Just bought a Brother MFC-9320CW. It’s good so far. I use Ubuntu 9.10 for almost everything, and Brother actually supplies Linux drivers and source for both the printer and the scanner. The printer driver is just a PPD, but the scanner driver has some code-y components. But they provide a scanner .deb, even for 64-bit. In addition, the scanner is smart enough to be able to scan directly to a CIFS share, so if there are ever problems with the scanner driver, there’s still a decent way to scan.
The onboard web-based configuration software is pretty lackluster, but it does seem to do the job if you know what you’re doing and/or are curious enough (like, if you want to set up the CIFS parameters for scanning, don’t look under ‘Network Configuration’, and don’t try to find a ‘Scanner Settings’ like the ‘Fax Settings’ and ‘Printer Settings’… You have to find ‘Administrator Settings’ and the subpage ‘FTP/Network Scan Settings’ then ‘FTP/Network Scan Profile’.).
Since it’s all network-based and the onboard computer seems to be pretty smart, I can share it with all my computers easily and with Mac or Windows when I happen to be in those sort of modes.
The hardware is also good; the automatic document feeder is a big reason I got this model, and it seems to be robust and fast. Prints look very nice. I like the fact that it’s a toner system rather than an ink system, because I use my printer so seldom that inks would dry out on me between uses (though I haven’t used an inkjet in about 5 years, maybe they’re better now).
I’m not much for writing comprehensive reviews, but I just wanted to make a note for those who use Linux and were looking at this model. I’ll answer questions should any such person come around…
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