Electronics : Brother MFC-6490cw Professional Series Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer with Wireless Networking |
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 Make high-quality prints, copies, scans, and faxes with the MFC-6490cw. |
 Edit and print photos directly from your digital camera and memory cards. |
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Rating:  - * A great multi-function office machine for the price. ... I bought this to replace several separate components that were not aging well, and 11" x 17" print & scan capability plus the built-in Wireless were the main selling points. Connecting to my network was a little problematic. To connect, I had to change my office network's encryption, as I was using a WEP encryption of HEX codes that don't translate to alpha characters, but this printer will not allow anything but alpha. Anyway, once that was done, the unit worked beautifully, and actually has so many features in the software that I haven't had the time to explore them all. Rating:  - * Brother MFC 6490cw All in One ... Absolutely fabulous! A great product with great quality print, scan, fax and copy. The seller was excellent...received the item in 2 days! Very pleased. The machine is bit large for a home office and it didn't come with a USB cord to connect to the computer. Rating: - * Great Printer, Wireless, Works with a Mac ... After approximately a month of using this printer, I am very impressed! I bought this printer to complement the new Mac that I purchased and I was looking for a printer that would print wirelessly. This printer does EVERYTHING I need it to do. For example, I am working on a graduate project for school on the mac and I just sent several pages of the project to the printer (which is located in the other room). When I was finished printing, I did some more web research, and then went into the other room where the printouts were waiting for me. I'm not tethered with wires or tied to the room where the printer is located in order to print. Set-up was (mostly) easy. At first, setting up the wireless was a little intimidating, so I used a simple usb wire and hooked into Apple's Airport Extreme BaseStation. I was able to print wireless using that option. Then, as I got more comfortable with the Brother's menu system, I was able to figure out the printer's built-in wireless option and I got it to work. Like another reviewer said, it works perfectly. (Hint: make sure you know your Wireless network settings ahead of time. This will SAVE YOU A LOT OF TIME. I didn't really write down my settings when I created my network, but I was able to use a PS3 to display the network settings I was using and then I put those settings into the printer and TA-DA, my Brother Printer was operating wirelessly). Printouts are great. I'm a grad. student as well as a published writer, and I need both good black text for my stories as well as color images for school. So far, the Brother has preformed perfectly. Colors are crisp and bright, and black text looks professional (which is what I'm looking for when I send out my stories). I'm not a demanding user per se (I haven't needed to use the Fax option yet), so I can't really comment on how well it would be for Small Business owners, but I can heartily say that this is the best printer that I've owned so far. Any negatives? The only issue that I'm having at the moment is trying to figure out how to get the Mac's Printer driver to let me select different trays. The Brother gives you two (2) trays. You can fill one with regular paper and the other with glossy, envelopes( or even more regular paper if you really want to). At the moment, I can't figure out how to manually select between the two trays, but I'm sure that is more an issue with me (I'm a recent Mac convert from Windows) than it is with the Brother Printer/Mac. All I can say is that I think that this is an excellent product. I'm glad that I read the earlier reviews and decided to purchase the Brother MFC-6490cw. If you own a Mac (esp. a laptop) or if you have multiple computers in a home office setting that you would like to print from wirelessly, this is a very strong contender. Also, I feel that I should add that this printer works with Windows, but since I just switched over to a Mac, I can't really comment on setup/drivers for Windows, although I have a feeling that so long as you know your wireless settings ahead of time, setup for Windows will probably be fairly smooth as well. With the Brother MFC-6490cw and the Mac working together, I now feel like the "creative professional" that Apple is always portraying in its ads. Rating:  - * Nice idea but poor color saturation ... In testing this printer I discovered that the sharpness greatly diminishes when enlarging past 130%. Color saturation in general copies is poor for reds (looks very faded) and yellow wasn't very bright. The paper tray capacity is great but the top piece is very flimsy. Wonderful printing in black and white at 100%. This would be an excellent printer for someone needing larger sized copies in black and white or with small amounts of color. Not very good as a photo printer. The wireless works fine too. If you need sharp enlargements and better color saturation (photos and copies) I would go with one of the HP printers with 9600 dpi. Rating: - * Works with a Mac - WIRELESSLY ... I unboxed our new MFC-6490CW last night and set it up. Within 10 minutes I had it connected to our wireless network. Loaded the included software on my wife's new Macbook Pro and I could SCAN and PRINT wirelessly! Have a stack of bills you want to store electronically? This thing will scan to your PC through it's auto document feeder directly to the mac or pc over the network. Want to fax something from your desktop? From the Mac or PC it works. Amazing device. It has email features that I have yet to read about, but from what I can see it can scan to email, and print/fax from an incoming email as well. I picked it up at OfficeMax for less than $200 shipped with a coupon. Killer deal on a very useful device. Size is a consideration as others have noted, but its no bigger than you would expect from a wide-format and wide-scanning device. And where else can you find a 11X17 scanner for $200? For $300? Nowhere. |
 The nüvi 360 comes with hands-free bluetooth wireles technology. See side view. |
 Browse your stored pictures with an easy-to-use JPEG viewer. |
 The device sports a handy MP3 player, letting you play songs stored on SD memory cards. |
In addition, you can easily look-up and dial numbers from your personalized phone book or from your phone's call history log. Don't know the phone number for your destination? Simply find and dial it from nüvi's database of more than six million points of interest -- including hotels, restaurants, stores, and attractions.
