Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: I bought this machine over a year ago and I have finally had it. Every time I want to use it I have to clean it. Sometimes I have to clean it multiple times and I'm still not satisfied with the print quality. Its a huge waste of time and money. The replacement cartridges are not cheap. I don't print a huge volume but I'm constantly having to replace since all the ink is used up on the print quality check sheet. I've printed out enough of those print check sheet to wallpaper a room. I never had this problem with my HP and the ink seemed to last more than twice as long.I saw this problem in the reviews before I bought but was swayed by the number of good reviews. I haven't had any problems with jams or using it with XP though. Scanner and fax are both easy to use. Just wish I could get a decent print quality out of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good buy
Review: This is my first multifunctional item, and I am pretty happy with it. Setup was easy, and the print quality is good. The only downside that I see is that the scan speed is slower than what I have been used to from my previous flatbed scanner. I would buy it again.
Rating:
Summary: Buyer Beware
Review: The price is cheap for a reason. You'll be luckey to get a year out of it. Mine lasted 15 months. Was in shop once. Now dead. Printer head problems with this model. See other newsgroups.
Rating:
Summary: Brother MF(See) and avoid
Review: This product adheres to a maxim of "you want it bad, you get it bad." Cost was the driving factor on the purchase of this product.
We bought an original 5100 at just shy of $200... seemed like a great price for what the reviews of the time were saying. That was earlier this year. Almost immediately following the initial set up the print quality went out to lunch. First the black had streaks then the magenta went. Then the paper feeder trashed about 60% of the paper supply (paper was of good quality, didn't skimp there.)
Spoke with Brother repeatedly about the print quality. Found out that the ink cartridges that are shipped with the product from the factory weren't designed as the full capacity refills one buys after the sale... just enough to get you up and running.
Brother's manual shows a setting to help alleviate the paper crunch we were experiencing. The change did diminish the number of paper jams, but surely didn't eliminate them.
The replacement printer also had print head problems. No quantity of cleaning of the print head mitigated the problem.
Brother's support for Mac OS X is weak at best. I know that they just updated the twain driver and the printer driver, but I run into problems with both my machines. One, granted, is an older G3 w/o built in USB support, the other is a Powerbook. The Powerbook printing seemed to work decently once the drivers were upgraded...still with the print head problem though. The tower, despite not having a problem with any other USB device and the printer aren't connecting, although the tower recognized the printer selected on the Powerbook and sent the jobs to the Powerbook...perhaps its a setting that I've overlooked somewhere, but Mac use is pretty simple.
I can't get the twain drivers recognized by either Photoshop or Adobe Acrobat by either machine. No scanning capabilities. Again, I don't think that this is my fault or a missed setting.
I did see that somebody else said the Mac drivers worked...perhaps for him/her, not for me.
The MFC-5100C did a pretty decent job, speedwise, with both color and black and white copying. If you go into the copying action with the realistic understanding that you're using a lower end inkjet to do the copying you won't be let down...providing your print head works. This was based on the print head working the first couple of days.
The sheet feeder works, without jams, quite well. and the cover lifts for larger objects such as big books/maps/your kids face (you never know what they'll try to copy).
Overall I'd say avoid this product. The print head, a critical piece for the multi-function part of the MFC product, is just lousy. The cost for the ink replacement, something I should've researched a bit better, is substantial. The paper jams are irritating to the extreme. The support for Mac users is weak at best.
I'm sure that there are better uses for your $110 today. Light a cord of wood with the singles...you'd get better productivity. Happy Holidays
Rating:
Summary: Please don't waste your money
Review: I bought the MFC-5100C about 6 months ago when the price was around $250. Today, you can get one for around $110. Mine worked OK except for the paper jams (about 1 out of 30 sheets) until I ran out of yellow and magenta ink. I replaced the cartridges, cleaned the print heads and it never has printed again. Please, Please don't waste your money even if the price goes down to $10 - go buy some lottery tickets.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent for the money
Review: Set up was a breeze. I have windows 98. I just put in the disk and followed the prompt. Setting up the printer ink and fax function was just as easy. Pint quality good for my use.I'm using it for general home use. I think it is great value for the money.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent print quality (when the print head is clean)...
Review: I've owned this unit for well over a year now and would recommend its purchase if you have limited funds. I needed a fax machine and a copier but didn't have much money to spend, so this fit the bill perfectly. It sends single or multi-page faxes flawlessly and the color copies are excellent. My only complaint is that over the last couple of months it won't always print blue, even after changing out the cartridge (which aren't cheap providing Brother with a comfortable regular income). Until I get it fixed, I'm using it mostly for faxing. I'm giving it only 3 stars because the excellent print quality barely lasted a year with only occasional use. I suppose you get what you pay for...
Rating: 
Summary: So far So good
Review: It was a breeze to set up and has worked great so far. I've had it about three months. Compared to the Panasonic I had before, the print quality is excellent. Do not hear loud dial tones or dialing. Everything is so simple. Have not tried the scanner yet but sure it is just as good.
Rating:
Summary: Becareful when you purchase this unit
Review: I've purchased the unit about a year ago for my wife to do printing and homework with the kids. I wanted something with inexpensive replacement inkjets. This fits the bill. Replacement ink is very cheap, and last a long time. The flatbed scanner works VERY well. I'm very pleased with the ability to scan in color. Setup was kind of painful. USB is the way to go. Not as painful as HP setups. The print quality is very good. Speed is decent. So why 3 stars? Because before you can use the unit you have to run a "clean". We use the printer about once a week, and it requires you to clean the unit before using. It's a pain. Second one color has become completely clogged. I've taken it apart and now I think it needs a replacement print head, which seems to be >$150. The unit is still under warranty, so I'm going to see if Brother will fix it. Overall, I would recommend the unit, if you are a heavy printer. If you use the unit every day, the ink will probably not dry up. The low priced ink cartriges are a real advantage.
Rating: 
Summary: Yikes
Review: This wasn't the bargain I hoped it would be. For starters, it has four individual color print cartridges with the idea that you only have to change the color that has run out. The problem? My machine doesn't tell me when/if a cartridge is low or out. I have learned that when all of the print turns green and then a few jobs later the machine spits out blank pages that it may be time to change all of the cartridges! I've had EXCEPTIONALLY poor print quality since day one (which was left unresolved with a call to customer service help, although they were nice), and an EXCEPTIONAL number of paper jams (although they are more easily cleared than my old HP). The most frustrating aspect is that now neither my fax nor the PC fax feature is working. I am on Amazon right now to buy a new printer/all in one, and realized I should post a quick review to save someone else the trouble of buying this thing. I gave it two stars just because the price is so low. But if I knew then what I know now, I would have paid three times as much for a multi-function that functions!
| 
