ComputerShopper.com gives the MFC-495CW a forgettable 5.5 out of 10. The review praises the attractive and practical design and user interface. But apparently beauty is only skin-deep – print speeds are slow, print quality is average, and paper handling is cumbersome and often requires “trial and error” to figure out.

Sarah Meyer of PrinterComparison.com gives the MFC-495CW a solid 3.5 stars out of 5. The printer is easy to set up and easy to use, and contrary to the ComputerShopper.com review, print and photo quality are considered pretty good. On the flip side, while print speeds are on par with other inkjet all-in-ones, they’re notably slower than the advertised 35 ppm in black. Also, after repeatedly printing in normal mode at a ratio of 3 pages of black and white text for every 1 color page, the LC61Y and LC61M ink cartridges ran out after around 298 pages (reported page yield for each color cartridge is 325 pages), and the printer wouldn’t print until the LC61Y was replaced.

Finally, Peter Piazza of About.com gives the MFC-495CW a mediocre 3 stars out of 5. He agrees that print speed is slow, and he wishes the printer had auto-duplexing. Also, if you have Windows 7, you can’t install the drivers from the included CD; you’ll need to visit the Brother website. But despite the shortcomings, Piazza considers this all-in-one a solid value that rolls out high quality photos at a reasonable price.

John Breeden II of Government Computer News gives the MFC-9450CDN an A- for Color Accuracy and A’s for Features, Ease of use, Text Quality, and Overall value, all of which adds up to a Reviewers Choice award. Breeden’s only real critique involves the printer’s “tendency to outline letters printed over graphics,” but he admits that it’s a very minor flaw. Overall, he concludes that the comprehensive feature set and excellent output quality make the MFC-9450CDN well worth the $650 price tag.

PC World gives the MFC-9450CDN an impressive 85/100 for its affordable price, strong performance, advanced features, and practical design. It gets especially high marks for regular text, grayscale, and line art output. Color scans and prints aren’t as sharp or vivid as they could be, but PC World considers the MFC-9450CDN an excellent overall value based on the price and the versatility.

Melissa Riofrio of PC World gives the Brother MFC-5890CN a solid 75/100 for the easy-to-use control panel, 3.3” LCD, abundant paper capacity in the ADF and main tray, and the fact that it actually comes with pre-packed high-yield inks. On the flipside, there’s no auto-duplexing (i.e. automatic double-sided printing), paper can be a hassle to load, and print speeds are notably slower than advertised. All that said, the combination of versatile features, practical design, and generous maximum paper size makes the Brother MFC-5890CN worth a look.

Peter Piazza of About.com gives the Brother MFC-5890CN a strong 4 stars out of 5 for its high quality text and photos, dependable and easily-connectable networking, and fast scanning. He notes that even if the only direct network connection for this printer is via Ethernet, you can plug it into a wireless router and share it with other Wi-Fi enabled computers on the network. However, he feels that the lack of duplexing offsets the easy network connectivity, and he considers the LCD a bit on the small side. Also, included cables would’ve been a nice bonus. But overall, Piazza says he would “recommend this printer to home users and small businesses without hesitation.”

Finally, Sean Fallon of Gizmodo considers the Brother MFC-5890CN an excellent overall value. Like Piazza, he finds it easy to connect to a network, and he likes the output quality for both text and images. Fallon also appreciates the ample paper capacity and 11”x17” maximum paper size.

If its spec sheet were a menu, the Brother MFC-790CW Inkjet MFP would seem to have something for everyone. First off, it covers pretty much every base in terms of connectivity with its built-in phone and answering machine, as well as Ethernet and Wi-Fi. In addition, it copies, faxes, scans, and prints at a reported 27 ppm in color and 33 in black and white. A 4.2” touchscreen, 15 page auto document feeder (ADF), dedicated photo tray, and PC-free photo printing options round out the feature set and make the Brother MFC-790CW that much more appealing for your home or small office. But does actual performance match the marketed features? The experts have spoken, and they uniformly endorse the Brother MFC-790CW with a couple caveats.

Melissa Riofrio of PC World gives the Brother MFC-790CW a solid 75/100 for its versatile feature set and affordable cost per page for color ink cartridges. However, she has a couple notable issues with the printer. First, she feels that the ADF and paper trays can be hard to load due to the compact design, which somewhat negates the convenience factor of those features. Riofrio also finds print speed lacking, and output quality is good, but not great.

Peter Piazza of About.com gives the Brother MFC-790CW 3.5 out of 5 stars for its Wi-Fi connectivity, big touchscreen, and excellent photo quality. However, he agrees with Riofrio to a degree regarding the less-than-impressive print speed, and he finds the photo paper tray a little difficult to load. That said, Piazza notes that packing a bunch of features into a compact frame that weighs under 20 lbs. is bound to come with a bit of a tradeoff.

Finally, Kristofer Brozio of Testfreaks gives the Brother MFC-790CW an impressive 9/10 for Design, 8/10 for Performance, and 8/10 Overall. He appreciates the phone and answering machine, and printer setup is simple and straightforward. Photo output is “near studio quality” in his opinion, and he finds the LCD touchscreen responsive and easy to use, but not as easy on the eyes as the LCD on the Epson WorkForce 600. Overall, he concludes that the Brother MFC-790CW provides solid overall value for your home or small office.