More than 8 million people in the UK are now working from home - either running their own business or working part of the week away from the office. In response to this growing trend, Brother recently launched a brand new range of products designed to give homeworkers business-quality technical support in a stylish machine specially designed for the head office at home.
Replacing Brother’s current best-selling range, the new inkjet all-in-one has a stylish and compact look as well as improved functionality, quality, print speed and double the memory size (32MB). For less than £80, homeworkers can now create an efficient and compact work area and enjoy similar technical benefits as their office-based colleagues, without stumbling over large and unnecessary equipment.
Brother’s new range of all-in-one machines combine a colour printer, copier, scanner and fax (model dependent) in one compact machine which stands not much taller than a large coffee cup. Amongst some of the smallest models on the market - the top-of-the-line DCP-750CW (398x360x180mm, 8kg) reviewed here is no different - Brother’s sleek new design also has a more convenient front-access to ink cartridges making them even easier to change.
You can also print decent photographs when used with Brother’s special photo paper and view photographs on the LCD screen. And for the first time, most models also have a dedicated photo paper tray and come with PictBridge as standard to enable images to be printed directly from a memory card, regardless of brand. Brother has improved the picture quality and longevity of print using its latest ink technology combined with its new paper, which delivers one of the smallest droplet size on the market (1.5 pica litre) to help ensure sharper photo quality.
The base model is the DCP-130C (£79), which has a colour printer, scanner and copier in a flatbed design. It comes with a 25ppm mono print speed (20ppm colour), 100-sheet paper capacity, 32MB memory and 1 year on-site warranty. Next up is the DCP-330C (£99.99) which comes with the same features as the DCP-130C, but has a dedicated 20-sheet photo paper tray and a 2-inch colour LCD. The DCP-540CN (£129) is more suitable for a small network group, as it has the same features as the DCP-330C but comes network ready and has a 10-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF).
The DCP-750CW (£149) offers the same features as the DCP-330C, but has a 2.5-inch colour LCD, faster 27ppm mono print speed (25ppm colour) and a wireless connection. In addition to the features of the DCP-130C, the MFC-240C (£119) has a fax function with 40 speed dials and a 10-sheet ADF, while the MFC-440CN (£149) has the same features as the DCP-540CN, but adds fax facility and 80 speed dials.
Finally, the MFC-660CN (£179) is equipped with the same features as the MFC-440CN, but has a faster 27ppm mono printing speed (22ppm colour), 2.5-inch LCD, telephone handset, and telephone answering machine and duplex speakerphone to allow both parties to be heard at the same time.
Brother continues to provide free translation software from specialists Systran with its new inkjet range. This major-value added extra converts a scanned document into any one of 11 different languages, ideal for environments where multilingual documentation is needed. They also feature Brother’s PhotoCapture Centre that allows a photo memory card to be slotted directly into the machine to print out index sheets with thumbnail size images for selection.
As with all its previous inkjets the new machines use Brother single-ink cartridges (four in total, no photo cartridge option), removing the need to throw away unused ink, providing a cost and environmental saving. The new LC-1000 single ink cartridges are the result of extensive research and development and, as with all genuine Brother cartridges, ensure the reliable operation and protection of the machine. They are available from £8.49 (ex. VAT), offering better value for money compared to competing photo all-in-ones.
Technical specifications of the DCP-750CW are reasonable, and are certainly up to scratch for modest business use. For instance, the unit offers colour print speeds up to 22ppm and 27ppm for mono (although you should expect half of this in the real world), and an optimised print resolution up to 6000x1200dpi. A paper input capacity of 100 sheets and output of just 50 sheets is basic and will frustrate those with relatively large print runs, but computing-independent colour copying (up to 1200x600ppi) and the ability to scan (up to 600x2400ppi) to e-mail, image, OCR, file or memory card (Memory Stick, CompactFlash, SD Memory Card, MultiMediaCard, xD-Picture Card, Memory Stick PRO) are neat features.
But one of the most noteworthy features of the DCP-750CW is its wired (10 Base-T/100 Base-TX) and wireless (802.11b/g) network support, allowing multiple users in a small office to print directly to the unit without having to route through a print server. The ability to print wirelessly is also useful if you have a compatible camera phone or PDA, although the lack of built-in Bluetooth is a major limitation. There is also, of course, a USB 2.0 connection for regular standalone use.
Brother’s low-price inkjet all-in-ones tend to be packed with desirable office features, particularly the DCP-750CW’s ability to connect to a network, but they also tend to be suitable only for light-duty use because of their slow speed and low paper capacities. The DCP-750CW is no difference and it also lacks a few key features, such as fax functionality and Bluetooth. The ability to print from a computer, PictBridge-enabled camera, or memory card is great, but having to keep feeding paper is a chore most businesses can do without.
Text-output quality is reasonable and competes with that of most other inkjet AIOs, although you wouldn’t want to use the DCP-750CW for desktop publishing or other projects that demand the highest-quality text. Graphics quality was similar: good enough for most business purposes, but you wouldn’t really want to use it to communicate with potential customers. Colours were less vibrant than we’ve come to expect from the likes of Canon and Epson, and there was some banding in default mode on some full-page colour printouts. But the quality overall is more than acceptable for internal business use.
Overall though, the total package is a reasonable choice as a home or home office AIO, or as a personal AIO in a larger office, as long as you generally print only a few pages per day. But if you really don’t need fax functionality and consider scan and print quality paramount, you should lean towards offerings from Canon or Epson.
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