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Jul. 1, 2006
Rosie's Reviews
Mix equal parts color laser printer, black-and-white laser printer, color and black-and-white fax, flatbed scanner, and color and black-and-white copier and what do you get? An illuminating review.
By Sandra Rosenzweig
The Brother MFC-9420CN color laser printer is, actually, not a color laser printer. It's a color laser multifunction center (MFC), with, yes, multiple functions: black-and-white laser printing, color laser printing, and color and black-and-white faxing, as well as scanning and copying in both flavors. It has all kinds of features for sending and receiving very long documents or sending out the same document to several recipients at the same time. (I am still waiting for someone to send me a color fax, though.) Under optimal conditions, it will send a page in about two seconds. And, should you run out of paper while you're out of the office, this MFC has a 500-page buffer to hold your incoming faxes until you remember to put some paper into its maw. It is also a PC fax, meaning you can send out a fax from your desktop computer using the MFC as your dialer. If you like, the MFC will forward your faxes to an email address-yours, presumably.
The MFC nine-by-twelve-inch color flatbed scanner produces clear, sharp scans of paper documents and pictures of all kinds. It's also a color laser copier-and surprisingly good full-color copies it makes, too. On plain, regular bargain-basement printer paper, color copies come out very close to the original in color and clarity. Too bad this big Brother doesn't work with special photo papers-the copies would be just about as good as most of the photo printers I've reviewed in the past year or so. Printing resolution is 600x600 dots per inch, but the Brother uses built-in software to goose the resolution for the copier, scanner, and printer up to 2400x600 dpi.
And when I said big, I meant BIG, as in hulking. And heavy. Reminds me of one of those under-the-counter refrigerators, but a bit shorter. It does the work of five or six different machines, though, so if you have something to put it on, I suppose you're actually saving space. Plus, networking is already built in. Just hook up a network cable, and other users can print to this machine as if it were sitting right next to them. Now, if they'd only build in a function that delivers your hard copies right onto your desk, then I might back down on my demand that every MFC also make espresso.
But here's the thing: It's noisy. What am I saying? This hulk makes a racket you can hear all the way to Montreal. If it's not used for a while, it goes to sleep like a gentle giant, but then, should a fax come in or you wake it up for any reason-to make a copy, perhaps-it runs through a parts check: spectacles, unmentionables, wallet, and watch-that sort of thing. First, it makes sure that all four cartridges are sitting comfortably in their slots. Ka chunk. Kaahh chunk. KAH chunk. KAH CHUNK. When I tested it in my home office, it woke up everyone in our three-story house-except for the five-year-old. I suggest you find a fax/printer room to accommodate your MFC-9420CN, with a thick door and excellent sound muffling.
It would be nice if this printer-fax-scanner-copier thing would check its parts only once every 24 hours, say. This introspection takes a while, so the first fax or copy or printout may take up to 20 seconds to print. The second and subsequent pages come out in split seconds, 31 pages per minute for black-and-white, they say, and 8 pages per minute for color printouts. My stopwatch said that Brother's estimates are close to accurate.
The standard memory is 64MB, and you can upgrade up to 576MB. The 35-sheet automatic sheet feeder for sending large faxes and making copies of long documents actually works as advertised, for which I say, thank you, thank you. If you want further specs, check out www.brother-usa.com/mfc/mfc_ detail_AREA=MFC_1&PRODUCTID= MFC9420CN.aspx.
I have never seen a Brother printer whose standard paper drawer holds more than half a ream (250 sheets), be they letter or legal size. And that includes this one. I mean, puh-lease. How much would it add to the sale price to provide a full-ream tray? (The add-on lower tray holds up to 530 sheets and costs an additional $549.) And speaking of supplies ... they provide no cables with this beauty. None. Brother MFC-9420CN, $799.99. www.brother.com.
The Brother MFC-9420CN color laser printer is, actually, not a color laser printer. It's a color laser multifunction center (MFC), with, yes, multiple functions: black-and-white laser printing, color laser printing, and color and black-and-white faxing, as well as scanning and copying in both flavors. It has all kinds of features for sending and receiving very long documents or sending out the same document to several recipients at the same time. (I am still waiting for someone to send me a color fax, though.) Under optimal conditions, it will send a page in about two seconds. And, should you run out of paper while you're out of the office, this MFC has a 500-page buffer to hold your incoming faxes until you remember to put some paper into its maw. It is also a PC fax, meaning you can send out a fax from your desktop computer using the MFC as your dialer. If you like, the MFC will forward your faxes to an email address-yours, presumably.
The MFC nine-by-twelve-inch color flatbed scanner produces clear, sharp scans of paper documents and pictures of all kinds. It's also a color laser copier-and surprisingly good full-color copies it makes, too. On plain, regular bargain-basement printer paper, color copies come out very close to the original in color and clarity. Too bad this big Brother doesn't work with special photo papers-the copies would be just about as good as most of the photo printers I've reviewed in the past year or so. Printing resolution is 600x600 dots per inch, but the Brother uses built-in software to goose the resolution for the copier, scanner, and printer up to 2400x600 dpi.
And when I said big, I meant BIG, as in hulking. And heavy. Reminds me of one of those under-the-counter refrigerators, but a bit shorter. It does the work of five or six different machines, though, so if you have something to put it on, I suppose you're actually saving space. Plus, networking is already built in. Just hook up a network cable, and other users can print to this machine as if it were sitting right next to them. Now, if they'd only build in a function that delivers your hard copies right onto your desk, then I might back down on my demand that every MFC also make espresso.
But here's the thing: It's noisy. What am I saying? This hulk makes a racket you can hear all the way to Montreal. If it's not used for a while, it goes to sleep like a gentle giant, but then, should a fax come in or you wake it up for any reason-to make a copy, perhaps-it runs through a parts check: spectacles, unmentionables, wallet, and watch-that sort of thing. First, it makes sure that all four cartridges are sitting comfortably in their slots. Ka chunk. Kaahh chunk. KAH chunk. KAH CHUNK. When I tested it in my home office, it woke up everyone in our three-story house-except for the five-year-old. I suggest you find a fax/printer room to accommodate your MFC-9420CN, with a thick door and excellent sound muffling.
It would be nice if this printer-fax-scanner-copier thing would check its parts only once every 24 hours, say. This introspection takes a while, so the first fax or copy or printout may take up to 20 seconds to print. The second and subsequent pages come out in split seconds, 31 pages per minute for black-and-white, they say, and 8 pages per minute for color printouts. My stopwatch said that Brother's estimates are close to accurate.
The standard memory is 64MB, and you can upgrade up to 576MB. The 35-sheet automatic sheet feeder for sending large faxes and making copies of long documents actually works as advertised, for which I say, thank you, thank you. If you want further specs, check out www.brother-usa.com/mfc/mfc_ detail_AREA=MFC_1&PRODUCTID= MFC9420CN.aspx.
I have never seen a Brother printer whose standard paper drawer holds more than half a ream (250 sheets), be they letter or legal size. And that includes this one. I mean, puh-lease. How much would it add to the sale price to provide a full-ream tray? (The add-on lower tray holds up to 530 sheets and costs an additional $549.) And speaking of supplies ... they provide no cables with this beauty. None. Brother MFC-9420CN, $799.99. www.brother.com.
#335965
Annie Gausn
Daily Journal Staff Writer
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