Brother Printer MFCL8610CDW Business Color Laser All-in-One with Duplex Printing and Wireless Networking, White, 21.2" x 17.1" x 20.7"

I'm posting this as a preliminary review, since I have only owned this printer/scanner/FAX for a few weeks. I'll post a followup once I've had it long enough to put it through its paces, see how often jams happen (and how difficult they are to clear), see if any other usability or maintenance issues arise, and see how long the supplies last.INITIAL IMPRESSIONS:First of all, this model seems to be VERY NEW, so much so that Amazon Dash Replenishment hasn't been integrated yet -- though Brother promises that it will be soon. Nevertheless, there was a firmware update available when I finished configuring the device. Also, for a SOHO or small-workgroup printer, it is BIG and HEAVY, though relatively quiet. You WILL want two people to lift it out of the crate, which is of the same kind that heavy servers are shipped in: removing four retaining clips allows the box (top 90%) to be lifted straight off the base (bottom 10%), in order to get hands under the device easily. Other than this the heavy lift, basic setup was a breeze.In terms of hardware, there were a lot of tape, clips, and other protection to remove, but instructions point out the location of each. Despite the plastic exterior chassis, the build quality was very high. For example, the pull-out tray (actually the drum unit) containing the toner cartridges, and providing easy access to the other replaceable components, is one of the cleanest designs I've seen outside of datacenter equipment. Additionally, the various trays, flaps, rollers, and access doors involved in the printing and scanning paper paths move smoothly and engage/disengage with a positive audible and tactile "click".In terms of software, one of the biggest pains in the neck for new devices is usually joining the local WiFi. Here, Brother made the process easy, in the same way the Google does with their Chromecasts: the device advertises a peer-to-peer WiFi network which the manufacturer's software can use to connect to the device and upload the correct network settings from the computer. After that, local install of drivers etc, was fairly painless. And that's as far as most SOHO users need to go.For those with more complex requirements, it is worth noting that in almost every instance Brother did The Right Thing with the firmware on this device. For example, EVERYTHING can be configured through an embedded webserver, which also supports HTTPS, and allows the admin to create and upload REAL certificates if they choose. It supports just about every local and remote printing protocol imaginable, from the old BSD lpd protocols to AirPrint and Google Cloud Print, and everything in between, along with a full suite of file-transfer and network management protocols... all individually disableable, of course. The WiFi can operate in the "personal" (same password for everyone) or "enterprise" (EAP) modes, and IPV6 is supported but can be disabled. The device can update its own firmware over the network, and the process was basically painless. It was great to see a multi-function laser printer that was as easy to set up as a consumer device (and easier than many cheap inkjets) while having the configuration flexibility, protocol flexibility, and "enterprise" options to meet the needs of a more secure (or more complicated) network environment.In terms of the desktop software, I have only tried the MacOS version. They got the job done, but were not actually as polished as the printer's firmware. For example, the network-install wizard, which connects to the printer's ad-hoc WiFi network to transfer WiFi credentials and parameters, claimed to have failed with a timeout, despite having successfully configured the printer's network interface. The rest of the computer-side install worked well, and it was nice to see that the print drivers use CUPS rather than some weird proprietary interface. The only other gotcha was in the Control Center application, setting up the presets for scanning. This application controls the presets (for example, resolution, file format, destination directory) both for "pull" scanning (initiated by the computer) and "push" scanning (initiated by the printer), but it was difficult to figure out how to configure the latter. The program provides buttons for "Image", "OCR" (which is integrated, fast, and reasonably accurate), "email" and "file", but clicking these configures (and initiates) a "pull" scan. A net nearch revealed that to configure the presents for "push" scanning, in is necessary to hold the "control" key while clicking one of these buttons.. this worked fine, but was counterintuitive and not well documented.These were really the only troubles with the MacOS desktop software. Again, I can't comment on the Windows software as I haven't used it, but the MacOS software has all the necessary features, and gets the job done. It just lacks the level of user-friendliness and polish that I would expect given both the excellent firmware on the device and the high build quality.OVERALL ASSESSMENT:Brother did a really good job with this device, especially for less than $500. The model seems very new, with room to improve via software and firmware updates. I hope that future versions of the MacOS desktop software will smooth out some of the rough edges, and future versions of the device firmware will integrate Amazon Dash Replenishment as well as additional web services for print sources and scan targets.

Have owned for about 1yr. My specific use case is for color printing manuscripts which allows me to read anywhere without the need for electronics.I am very satisfied with this purchase. Very fast, double sided color prints and wireless. I can print from my phone using the app, which can be a little slow when printing large pdf files (~20Mb).I highly value reading ink on paper. I can quickly print 2-4 hours worth of reading materials in a few minutes and have a very relaxing reading period without a laptop or a tablet.Just note that it needs to cool off for 5-10 minutes every 50-80 (double sided) pages printed sequentially. When comparing the 80th page vs the 1st page It looks as if the prints start to lose contrast but are still legible.I use ink owl's refills available through amazon. I still have the original cartridges and have refilled them twice now - three times for the black toner. See ink owls videos for how to refill cartridges and reset the toner level indicator. *Be warned that this voids warranty* I think it is worth it after one refill. I have spent 250 on refills, but saved about 1000.The inkOwl items on Amazon or inkOwl site are PUN-8438 (caps to reseal cartridges), TBR-436-CMYK (CMYK refill toner), TBR-433-G4 (the reset gear for the cartridges that come with a newly purchased printer).The included brother cartridge is high quality plastic with metal parts - better quality than many car parts. These are not "disposable" items. It is a sturdy container with a roller and gears. It will last for hundreds of refills.Be very careful when refilling. Make sure you lay out a large plastic sheet, use gloves, a mask and clothing that you don't mind getting stained. Also make sure your AC/fans are tuned off. I spilled a little of the toner and stained my rug, my wooden floor and some tools. It kind of comes off with cold water, but it is a hassle. Just take your time and avoid squeezing out the toner, let gravity do the work.

Great product

I highly recommend NOT getting this printer. We bought 3 for the office, and all of them stopped working after the first time they ran out of ink. I am seriously tired of all these paid 5 and 4 star reviews that are flooding Amazon.Two of the ones we bought would not register the fact we replaced the ink (even their Customer Service could not help). One would not register the Cyan, even after we replaced the entire set of ink (rather than just the one colour). The second would not register any ink after it ran out of one colour, no matter what we did or what Customer Service told us to do. The ink itself is almost $350 to replace all four colours, so you might as well just get a different printer for that amount, especially since they all ran out SO FAST. We didn't even have them for a month before we had to replace the ink, and were making sure not to exceed the recommended duty cycle.The third one worked well for about two weeks, but then it would jam on every single page. Test pages, blank pages, full colour pages, it just wouldn't take any type of paper. It's not like we were using card stock either, it was literally from the same ream of paper we had been using since we started using that very same printer. We contacted Customer Service, and nothing happened. They instructed us on clearing jams, cleaning the wheels, and when it still didn't work, they told us we couldn't return it and would just have to purchase another one.The Driver it comes with is outdated, as well. So it doesn't matter what OS you have, you will have to contact their Customer Service and let them instruct you on which specific driver you will need to install. But nothing mentions that, there is no year posted on anything, so be sure to skip the CD it comes with and just go straight to calling.Just choose a different printer. Maybe an HP or Kyocera.