Upside
We're pretty wild and crazy here at CNET. When we're not partying with rock stars, we're getting down and dirty with multifunction inkjet printers like the Brother DCP-135C. That's how we roll.
We're not sure which we prefer, but the DCP-135C is pretty cool. It'll do photo prints, scanning and colour copying. It's not slow, either -- in inkjet terms. It'll spew colour documents at 20 pages per minute or monochrome docs at 25ppm. And the best part is the price: the RRP is AU$119, but if you shop around you can pick one up for less than AU$90.
Downside
It took us literally 10 minutes to find the USB data port, because it's located on the inside of the printer, not the outside as one might expect. Brother says this reduces the chances of damaging the USB connector if you trip over the cable. To test this reasoning, we deliberately tripped over the cable and dragged the printer to the floor, causing it to shatter into a thousand little pieces -- just kidding! Turns out Brother was right, the USB connector remained intact.
We also had a minor gripe with the software installation process, which had to be restarted a few times before completing successfully. That's understandable from time to time, but the resultant error message from manually installing the driver is hilarious: "error -- printing", Windows said, implying the act of printing -- with a printer -- was some kind of illegal operation.
Outlook
Once we got it up and running, the DCP-135C turned in some fairly impressive prints. Photos look just like they came from a photo lab -- to the untrained eye -- and black text looked absolutely fine, even for professional use. In short, the DCP-135C is a very good printer, provided you can put up with its minor quirks. Stay tuned for our full review.
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Omer
08/10/2008, 12:03 AM
rating
6/10
Cheap, economical to run.Bit quirky to set up.Running well,gets the work done.
Pros: Good functions.
Economical
Cons: USB Port location
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shiun
30/09/2008, 04:21 PM
rating
10/10
Great value overall.
Pros: quiet, many built-in functions, cost effective, good printing quality.
Cons: Slow photo printing, slow usb reading, lousy software, unable to print cd label (will cause paper jam), troublesome paper tray.
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Thev
14/09/2008, 05:57 PM
rating
5/10
can this thing work on windows 98? please reply
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San
22/07/2008, 02:53 AM
rating
7/10
Its 2008. Why are u still using windows ME. If u cannot upgrade to vista atleast upgrade to xp(will run on ur pc no matter what configuration u have). U should have atleast read what is written on the box. Anyway i hope u can upgrade because for the price it is available it is a very good mfd.
Pros: A steal at its price
Cons: Slow printing speeds and just ok for photos.
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fionamcq
16/06/2008, 05:02 AM
rating
2/10
I've just recently bought this printer and I am getting soooooooo frustrated as I cannot get it to install!!
I have Windows ME and I have been told that it won't work on this system. Is this true?? Help!! I'd be grateful for any suggestions????
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