Brother MFC-9840CDW Multifunction Printer

Summary: Brother hits a home-run with this Multi-Function device. For those with discerning tastes who require nothing but the best, but refuse to spend upwards of $4000 for a heavy-duty office device, this is the ultimate \"Do-It-All-arator.\" Yes, this unit does it all - Copies, Faxes, Prints, and Scans.

=DUPLEX=
Unlike other devices which offer \"duplex\" via a manual mode where the user needs to turn the pages, the duplex functions on this unit are automatic. (If you don't like auto-duplex, you can turn them off.) Also, the ability to auto-duplex comes STANDARD on this model.

=LASER=
Another huge benefit not specific to this model is that it is a LASER device. To understand why this is a benefit, you need to understand the drawbacks to other printing methods:

1 - Ink runs if it gets wet - because this unit uses toner, once something's printed or copied, it won't smudge / smear.
2 - Wax based (aka \"solid ink\") printing methods are essentially high tech \"crayon\" printers. They deliver a high-gloss image which, while it has a more vibrant look, can crack if the page is folded. Also, because the wax binds the paper, days and areas with high humidity can cause the paper to curl. Because the 9840CDW is laser / toner based, it doesn't suffer these afflictions.

=PRINTING=
Installing the printer drivers Windows Vista was the easiest thing I've ever had Vista do. The standard setup function installed all of the drivers, utilities, and extras with all of 3-4 clicks of the mouse.

Prints are crisp and clear, if not a bit \"fine.\" (It's not that the text is a shade of grey instead of black, it's that if a given line [say, from a letter \"L\"] should be 17 pixels wide, this printer seems to only print 15 pixels. This is an example, and not some result from a test, so take what I say with a grain of salt.) This can apparently be adjusted by turning up the contrast via th