Why You Can Trust CNET This $150 multifunction printer includes enough ink for one year
Normally $200, the super-versatile Brother MFC-J995DW solves one of my biggest complaints about inkjets. Plus: A sweet deal on a Qi charger for the car. And can we talk mail-order mattresses?
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This all-in-one inkjet can print for up to a year before you even have to touch an ink cartridge.
On to business. Regular readers know that I strongly prefer laser printers to inkjet printers, but, man, the former can be big, bulky things. My Dell E525w is a (rather ugly) behemoth that doesn't fit well on any desk. But I chose it because I didn't like dealing with pricey ink cartridges that seemed to run out every two weeks.
Brother has come up with an interesting solution -- a printer with an internal ink tank and larger cartridges, all so you can print more pages. And it's on sale.
For a limited time, the Brother MFC-J995DW multifunction printer with one year of ink is $149.99. Regular price: $199.99.
if you prefer, you can also get it for that price from Best Buy and Walmart.
To me this looks like a darn impressive home-office printer. It can print, scan, copy and fax. It has an auto-document feeder (ADF), a 150-sheet input tray and an auto-duplexer for double-sided printing.
It offers USB, Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity, plus NFC for quick and easy pairing to your mobile device. It also supports AirPrint and Google Cloud Print. It even has USB and SD card inputs for printing from flash storage.
But the real news is the INKvestment Tank ink system: Brother supplies enough to last you a full year. That's based on a print volume of around 150 pages per month, so of course that year is an estimate, not a guarantee. But as with other Brother printers, third-party ink cartridges are widely available and very affordable.
I haven't tried this model myself, and CNET hasn't reviewed it -- but the user reviews at Best Buy and Walmart sit at a 4.5-star average. At Amazon, the average is 3.8 stars. I looked at some of the negative reviews and couldn't find a common issue -- some folks didn't like the print quality, some encountered paper jams.
So I can't say for sure that the MFC-J995DW is as good as it seems, er, on paper, but I definitely like the hefty discount and smart ink system.
Your thoughts?
Bonus deal: Based on the recommendations of my Facebook and Twitter followers, I'm officially bed-in-a-box shopping. (I'd say roughly 9 out of 10 people who responded to my inquiry said they "love" their mail-order mattress.)
Ah, but which one? There are dozens of options out there -- and the vast majority include the promise of a 100-day trial (at minimum) and 100-percent refund if you're not a happy sleeper.
So maybe it comes down to the spiffs. For example, Purple is currently running a promotion that includes a free set of sheets with the purchase of any mattress.
If you've ordered a bed from any of these online companies, I'd love to know how it worked out for you. Did you love it? Did you end up returning it? I've been an innerspring guy all my life, so I'm a little leery of moving to memory foam.
Bonus deal No. 2: With more and more phones supporting wireless charging, it makes sense to consider a car mount that also supports it.
Lightning bolts not included.
Like this one: For a limited time, and while supplies last, Cheapskate readers can get the Choetech 7.5W wireless car charger for $12.99 with promo code CNET521S. Regular price: $29.99.
This is a suction cup-based dash-mount phone stand. It relies on a simple spring-loaded clamp and is therefore compatible with just about every phone model. The Qi pad itself plugs into your car's USB port. If it doesn't have one, you'll need a 12-volt car adapter.
Either way, you'll still have an omnipresent cord running down your dashboard -- so maybe look into some cord-routing clips while you're hanging around Amazon.
Read More: All the latest Amazon coupons
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