Brother MFC-420CN All-In-One InkJet Printer
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- Black Print Speed: 20 ppm
- Color Print Speed: 15 ppm
- Output Type: Color Printer
- Technology (Detailed): Inkjet
- Printer Type: All-In-One Printer
- All-in-One Functions: Copier Fax Machine Scanner
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Space-saving, versatile, but slow
Pros
Good color printing, versatile fax functions, compact size, easy scanning
Cons
SLOW printing, poor copy quality
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
Useful if speed is not very important to you; if you do a lot of color printing, you'll want something faster.
I bought the MFC-420CN after reading a number of reviews. I needed a scanner, and my fax machine was ancient (thermal paper), so I thought a multipurpose machine would be a useful addition and would also allow me to print in color (I already have a black-and-white laser printer that I use for most printing). Before I bought this, a colleague advised me not to buy a multifunction machine on the grounds that they don't do any of the functions as well as a single-function machine. However, there were so many of the multifunction machines for sale everywhere, I figured that they couldn't be all that bad.
I have to give this product a mixed review. The color printing is very nice; the results look great, but the printing process is very slow. Even for black-and-white printing, the process is slow. Oddly, the printing quality is significantly better than the copy quality; copies are fainter than I had hoped, but usable. The scanning results are satisfactory to me, but since I never had a scanner before, I may not be the best judge. The fax function seems to work fine. The one big problem I have had with it is that it will not print on Avery business card forms, even though Avery says they are guaranteed to work on any inkjet printer. Brother support had no helpful input, so I had to give up on that. It's probably true that it doesn't do any of the functions as well as a single-function machine, but in my situation I can't afford the money and the space to have a separate machine for each function. For my purposes, I am satisfied, although definitely disappointed about the business cards.
Some of the reviews said that the machine cleans itself unnecessarily, and they thought that this used up more ink; I have noticed it cleaning itself once in a while, but not to the extent described in those reviews, and I have not had to change the ink cartridges yet. The noise of the cleaning process was a bit disconcerting the first time, though, as I was not in the same room and suddenly heard a noise from another room that I knew no one was in!
The machine is pretty compact and does not take up much more space than my old fax machine, so I have certainly achieved my goal of replacing the old fax machine and being able to scan without using up much more space. The machine is also relatively light and easy to move around. It does have a function I'm not using, the ability to work with a network, that may be of note for other readers. The price was reasonable, so I'm not complaining, but if I did a lot of color printing, I'd want something faster.
I have to give this product a mixed review. The color printing is very nice; the results look great, but the printing process is very slow. Even for black-and-white printing, the process is slow. Oddly, the printing quality is significantly better than the copy quality; copies are fainter than I had hoped, but usable. The scanning results are satisfactory to me, but since I never had a scanner before, I may not be the best judge. The fax function seems to work fine. The one big problem I have had with it is that it will not print on Avery business card forms, even though Avery says they are guaranteed to work on any inkjet printer. Brother support had no helpful input, so I had to give up on that. It's probably true that it doesn't do any of the functions as well as a single-function machine, but in my situation I can't afford the money and the space to have a separate machine for each function. For my purposes, I am satisfied, although definitely disappointed about the business cards.
Some of the reviews said that the machine cleans itself unnecessarily, and they thought that this used up more ink; I have noticed it cleaning itself once in a while, but not to the extent described in those reviews, and I have not had to change the ink cartridges yet. The noise of the cleaning process was a bit disconcerting the first time, though, as I was not in the same room and suddenly heard a noise from another room that I knew no one was in!
The machine is pretty compact and does not take up much more space than my old fax machine, so I have certainly achieved my goal of replacing the old fax machine and being able to scan without using up much more space. The machine is also relatively light and easy to move around. It does have a function I'm not using, the ability to work with a network, that may be of note for other readers. The price was reasonable, so I'm not complaining, but if I did a lot of color printing, I'd want something faster.
