Brother Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer, MFC-J491DW, Multi-function Color Printer, Duplex Printing, Mobile Printing,Amazon Dash Replenishment Enabled, Black, 8.5 (MFCJ491DW)

Update 2-27-2021 I am so happy with is excellent printer for $80.00 a steal of a deal.update 2-1-2001 I have this three weeks and have used much more than expected. I am very happy with this the performance and uses small amount of ink. If I printed what I have on my old printer I would of need to replace, I still have 3/4 left. Only draw back making endorsement on back of personal checks it cannot print as paper is to small. I really like this printer so far.I received a new one this past Tuesday and so far I am very happy with it I know not enough time to tell. I do like all the features and the quality of the print. I most like that I can and have bought extra large ink 3013 and have been printing a good amount with minimal ink use. I also like that this unit also includes a fax built in. I am not sure what others such Epson no longer have built in fax. For me that was a deal breaker. The wifi seems to work well also. Like I said I like this unit even though not a fast printer but I do not need speed I want a good all in one and so far I am very happy with this unit. I will update in future. PS I will buy the extend warranty that will cover it out 4 years I think that is a no brainier. Thank you hope this helps-------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 St old review 12-30-2020I ordered this with the hope it was as good as the reviews are and wanted to write a good review. I like the printer a lot print quality is very good speed a little slow but that fine for me The problem is when I went to have print on both sides of paper it jammed I un-jammed it only to have it happen over and over again then it would not un jam so I returned. I reordering hoping that one was a bad unit and if the new one is good I will write a good review. My worry is that this is a design flaw as others have complained about unit jamming as well. PS Bother tech support was not helpful at all, many hours on hold to have several BAD reps too good reps

Decided to go for this printer since most of the reviews were positive. Most of the negative reviews, I felt people were purchasing this printer which was on sale for $49.99 and thought there were getting a Laser Jet valued at $349.99. This expectation is way too high. My expectations weren't nearly that high. I print typically in a month 10-15 pages. I never print photos with any printer I buy because it eats up way too much inch and never as good as having them print at a store. The cost versus value doesn't make sense. In other words, if you're printing photos, go to Ex. Walgreens, Sams or Staples.So regular Black & White and some color is all I need. Plus I do scan regularly and fax 2-3 times a year. I didn't need a laser jet, or high end ink jet printer. (most of those reviews for those printers were mixed just like this one). So I went for this Brother. It's a very nice printer! Prints Black & White prints very well. (with better resume paper, can be resume quality too). Color is nice too, but not professional photo quality as mentioned earlier where to go. Scans images right to my PC and with my mobile phone, can print and scan.Haven't used the fax yet, but it ready and set up. (get a dial tone). The ink refill for this printer is also very reasonable versus $75 on my previous Canon. Laser Jets range around $179.99 to refill too. This one is about $36.99 for the original ink, not a knock off. Does it all and it's not too big versus my prior Canon. Overall I'm very pleased with this printer. I would recommend to a college student, home office, and to most people. So if you're looking for a great value grab this one!!! More professional business printing and/or commercial use, you have to come out the pocket and spend more. If you're expecting $49.99 to get you a laser ink jet valued at $349.99 keep looking. To me it's a homerun!!!

