[RndTbl] big scanner

Adam Thompson athompso at athompso.net
Sat Sep 28 16:17:05 CDT 2013


On 2013-09-28 09:16, Adam Thompson wrote:
> On 2013-09-28 06:19, Trevor Cordes wrote:
>> Does anyone have big (like tabloid or bigger) scanner they want to
>> sell?  Even an ancient SCSI or parallel one might be ok.  I just want
>> *big*.
>>
>> Do they even make scanners bigger than legal or tabloid?
> I have a tabloid-size scanner built into my Brother MFC-J6910DW (which 
> didn't cost very much).
> If you need wider, either use a camera or hack something up like this 
> http://www.mpetroff.net/archives/2013/09/25/scanner-modifications-to-scan-large-documents/. 
>
>
To be a bit more specific (and laudatory), my Brother MFC
1) only costs around $300-$350 new 
(http://www.pricebat.ca/search.php?q=MFC-J6910DW)
2) prints/scans/faxes; has all the various slots and ports and features 
you could want
3) has both WiFi and Ethernet and USB
4) scans to USB-attached PC, SD/CF/etc slot, NFS(?), FTP, SMB, 
SMTP(email) - very handy.  (Oh, it also can print from POP3!)
5) prints AND scans up to 11x17" (tabloid)
6) prints AND scans double-sided (all the way up to 11x17", including 
from the ADF!)
7) has a B&W cost per page comparable to most mid-sized lasers (it's 
cheaper to run than my HP LJ2200DN even using remanufactured HP toner 
cartridges!)
8) has a Color cost per page WELL BELOW most color lasers
9) automatically runs head-cleaning/flushing operations so the heads 
don't dry out
10) has XXL-sized ink tanks; I'm only on my second set of ink tanks 
after a year, even with item #9 above!
11) two paper trays, both can hold up to 500pp of 11x17"
12) can "snoop" on your phone line and intervene if it detects an 
incoming fax
13) has drivers for Linux (not open-source, though)

Bottom line: although this printer isn't perfect, it's a darn good deal 
and after about two years with it, I'm very impressed with it.

I wish it had three trays, not two.
I wish it could multitask better (one thing at a time, mostly).
I wish it had better photo output.  (But it's only 4-color, and it's not 
Epson or Canon, after all.)
And I wish it either had open source drivers or supported PCL3 or PS or 
something standard like that.

FWIW, I've also been quietly impressed with *every* *single* Brother 
laser printer I've ever seen - I know of an HL-6 from ~1990 that's still 
working (although barely).

I don't understand why they're the Rodney Dangerfield of the printer 
world when everything they make mostly just works.  (One issue: their 
small/cheap MFPs tend to be unsupported for newer versions of Windows.  
Just like every other manufacturer's small, cheap MFPs.)

YMMV; mine mostly hasn't.

-- 
-Adam Thompson
  athompso at athompso.net



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