Well, I had to get something "now", so I would-up with an HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 Wireless. I mainly went for it because:
- The ADF was duplex -- It's scary how many ADF's can only scan one side of the page.
- It did not need "vendor" drivers -- It's supported through the in-built Software Update.
- It doesn't require vendor specific (which are typically, horribly, un-Mac-like) scanner, printer or fax applications.
- The double-sided ADF actually worked (See below).
- It was in-stock.
After testing a number of models, I initially decided to get the non-wireless HP OfficeJet Pro 8500, but it's really a different machine than the wireless, and (fatally) the "smart 2-sided" scanning software was busted -- It assumed that if it scanned a blank page, it was done, even if there were more pages in the ADF. It would still run all of the pages through the ADF, but just not print anything past the first blank page.
I really wanted to like the Brother MFC6490CW, because it could support up to 11x17 paper, but it only scans simplex. The MFC-6890CDW seems like it should be able to scan duplex, but I couldn't find any in-stock, and there were too many printers that could print duplex, but could not scan duplex for me to take a chance and order it without being able to try it first. Plus the MFC-6890CDW was over $300, which was pretty much the threshold I had to work with.
If anybody cares, I'll post any rants after I've been using it for a while.
Ray
