Overview
Brother fancies their Brother MFC-420CN multifunctional unit to be a “6 in 1” machine. While this may be a bit of an exaggeration, considering they chalk up the unit’s media slots as a function to itself, the unit is still more than equipped for dealing with a huge range of everyday office tasks including printing, faxing, copying, and scanning.
Pros
With a small footprint and very slim height profile, the Brother MFC-420CN is not overbearing on a home desktop, and with its extensive feature set it is also suitable for use in a small office. This networking model can easily be calibrated for sharing across an office, and the unit’s PC faxing abilities allow multiple users to send hard copy faxes directly from their desktops.
Print speeds of up to 20 pages per minute in black and white and 15 pages per minute in color place the Brother MFC-420CN in the lower end of the speed spectrum, even when dealing with home all in one units, but the device still performs well enough for its price range. Its maximum monthly duty cycle of only 2,500 printed pages is also quite limited when compared to laser printers, but is par for the course for this device’s category.
16 MBs of standard memory helps to assist the printer when dealing with complex print projects, and also allows for features such as 80 auto dial locations to be saved within the unit itself. Quick scan memory transmission is also made possible by built in memory and can be uploaded at a speed of approximately 4.72 seconds per page.
Cons
Like all of the lower end units in Brother’s MFC inkjet series, the Brother MFC-420CN comes with a disappointingly slow fax modem. At speeds of only 14.4 Kbps, faxes will be sent at a maximum rate of 6 seconds per page; three times as slow as higher end fax ready units.
Another limitation the Brother MFC-420CN suffers from is its document feeder capacity. While it is always a more than welcome luxury to have a built in ADF in one’s MFC, the printer’s 10 page maximum capacity means that larger projects will cause significant user interaction and downtime. The ADF is also not up to par with the device’s print speed, meaning that, when making copies, speeds slow down to 16 pages per minute for black and white and only 11 pages per minute for color.
Printer Supplies
The black ink cartridge used in the Brother MFC-420CN is available in either standard form or in a high yield version of the cartridge. The regular OEM replacement is capable of printing up to 500 pages worth of yield at 5% coverage while the slightly more expensive cartridge can print up to 900 pages. When comparing cost per page, the high yield cartridge is the smart buy, as it usually is.
Three other print cartridges are required for the Brother MFC-420CN to operate in full color. Cyan, magenta, and yellow units are surprisingly inexpensive and offer buyers up to 400 pages each.
| Overall Rating |   |
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.
Printer Reviews