BROTHER MFC-7840W TONER CARTRIDGE

Brother MFC-7840W Review

Overview:

With built in wireless capabilities, the Brother MFC-7840W is a perfect way to add print, copy, scan, and fax functions to an entire household or small office without the need for cumbersome Ethernet wiring. This sleek, affordable unit carries all the functionality one would expect in a brother MFC and comes at a reasonable price.

Pros:

With both print and optical scan resolutions topping out at 600 x 2400 dots per inch, high quality monochrome print material can be produced by the Brother MFC-7840W. For even higher scanning resolutions, users have the option of using the device’s interpolated scan function which can execute up to 19,200 x 19,200 dots per inch, though at very slow scan speeds.

Fax speeds run high, however, with the Brother MFC-7840W thanks to the unit’s built in Super G3 33.6 Kbps fax modem that can transmit faxes at a rate of about 2 seconds per page. Other fax functions found in the device include auto dial to up to 208 locations and broadcasting to up to 258 locations.

Quick scanning, though it may sound like a type of input scan, is actually a very handy fax function that allows users to scan fax data into the machine’s memory without transmitting it live. This feature, in conjunction with the unit’s built in automatic document feeder, allows the printer to rifle through multiple pages of fax input faster than it can transmit, and then send through the modem at regular speeds, leaving the printer hardware open for other uses while the phone line is in use.

The built in ADF is also very helpful when making copies. With a paper input capacity of 35 pages, the Brother MFC-7840W can handle an entire stack of copy material on its own, while copying at up to 23 copies per minute. Reduction and enlargement functions are present in the copy machine as well in ratios ranging from 25 to 400%.

Scanning is not limited to monochrome like the other functions of the unit, and the Brother MFC-7840W boasts a solid input color depth of 48 bits. Exportable formats include JPG, TIFF, BMP, MAX, and PDF, among others.

Cons:

The Brother MFC-7840W’s print speed tops out at a mere 23 pages per minute. While this figure is substantial for a home office or single user, the printer itself is specifically designed as a shared device, leaving much to be desired in the area of raw performance. Due to the printer’s slow print speed that is combined with wireless print technology, the 7840W is designed almost exclusively for home usage, to be shared across a household of family members without any serious print volume demands.

The device also completely lacks expandability options. While most devices in the Brother MFC-7840W’s price range at least offer additional paper storage options, this printer is locked at its standard paper capacity of 250 sheets with no additional paper trays available. Memory, while sufficient at 32 MBs, cannot be expanded either due to a complete lack of an additional memory slot.