Navigation and Entertainment with Ease
For starters, the nüvi 360 includes a high-sensitivity integrated GPS receiver that offers exceptional performance and reception. The unit's flip-up antenna includes an MCX-type connector for optional external GPS antenna connection. Preloaded software features maps of Europe or North America, and it includes automatic routing, 2D or 3D map perspective, turn-by-turn voice directions that speak street names, and a fingertip touch screen interface -- making navigation as easy as it gets.
But navigation is just the beginning. Like the nüvi 350, the nüvi 360 also includes many entertainment and travel tools including an MP3 player, audio book player, JPEG picture viewer, travel alarm, and currency converters.
The nüvi 360 features a bright, 2.8 x 2.1-inch TFT display with white backlight for easy readability. At 3.87 x 2.91 x 0.87-inches (WxHxD) and just 5.1 ounces, the unit is small enough to be placed on the dashboard with the included suction mount, or into your pocket for easy transportability. The unit also features Garmin Lock -- an advanced anti-theft feature that disables the unit from performing any functions until you type in a specific four-digit PIN or take the unit to a predetermined location. A built-in lithium ion battery will give you up to eight hours of power, and an included 12/24 volt adapter cable will let you run the navigator off your vehicle's power. An AC battery charger is also included.
A built-in Travel Kit that includes sample MP3s and audio books will get you started with entertainment, and with the unit's SD memory card expansion slot you can add optional software, such as language and travel guides. A USB port is also included for loading and updating data.
What's in the Box
Gamin nüvi 360, Preloaded City Navigator NT North America or Europe (full coverage), vehicle suction cup mount, AC charger, 12/24 volt adapter cable, dashboard disk, USB interface cable, carrying case, owner's manual, and quick reference guide.
 This pocket sized personal travel assistant has a super bright, sunlight-readable color screen. See side view. |
 Easy control via the simple touch screen. |
 Weather reporting available with bright, colorful graphics. |
Speaking of keeping you safe, the nüvi 680 lets you make hands-free calls so you can talk freely during your worry-free driving. By integrating Bluetooth wireless technology with a built-in microphone and speaker, you can pair your nüvi with any compatible Bluetooth phone and talk hands-free while staying focused on the road. You no longer have to fumble with your phone's handset to answer a call or dial a number, just tap the 680's screen and you're instantly connected. And with 1-touch dialing for your POIs, you can quickly and conveniently call ahead to make reservations or get needed information.
 Simply insert a memory card to enjoy pictures, songs, and audiobooks. |
 You can also use the mini-USB port for tranferring files directly to the memory card. |
In additional to all this functionality, the nüvi 680 includes many must-have entertainment and travel tools such as an MP3 player, an audio book player (subscription to Audible.com required), and a JPEG picture viewer so you can take your favorite music and pictures with you wherever you go. This unit also features a world travel clock with time zones, a currency converter, a measurement converter, and a calculator so that wherever you travel it will be easy to know what you are getting and keep track of your costs. The MP3 player lets you browse music by artist, album, and/or song, while the optional audio books may be purchased from Audible.com which features over 70,000 hours of audio programs. What's more, the nüvi 680 allows further customization via optional software such as a travel guide, savings programs and language translation on plug-and-play SD cards for all your travel needs.
The Garmin nüvi 680 comes with a built-in, high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, and lets you view and operate it via its bright, LCD TFT touch-screen, wide-screen display that measures 4.3 inches (diagonal) and has a resolution of 480 x 272 pixels with 64,000 colors and a white backlight. As a whole, the nüvi 680 measures 4.9 x 2.9 x 0.9 inches (W x H x D), and weighs only 6.2 ounces for easy portability. This unit provides you with from three to seven hours of battery life (depending on use) via its rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and comes with Garmin Lock, which is an anti-theft feature to protect your investment. While you can add software via the SD card slot, the Garmin nüvi 680 also lets you interface via high-speed USB for loading data, though users should note that, like most USB mass storage devices, this unit is not compatible with Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me.
 The nüvi 680 comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator NT street maps, including a hefty points of interest (POIs) database with hotels, restaurants, fuel stops, ATMs, and more. |
