With the growing numbers of networked teleworkers and small offices, the number of PCs connected to LANs will continue to drive the network printer market. There's also a continued shift from stand-alone machines towards all-in-ones, as the technology is now mature and people can see the wisdom of spending a few extra pounds to get added functions. Brother's MFC-7820N is a good all-round 5-in-1 (fax/print/copy/scan/PC fax) monochrome laser printer with built-in networking for business environments. There are cheaper colour inkjet alternatives, but none offer the ease of use or business efficiency of this compact all-in-one.
Pros: Small footprint; robust design; easy to use; on-site warranty
Cons: No Wi-Fi, paper-out tray, or auto duplexing; middling print quality
Following its recent inkjet all-in-one launch, Brother has unveiled a range of new mono laser all-in-one-printers. The four models, DCP-7010, DCP-7025, MFC-7420 and MFC-7820N, are comparable in size to a stand-alone mono laser printer but offer mono printing, a flatbed digital copier and a colour scanner. However, only the top-of-the-range MFC-7820N reviewed here offers faxing and built-in network connectivity, so should be the only mode considered by small workgroups looking for a robust and practical document management machine.
The base model in the range is the DCP-7010 (£125 ex. VAT), which offers a 20ppm printing speed, a flatbed digital copier and a colour scanner. Next up is the DCP-7025, which at £165 (ex. VAT) has all the features of the DCP-7010, plus an added 35-sheet automatic document feeder, 16MB memory, PCL6 and PS3. For £30 more, at £195 (ex. VAT) the MFC-7420 offers an additional 14.4Kbit/s G3 modem fax, with eight one touch dials and 200 speed dials.
Sitting at the top of the range, the MFC-7820N offers high-quality functions for the home office, or for small office networks. This machine offers print, copy, scan and fax functions and also comes supplied with built-in network capability. And while the machine is packed with most of the features all but the most demanding office requires, the attractive black-and silver all-in-one is comparable in size to a stand-alone mono laser printer (432x395x294mm, 9.5kg), leaving plenty of room on the desktop.
The MFC-7820N is a mid-range performer. Having said that, it's an ideal solution for small offices and home users. In terms of technical specifications, it offers most features a wired network user requires. For instance, a claimed monochrome print speed of up to 20ppm is speedy enough for all but the largest documents, a native print resolution of 2400x600dpi produces crisp text, the flatbed colour scanner is a godsend for scanning bulky or non-flexible materials, and the 35-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) makes light work of faxing multiple-page documents.
We also liked the Auto Reduction feature (when receiving a single page document more that 297mm long, the fax machine automatically reduces the message to fit onto a single A4 sheet), as well as the ability to send a fax message to up to 258 separate locations, store documents for the same location in the memory for transmission in a single call, send a fax received in memory to another pre-programmed fax number, scan to e-mail, image, OCR or file, and perform two different tasks on the machine at the same time.
