BROTHER MFC-8820DN DRUM

Brother MFC-8820DN Review

Overview:

Like some Brother products in the popular MFC line that we’ve seen before, the Brother MFC-8820DN offers users a superior degree of quality, along with a wide range of print, copy, scan, and fax features. The only notable area it lacks in is overall operating speed, making it an excellent choice for the cost conscious buyer looking to add monochrome laser functionality to their home office or small business.

Pros:

As the network ready version of the Brother MFC-8820 model, the Brother MFC-8820DN includes the ability to plug directly into a home or office’s network and connect almost instantly to multiple host PCs. With a built in Ethernet port, the unit’s setup process is incredibly easy, and functions such as network PC faxing are activated.

The Brother MFC-8820DN also comes complete with a built in duplexor. With automatic duplexing, the process of printing double sided output is fully automated. There is no quicker way to produce professional looking, cost effective two sided output that is capable of reducing paper usage by as much as half.

As a scanner, the Brother MFC-8820DN is more than acceptable due to its color scan capabilities and above average 600 x 2400 dot per inch scan quality. An optimized interpolated scan option is also available that, though incredibly slow, can scan images at a quality of up to 9600 x 9600 dots per inch. Print resolution is also commendable at a maximum of 2400 x 600 dots per inch, while copy quality falls behind slightly with a maximum copy resolution of 1200 x 600 dots per inch.

Fax functions incorporated into the unit include dual access, fax forwarding, and speed dialing with a total storage space of up to 300 locations. 20 one touch dial buttons are also dedicated right on the front of the unit and each button can be assigned a second number when pressed twice, though technically this would be a two touch dial. The device’s built in Super G3 make a fax transmission speed of as little as 2 seconds per page possible.

Cons:

With a print speed of only 16 pages per minute, the Brother MFC-8820DN is not exactly riding on the cutting edge of performance. This speed (roughly half that of current MFC models) is a telltale sign of the devices old age, and its copy performance is equally poor at 16 copies per minute.

Another age related fallback of the Brother MFC-8820DN is its overall size. Recent developments in laser print technology have led to great decreases in the overall footprint of all in one devices, while the 8820 remains a 38 pound monster with dimensions of 20.7 x 17.3 x 18.3 inches (W x D x H).