Brother Wireless Mono Laser Printer

Cons: Scanner places very faint light and darker vertical bands on a scanned image. Pros: Printed an excellent quality return label. Print quality is MUCH better than my old ink-jet printers. I received this printer a week ago and have to return it for replacement. I scan a lot of images and it's one of the primary reasons I bought this multi-function printer. After scanning just a few pictures I noticed a difference in quality from my old HP 3310 scanner. Doing some testing I found the scanner placed very faint light and darker vertical bands in groups about an inch wide on the scanned image. To make sure it was a scanner problem I scanned an image with a solid dark background, turned the image 90 degrees clockwise and scanned again. The bands on the first picture was perpendicular to the second picture verifying the bands weren't part of the image but were placed there by a defective scanner. I also tested the scanner using the built in function of the printer and then second scanning using PSP9 and third with the included software "Control Center 4". I also tested the "copy" function. Printing documents is great with much better quality than my old HP3310 or my Canon MultiPass. I tested the printer with my XP Home/32 computer and my Win 7/64 computer with the USB connection option at 200 x 200 up to 600 x 600 DPI and got the same results. Additionally, while this printer feels less sturdy than my old HP3310, it feels heavier and more sturdy than my Canon Multi-Pass. The scanner function is an important function of this "Multi Function Printer" and is advertized to produce "high-quality color scanning" so I have to drop 2 stars. I have not yet been able to use the wireless mode in either my XP Home/32 or my Win 7 Pro/64 computers and have not been able to print from the network computers but I haven't spent too much time trying to set them up as yet. Comments: Copying a color picture to a black and white image required setting the "Brightness" to max and the "Contrast" to minimum to get an acceptable monochrome image. Since that isn't an expected function of the printer I only include it here as an observation. I hate the hassle of returning any merchandise so if the replacement printer shows the same defect I'll return for a refund, update this review and try another Canon. Besides, a week after ordering this printer the price dropped $20.00 and Amazon has no post purchase price matching option. Edited review. The replacement printer arrived very fast. Unfortunately the scanner of the replacement is just as bad as the first. For a printer that advertise a "High Quality Scanner" this is unacceptable. There is another review that also comments about the scanner being poor quality so if you don't intend to use the scanner then you might like this printer. In addition I have been having trouble with this printer maintaining a connection with the computer. It's hit or miss when turning on the computer whether this printer is recognized or not. With both printers I had to re-install the printer several times after turning on the computer to get it to work. I have tried this printer connected to an XP and a Win 7 computer. I'm not a computer expert but I have operated a BBS with Frontdoor and FIDONET and can create web pages with FrontPage and Kompozer. Perhaps an IT professional might figure out how to get this printer to function reliably. I now have to return this printer and it's doubtful that I will ever look at Brother printers again. ======================== Edited: I thought I'd mention how to create a PDF Document with this printer. Hopefully these steps are understandable. I had to use the accompanied software, Control Center 4, to create the PDF. Creating a PDF file without using the ADF Control Center 4 - OPEN On the {SCAN TAB} - SELECT [CUSTOM] Select {DEVICE SETTINGS TAB} - then select [FILE] This will save to PDF format) Select the [SCAN] TAB Press [SCAN] After the page scans, before continuing, insert the next page on the scanner bed. Then select [CONTINUE] again until the last page is scanned. (Remember to insert the new page before clicking "continue") [FINISH] SELECT WHEN ALL PAGES HAVE BEEN SCANNED --------- To create a new PDF: [CLEAR] SELECT Repeat the above steps ============================================ Oct 7. Another short note. After the printer was returned I got a note that Amazon wasn't going to refund the shipping part of the refund. It was a confusing note saying something about "Promotions". I know Amazon doesn't price match or refund the difference if the same item goes on sale for a lower price and I understand that completely. What a headache it would be trying to sort through all the requests for partial refund. But I also know when I return an item that is not what it's advertized to be I expect a full refund. I don't know, maybe this isn't our Fathers Amazon.