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The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  The best

  • Incentivized
  • Verified Purchaser

  Fast printer, easy to install, bright colors, accepts high weight, highly recommended

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  Posted 2 months ago by AngelicaC

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  High Capacity, Dependable, Redundant

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 100 Contributor

  TLDR: Excellent image quality for an inkjet with budget-friendly ink system KEY SPECS 1200 x 1200 Copy Resolution 1200 x 2400 Scanner Resolution 1200 x 6000 Printer Resolution Up to 17ppm Print Speed Real RJ-11 Fax Port PROS RJ-11 POTS Fax Port RJ-45 Ethernet Port Wi-Fi Compatible Refillable Ink Tanks USB-B & USB-A Connectivity CONS Paper Handling Noisy Ink Refills Can Be Messy Bother App Takes a Bit to Use INITIAL CONFIGURATION The MFC-980 was simple and quick to set-up, unlike my Brother MFC-3720. My 3720 has never played quite correctly with either my TP-Link mesh Wi-Fi or my Asus Zen Wi-Fi systems. It often goes offline and/or fails to receive print commands via the Brother app. A few firmware updates later and it finally has most of the bugs worked out and is much more reliable. The 980 on the other hand, found my Wi-Fi and was easy to configure and get working reliably the first time. After initial configuration, the machine reached out and got an updated firmware, which installed with no fanfare. Not to mention, in my short time of ownership, the 980 has already received a 2nd firmware update. Much quicker than my 3270 ever got updated. The 980 has been rock solid since initial set-up, even when printing via Wi-Fi. PORTS I wouldn't be so critical of my 3270 if it would have an ethernet port to failover to. It doesn't. That is a HUGE bonus for the 980. It not only has a 10/100 ethernet port, but it also has a real RJ-11 POTS phone port for faxes, as well. I haven't seen hardly any multi-function devices come with redundant hardwired ports. HUGE props to Brother for including them with the 980. Yes, I know faxes are all but a thing of the past, but that 1 time you need to send a fax once per year, it is a huge benefit to have a POTS connection, thereby keeping you from going through various third-party services to send that fax that often contains sensitive personal information. PAPER HANDLING Like nearly all multi-functions, the 980 accepts paper up to 8.5 x 14. The primary document tray holds up to 150 pages and the output tray holds up to 50. Included with the 980 is a 20-page auto document feeder to make quick work of multiple page scans or faxes. Note that while the 980 can print two-sided, it is unable to scan two-sided documents. Brother claims up to 17 pages per minute print speed. This is pretty accurate. Speed varies on the amount of text on the page and print quality. But 17 is about right for normal quality with draft mode being marginally quicker. One thing I don't like about the 980 is its initial pick-up of paper out of the primary paper tray. The 980 is extremely noisy when grabbing a sheet from the tray to print. I'm not sure what it is, I've looked for issues and there are none, but I just don't like how loud it bangs around fetching a fresh sheet of paper. INK If you are in the market for an inkjet printer, definitely spend a few extra bucks and get one like the 980 that has their own individual, refillable ink reservoirs. After having these separate reservoirs, I will NEVER have another printer that has all its ink combined into 1 or 2 cartridges. That ink is ALWAYS over-priced and often wasteful as one color will ultimately be depleted before the others, forcing you to replace the entire cartridge. Brother claims up to 3 years of ink is included with the 980. I will say that after printing over 100 pages of documents to date, from both my Android phone and Windows PC's, there is a noticeable drop in ink quantity. At this rate, I won't get anywhere near 3 years out of the included supply, though I have noticed that switching from Normal print quality to Draft only minimally changes print quality while saving a substantial amount of ink. One thing that Brother does need to revisit is their ink refill system. It is nowhere near as polished as the competition. When doing my initial loading of ink in the 980, many bottles refused to start flowing when inserted into the reservoir. It took a squeeze to "break an air bubble" to get it flowing and filling. Also, a buyer has to be keenly aware of removing the bottles when they are done. It is VERY easy to spill a drop or two of ink or have some left over on the tip of the bottle. My thumb and index finger have been stained black for several days now, gradually getting lighter with each wash of my hands. APP I have grown accustomed to the Brother Print Service app. I will say that there is a lot of mystery behind it. I'm still not really sure how it interfaces with my Android phone or iPad. But it does work. Even outside my local network, I am able to send documents to the printer. Anywhere I have cellular connection, I have the ability to send a print job to my printer. However, you have to exercise some patience with the Brother Print Services app. Even trying to print on my local network takes a few seconds. Even more so attempting to print from a mobile device. To be fully fair to Brother, I rarely, if ever, have any issues printing from any of my devices, though I often wonder if it is really going to actually work as there is often substantial lag time. I find letting Windows manage my printing on a PC is generally quicker and easier way of communicating with the printer. FINAL THOUGHTS Would I recommend the 980? If I were in the market for a multi-function inkjet, the 980 offers a lot of value for the money. It is easy to get up and running. The 980 has redundant hardwire options and has proven hassle-free. It works much better with my mesh Wi-Fi than my 3270 ever has. Now that manufacturers have been building machines with refillable reservoirs, I would never go back to replacing ink cartridges. The extra money you spend opting for a refillable machine is quickly recovered when it comes to replacing a cartridge or two. After that, it is just even more money in the bank. The Brother 980 has excellent scanning performance with true to life color and the print quality is crisp and clear even when using the cheapest printer paper I could find. If you need a hardworking, high-capacity inkjet, the 980 should be on your list. Print Quality: 5/5 Paper Handling: 3.5/5 Connectivity: 5/5 Ink Refill System: 3.5/5 Maintenance: 4/5 RECOMMENDED

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  Posted 3 months ago by NAMO

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Easy Setup and Use

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  I have had so many different printers and all in some way or another have caused me so many issues. The prices ranged from $50.00 to close to a $1,000.00. My last printer, a color laser printer cost the most and suddenly stopped functioning properly. Sometimes I could print to it, but it required me fiddling around with settings to get it online to print. This was frustrating as I just wanted to simply be able to print without having to babysit the printer. This brother printer has been fantastic! It easily connected to my Wi-Fi network. Each of my many computers (windows and apple) all found the printer online and could print/scan/fax. I also was able to use it right away with my iPhone and android phones. I did download the app onto my iPhone to make setup easier, but with the app you get a lot of other functions such as scan, copy, run maintenance, document print, and photo print. I did a test of the scan, and the document scanned and uploaded to my phone with no issues. This already is a winner at how simple this printer is and how easy it is to use with a computer and phone. I love the fact that brother just went with fillable ink. With this setup there is no expiration dates on ink cartridges like other companies. Once the ink is out (easy to see on the front of the machine or in app) in the chamber you order another bottle of that color and refill. The filling/refilling process is also super simpler, remove the cap from the bottle and insert into the correct color tank and it will automatically fill. I was worried I would end up with ink spilled making a mess and was pleasantly surprised that nothing spilled. I printed a few documents and photos. Word documents print out pretty quickly and you can even print double sided, just have to select the option before printing. the double-sided printing took a little more time but was still pretty fast. Color photos printed at a good speed, but if you are using this printer just for photos maybe check out a true photo printer. The photos I printed on white paper looked nice and would be fine for everyday use. I did print a photo on the higher settings but using generic white paper and it did look nice and would probably look a lot better using photo paper. Overall, I really do like this printer. It has all the functions a at home printer should have with the ease of use. Setup was super simple, the app is easy to use, the buttons on the printer are all easy to read and use. The screen is a little small but the information it shows is easy to read and understand.

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  Posted 3 months ago by apalmo