little door on the front right side of the printer. Slide in, click, you're done. Ink prices are reasonable. First-party black ink is around $20 a cartridge, while 3rd party inks are about half that price. Of course, Brother cautions against using 3rd-party ink, but in a couple decades of using printers I've never had one suffer damage from refilled, recycled, re-manufactured or third-party inks. It's ultimately your decision, of course, but be aware that Brother probably will try to consider it a warranty-busting act to use third-party ink. From what I understand, however, the law prevents printer manufacturers from voiding your warranty for using third-party inks or refills. I'm knocking off a single star because I don't really like the requirement to open the printer's top lid to plug in common connections like USB or telephone. It's just a strange design choice that requires a bit more work and effort to do something that, for most devices, requires simply looking at the back of the unit. Otherwise, this is an amazingly nice printer: Fast, efficient, easy to install, and user-friendly. Four stars, and a recommendation from me to buy it if you are in the market for an all-in-one printer for the home or small office, and want to save a little space in the process. EDIT: As the first comment indicated, I forgot to mention how handy the two-sided printing with auto-feed is. Well, let me say: It's VERY handy. I use it nearly every day for my work. It's a great feature that should not be overlooked.