Overall impression, this is a fine printer for the price. Print quality was great for color and normal black and white. Plenty fast for both color photo and black and white. Scanner works fine, copier function works fine, prints from cell phone fine. Haven't tried NFC as I added it to my phone on the LAN and haven't tried the fax machine function using cellphone yet. I don't have a land line to hook it up to either. Printer is very compact and sturdy. Does not feel like thin plastic and nothing sticks out of it when not using scanner to snag or break. A very thoughtful design, it does not look like a big clunky office machine but certainly works aw well. Perfect for an individual or a home office .Only because of the following setup caveats I gave it a four star rating. Overall device, print quality, speed, and other Brother software (scan) rate a five star review. But I can't do that and I do understand the frustration of lots of folks who can only follow instructions for this sort of thing - like me and any sort of plumbing, just not my thing.LAN Setup was super easy, but there was a catch. I didn't mess with supplied CD, just uploaded latest software from the Brother site, which I recommend to get the latest version. Big hint here for setup: It couldn't find the printer via the install software (no surprise, I've never found a new printer right off, and if you think about how security and networks REALLY work, you can't without doing something physical) so I had to do it manually on the printer itself (add SSID and password) and although that would work, there is a printer control panel option for WPS. Choose it, press the WPS button on your router, tell the printer to use it and your done. No finding the SSID, entering the password via the arrows and OK buttons, etc. Then you can complete the installation normally as it sees the printer on the LAN at that point. Other PCs on the LAN will see the printer and all goes fast. I added the printer to remaining four computers in under 30 minutes, and added it to my phone at the same time. Why the quick start doesn't talk about WPS, I have no idea. Alternatively, you can hook up via Ethernet cable to the LAN or hook up via USB once to configure printer for wireless access, but you don't have to at all. Compared to other wireless printers I have (a bit older so not as feature rich I suppose) this was a 10 out of 10 install because I did not have to hook up via USB or RJ45 connection initially. WARNING: USE WPS WITH CAUTION. ONCE YOU PRESS THAT BUTTON, YOU WIFI LAN IS OPEN FOR A BIT AND IF YOU'RE IN SOMETHING LIKE A COLLEGE DORM OR APARTMENT SETTING, YOUR LAN CAN BE ENTERED AT THAT POINT. IF YOU'RE WORRIED, USE USB OR HARDWIRE TO ROUTER TO ADD IT TO YOUR LAN SECURELY.Another LAN downside maybe - i have a slower 2.4 GHz and a fast 5GHz WiFi LAN and it doesn't see the 5GHz SSID, only the 2.4GHz one. All of my other printers only see the 2.4GHz SSID as well, so not unusual, but I'd have expected it to see the faster one.Physical setup was simple. Do what the quick start says to do, period. Put the ink in, put the paper in, took off all the transport tape strips on doors/access panels and it worked. Again, one caveat here - when it auto registered, it prints out a test page to show that everything is aligned - reminded me of the ancient HP500C. Anyhow, see attached photo. It is SUPPOSED to look like six solid blocks as the screen on the printer shows, not the dashed and angular print. But I noticed that the image on the bottom (innobella) was properly aligned black & White and color so I said it was ok, I could always fix it later. It was OK as is. I printed out a picture and it was flawless. So the alignment thing is bogus. Again, because of the way the cartridges are detached from the print head (they're just ink tanks it looks like) it HAS to be aligned. It's not like you can align the cartridges at all so not even sure of why this is tested and part of the install process. Other color ink jets don't.I read other reviews that gave Brother high marks because their printers will use generic cartridges with no problems. My HP (one I replaced with this one - my fault not the printer because I dropped it and it exploded into lots of plastic bits) would only use genuine HP high $$$ cartridges and that stunk. But actual Brother ink cartridges are cheap enough that I'm going to use them and not chance using knock offs. Knock offs are not that much cheaper that it's worth it to chance clogging the printer with inferior ink.I haven't had the printer long enough to comment on ink life or sturdiness of the unit. It does appear to be more solid and feels sturdier than the one I replaced, certainly smaller for sure but not much lighter- one third the size of the monster HP 8710 I dropped.I don't know about the reviews that say it "eats ink". But, I have to say that unless you are a low volume user (like < 10 pages printed a week) and mostly use for scanning, I wouldn't use this as my primary printer - this or any inkjet for that matter - the cost per page is too high and changing cartridges is a pain. if you do print a lot, get a laser and have at it. Make sure it uses knock off cartridges (both my Samsung's, a B&W one and a color one, do just fine with them) and print away. If you have kids who print a lot, definitely get a color laser for the cheapest cost per page.