BROTHER MFC-8460N TONER CARTRIDGE

Brother MFC-8460N Review

Overview:

With a heavy duty print speed and extra high quality print output, the Brother MFC-8460N pretty much does it all. This mushroom shaped flatbed printer is a fine example of Brother’s MFC multifunctional line that is not only capable of executing five independent functions, but is capable of doing them well.

Pros:

30 pages per minute is pretty much the current standard in print and copy speeds. If you can’t break the 30 mark, then your device is going to have serious problems competing with the other MFCs on the shelves. Interestingly, the Brother MFC-8460N was ahead of the curve as this is actually an older, now discontinued model that was built so well to start with that it is still competitive today.

Because the Brother MFC-8460N is discontinued, it can even be found at a bargain rate, making it one of the best buys out there if you can get your hands on one. What it lacks is the color LCD touch screen that is seen on most of the multifunctional units out there now, but this is hardly a drawback for those who care only for raw hardware functionality.

This unit can print 1200 x 1200 dots per inch in resolution which is four times higher than a lot of printers you might find with flashy touch screens. In the end, it is better to have impressive looking print material than an impressive looking printer.

A 50 page automatic document feeder sits atop the Brother MFC-8460N, making heavy loads of fax and scan material easily manageable by the device. The unit’s standard paper storage supply, while not as impressive, is sufficient. A 250 sheet paper tray holds your usual supply of letter or legal sized paper, while the device’s 50 sheet multipurpose tray is compatible with irregular material such as card stock or greeting cards. If even more storage space is required, an additional 250 sheet tray can be purchased and installed with ease, bringing the device’s total paper storage total to a respectable 550 sheets.

The scan element built into the Brother MFC-8460N can be fed through the ADF or though the unit’s flatbed glass. Thanks to the mushroom shaped top of the printer, its actual footprint on a desktop remains small yet the scanning glass expands to a full 8.5 x 14 inches, allowing for legal sized scanning. Scans can be done in 24 bit color and, with the help of interpolation, at resolutions of up to 19200 x 19200 dots per inch.

Cons:

While the Brother MFC-8460N is complete in almost ever fashion, for it to have been a truly all inclusive unit, it would have had to have included a built in duplexer. The printer hits the mark in almost every category, which makes it that much harder to accept that two sided printing and copying must be done by hand. This printer is still a worthwhile purchase without duplex, but Brother does also make similar models that do include this feature and serious buyers should at least explore those options as well.