Probably paid too much, but a decent printer

It was time to replace my old HP printer, and so a shopping-I-did-go. I comparison shop for ages about anything, so it took me 6 months to choose this printer. You'd think I would have done a better job!

My first concerns were that it have some features that my old HP didn't have...an integrated fax machine, and controls on the front and top instead of on the side. I was also looking forward to having card reader for my photo cards.

My first stop was at Office Depot, where I looked at the new HP models. A very nice sales person assisted me and steered me toward the Brother printers. He stated that his wife used their low-end Brother in lieu of their expensive photo printer because it printed better pictures, and touted the economic benefits of the individual ink cartridges. He suggested a different Brother printer in the $100 range. In an attempt to be frugal, I decided that I could make the old HP hang on a few more weeks.

Over the next few weeks, my old printer became progressively crankier and I did some research into printers. I was overwhelmed with the choices, but I really liked the salesman's pitch for the Brother brand, plus the tilt-up screen that makes it easier to see what you are doing. After comparing several brands, I settled on the 665CW due to its speed, integrated fax machine, and wireless capability. Then the search for the right price...I finally found it at Staples and was off to the store.

I paid about $275 for the printer, with a truly easy $50 rebate that I had no problem submitting. The printer was easy to set up and is fairly straightforward for basic printing. It offers several levels of print quality. At first I tried using the lowest quality level, but the quality is REALLY low...I usually go up a notch just to print my grocery list! I have no idea how much ink I am using. I am an average home-use printer (maybe 2 pages per day?) and I just recently had to replace the black "starter" ink package. The salesperson told me that the initial cartridges are not fully loaded and suggested that I buy refills when I purchased the printer. (I'm glad I did.)

So far, I have used the fax function once, incoming only, and it worked very well. I have made basic copies without problems, but I am still having trouble figuring out how to put my scanned documents where I want them, and I haven't been able to figure out how edit my scanned documents at all. I don't scan daily, so it hasn't been totally important.

Oddly, I haven't used the picture card once since purchasing the printer. I guess it wasn't as important a feature as I thought.

One complain that the paper tray sticks terribly...I am sure that I will break it one day. I won't allow my kids to try to load paper, not that they could get the tray out anyway.

This printer prints good (not spectacular) quality print at a good speed. It doesn't take up a lot of space in my armoire computer desk and I can get to the controls easily. I'm not that I needed to spend so much money to get a printer that would fill my needs! Good luck printer shopping!