Brother MFC-290C Reviews: Brother Colour Inkjet Printer

+ good all round machine
has all the functions I need - ocr, fax, copy, scan, print

- display difficult to read in poor light
ink expensive
no duplex facility
small paper tray capacity
ink prone to blocking and difficult/impossible to clear yourself

+ Good all round printer

- Not easy to see what ink is left

+ Decent quality prints, excellent copy function

- Nothing significant

+ Well laid out control panel allows easy access to all functions with Control Center software to set customisation of frequently used functions
Automatic Document Feeder allows efficient scanning of multi-page documents
USB and memory card ports located at front allow scanning to USB memory stick and memory cards/Direct connection of camera

- Reviewer left no comment

+ very efficient and easy to set up, multifunction advantage and of a convenient size.

- Reviewer left no comment

+ ink cartridge good value

- no bad points my be in time?

+ Value for money and print quality more than adequate for my needs

- Not sure about durability - time will tell!

+ Easy to install and use

- Sometimes a little slow to print and copy function slow

+ Very easy to setup and operate, whether scanning or copying. I didn't need the fax, although at least I do have that function 'in case', but the ADF (automatic document feeder) is brilliant. Again, I haven't used either the Photo Capture or the USB Port (for camera and/or memory-stick), as I usually use the USB port on my computer for both. The footprint of the MFC-290C is excellent, and changing the inks is a breeze, thanks to the 'ink drawer' being just to the right of the paper tray and easily accessible. Another plus is the ability of the printer to take 'heavier' glossy photo paper, and that ControlCenter3 gives excellent advance notice of the amount of ink left, so that action can be taken well in advance of the ink running out. All-in-all, the MFC-290C is a first-class machine and turns out excellent prints, whether on plain paper or on Brother's own photo paper

- I don't know whether this would be deemed a 'Bad' point, but the one item I'm still trying to get used to, is the paper-tray. My previous printer (also a Brother MFC)'s paper-tray was 'open', allowing me to see how much paper was in it at any time, thus allowing me to replenish it when necessary. In the case of the paper-tray used in the MFC-290C, the tray is 'enclosed' which means that once the paper has been loaded, there's no way of seeing how much paper is left, and it's usually only a loud beeping which alerts me to the tray having exhausted its contents. Apart from the paper-tray point, I haven't fond any other 'bad' points.

+ easy to use. good machine

- Very slow at scanning and printing

+ small compact

- no easy to load from the top

+ The automatic document feeder.

- I previously had an MFC-410CN which I replaced because the blue colour print failed. I had no complaints about that model which is apparently out of production. The 290C is slower, the paper tray has to be withdrawn to reload whereas you can feed paper straight into the 41OCN tray. When printing a single envelope the 290C generally skews it but the 410CN would print straight. The 410CN has remote set-up facility the 290C does not. Ink cartridges for the 410CN have greater capacity than those for the 290C and finally the LCD on the 290C needs a back-up light.