Cheap Brother MFC9100C Color Flatbed Multi-Function Center (Electronics) (Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows 98) Price

The Brother MFC 9100C packs about as much punch as you'll find in a multifunction printer. This ink-jet-based unit delivers 1,440 x 720 dpi printing, color flatbed scanning and copying, fax, and even video capture functionality.

Despite all of these features, the MFC 9100C is relatively compact. The unit includes a comfortably designed control panel across the front, with a standard flatbed scanner that sports a 50-page automatic document feeder. The paper source is a 250-page cassette that slides into the very bottom of the unit's front; print output ejects just on top of this cassette. A parallel connection and phone jacks for the unit's modem are located near the rear of the left side and an RCA plug for video capturing is on the front. This arrangement is nice, though we found the manual feed slot on the top of the paper cassette hard to see. Separate copy and fax buttons on the control panel make the machine easy to use for the first time.

We set up the MFC 9100C without any complications. The Brother accepts four separate ink tanks, so we recommend that you exercise caution while inserting them if you want to come away with clean hands. The unit's software installation is automated and offered us several options of software to install. Our performance tests yielded almost 3 pages per minute (ppm) printing a 10-page Word document in normal mode, and 4.8 ppm in draft mode. Our photos printed with modest quality in 360 dpi on plain paper, but were spectacular in 1,440 dpi on glossy paper.

There's plenty of memory in the MFC 9100C--enough to hold up to 600 standard fax pages and 100 speed dials. We found the fax features easy to set up through well-organized menus that are accessible through the control panel. The MFC 9100C includes a number of software applications on two CD-ROMs, including utilties for document management, color fax, automatic e-mail printing, and Corel Print & Photo House for graphic printing tasks.

This multifunction option delivers an impressive amount of flexibility and quality. Its high-resolution scanning and printing functionality, along with its color copying, scanning, and faxing features, make it powerful enough for any job that may come your way.

Pros:

• Color scanning/copying/faxing
• High-quality printing
• Flexible flatbed scanner

Cons:

• Limited 250-page paper cassette
• Manual feed slot hard to find

PLATFORM:	Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows 98
CATEGORY:	Electronics
MANUFACTURER:	BROTHER
FEATURES:	14.4 Kbps high-speed fax modem, Color ink-jet printing with resolution up to 1,440 x 720 dpi, Color scans up to 1,200 x 1,200 dpi resolution, Capture color video frames from your VCR, camcorder, or digital camera, Use your PC to send and receive color faxes
TYPE:	Multifunction Devices, Printers (Printer) MFC 9100C 9100 C, Copiers (Copier, Copy Machines, Machine) - Color, Fax Machines (Facsimile), Scanners (Scanner)
MEDIA:	Electronics
MPN:	MFC-9100C
ACCESSORIES:
UPC:	012502564683