This model is another in the long line of Brother multifunction printers that also scans copies and faxes. If you’re looking for an all-in-one machine that offers decent stats, at a fair price and no headaches, then the Brother MFC-685cw is a model to consider.
However, as it is a discontinued model from Brother, there are no guarantees that your mission to find one will be successful as they are a little short on supply sometimes. For that reason, I will also suggest another model to consider.
The Brother MFC-685cw list price is $330, but its price on Amazon is a little lower at around $280 for a new model. Even better news is that there are currently refurbished models for a very reasonable $100 on Amazon. It would obviously be better to buy the refurbished model for less.
Refurbished models are not a bad option at all. They have a good record and tend to last and when it comes to older printers; it makes perfect sense to go with a refurbished model if the price is right.
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Fair Performer
The Brother MFC-685cw can print up to 30 pages per minute black and 25 pages per minute color. These numbers are slightly above average. Resolution of prints can reach as high as 6000 x 1200 dots per inch with minimum droplet size of 1.5 picoliters.
Printing
It can deliver borderless printing and can turn out sizes up to Up to 8.5″ x 14″ (Legal). They also give you versatility being able to scan print copy and fax and with wireless and Ethernet networking capabilities. You can print without a PC by using the media card slot. The 685cw is also PictBridge-compatible, meaning you can print directly from many digital cameras.
It also has a 100 Sheet Input Capacity and a 20-sheet 4×6 Photo Bypass Tray. The monthly duty cycle gives you an idea of how much demand and volume it can handle and at 2,500 monthly printed pages it’s fairly modest. A 10-page automatic document feeder will allow you to multitask. If you’re looking for decent quality photo prints from your digital camera, the PhotoCapture Center will help with this.
Copier
The copier can produce up to 22 copies per minute, which is well above average. Aside from that, the copier doesn’t offer much outside of the ordinary. It has stand-alone copying and is able to reduce or enlarge between 25% – 400%.
Scanner
The scanner can do B/W & Color Scanning with a resolution that can reach as high as 600 x 2400 dpi and interpolated resolution of 19,200 dpi and input color scan bit depth 36-bit. There is document viewer software also with this model.
Fax
The fax machine is impressive. It operates on Super 3G speed, has a message center, a handset, and a full duplex speakerphone with total auto dial locations to 80 locations
Impressions
There are a couple of negatives for the Brother MFC-685cw, as there are for any model. The negatives for the 685cw are both related to ink. The first negative is that the auto-cleaning feature will use up ink and there’s no way to stop it.
The other negative is that black and white prints will draw ink from the color cartridges. Nearly all printers use up a lot of ink. These negatives are something to keep in mind, but nothing out of the ordinary. Actually, this model has much fewer negatives than most.
You can obtain LC51 Value 5 Pack 3 Colors and 2 Black Ink Cartridges for under $75 on Amazon.
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The Brother MFC-685cw is best suited for the home or a small office. It’s PC and Mac compatible and its dimensions are 18.4 x 14.6 x 7.1 inches. It comes with a 1-year limited warranty.
Bargain Alternative
Another all in one brother printer that prints, faxes, scans, and copies and comes with an has built-in call center is the Brother MFC-790CW. This model has wireless networking built-in for so you can share with other computers.
It has a 4.2-inch touchscreen display, a 15 sheet maximum capacity automatic document feeder, built-in wireless, digital answering machine which can hold 29 minutes of messaging and also has full duplex speakerphone and corded handset.
The speed is a very decent 33ppm black and 27ppm color with 1.5 picoliters with resolutions as high as 6000 x 1200dpi. The fax has hi-speed super g3 33.6k bps and a fax modem which delivers black and white or color faxing without the need for a pc.
It will give you Hi-Speed Super G3 33.6K bps fax modem which allows black and white or color faxing with needing a PC. You have the option of doing direct photo printing using a PictBridge-enabled camera, or USB Flash Memory Drive. It gives you flatbed copying and scanning so you can copy or scan books with thick and unusual shaped pages even.
It has a 4 ink cartridge system Brother LC61BK Ink Cartridge – Black for around $15 on Amazon and Brother LC613PKS Color Ink Cartridge – 3 piece color for under $21.
Bargain Price
The best news is that the Brother MFC-790CW can be found on Amazon for the knock down price of around $110.
Brother has become a specialist in affordable multifunction models. These 2 live up to the standard and deliver good print performance with the other functions are always of a good quality with brother. The MFC-790cw is a particularly good buy.
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