Shopping for a scanner: Brother MFC-6490CW anybody?, Opinions, suggestions. Options

[Greg G.]

My old scanners are broken. Scanners?

Yes. I had an old 8.5x11 Epson that I kept around for smaller jobs and later purchased a Mustek Scanexpress A300.

At pittsburgh comic con I spoke with an inker who mentioned a new Brother printer/scanner, but I didn't obtain a model #.

I did some searching and found the MFC-6490CW.

It's compatible with Mac OSX natively which is a huge bonus.

Plus I could print 11x17 non-repro pages to ink.

Has anybody worked with this device?

The price is right, and I could free up quite a bit of space in my computer work area.

Thanks for your time.

[autowagon]

i bought the brother mfc-j6710dw about a month ago. It's cheap 200-250 bucks. I bought it mostly for the 11 by 17 scanner. I don't think it prints as well as the 400 dollar HP printer i replaced it with. Well, i just now found there's a manual feed slot for thicker media that i didn't know about. So i guess you can print blue line roughs. I was just about to say you can't. oops.

This post has been edited by autowagon: May 11 2011, 02:24 PM

[G-Man]

We have this at our studio. Purchased it last year. We love it. Can not say enough good things about it...and it can re-produce in blue line.

[Greg G.]

Thanks guys.

I may go with the 6490 now due to the maturity of the product, more available reviews, and it's $50 less than the 6710.

The best news is Brother is continuing to support the 11x17 format. That's awesome news since previously there was little competition for the size at the consumer friendly price point.

Could someone point me to an instructional video / site on how to print in non-photo blue?

Thanks again.

[Carl Shinyama]

I have it! And I love it! Though, it took me a while to figure out how to scan the 11x17 artwork.

And yeah, I bought it primarily for the 11x17 scanner bed. The other stuff is basically a bonus.

This post has been edited by Carl Shinyama: May 11 2011, 11:15 PM

[Greg G.]

I have it! And I love it! Though, it took me a while to figure out how to scan the 11x17 artwork.

And yeah, I bought it primarily for the 11x17 scanner bed. The other stuff is basically a bonus.

Could you please elaborate on the scanning 11x17 difficulty?

I have a very low tolerance for technical hurdles.

[Carl Shinyama]

Could you please elaborate on the scanning 11x17 difficulty?

I have a very low tolerance for technical hurdles.

Only that even though there's a user's guide included, it doesn't tell you have to configure the size of the scan on your computer's desktop rather than directly from the scanner. But once you do, it's all peachy from there.

[Greg G.]

Thanks Carl.

Another question. My old computer with software of ill gotten gains had a HD crash and I am without Photoshop. Is there a way to print non-photo blue art onto art boards without Photoshop?

Thanks again.

[Carl Shinyama]

Thanks Carl.

Another question. My old computer with software of ill gotten gains had a HD crash and I am without Photoshop. Is there a way to print non-photo blue art onto art boards without Photoshop?

Thanks again.

Am I to understand that you'd be using photoshop to convert the traditionally colored work into non-photo blue art before printing it? If so, I'd hazard a guess that yes, you can. I'd have a hard time believing that photoshop is the only program that can convert art into non-photo blue.

[LurkD]

It's not. I've done so with Corel Photo House. The program itself may not be as advanced, but it can be done. Or you could download and use Gimp.

[Greg G.]

Picked up the MFC-6490CW this past week.

Couldn't be more pleased. Scans wonderfully and works natively with my Mac.

I'd suggest you take a look if there's a Micro Center in your neck of the woods. I snagged mine for $159.99, it was the display model; but it was worth it. I saved $80.

Now to try printing something in non photo blue and give inking it a go.