BROTHER MFC-1870MC RIBBON CARTRIDGE

Brother MFC-1870MC Review

Overview:

The Brother MFC-1870MC is an old enough device that it was around for the time of the great Y2K scare. Of course Brother assured all its customers in 1999 that their valuable hardware would be safe in the year 2000, but they may not have imagined that now, more than ten years later, printer consumables are still available for this ancient fax machine combo.

Pros:

While the Brother MFC-1870MC is well over ten years old and is completely outdated by any current standard, it is still fully capable of operating as a basic fax machine, printer, and copy machine. Though these features will operate at specifications that are unacceptable in today’s business realm, the Brother MFC-1870MC is not entirely extinct yet.

Basic fax functions are evident in the unit and are accessible by way of an integrated 16 character LCD screen. Text menus can be scrolled through using dedicated buttons and features such as automatic speed dial can be taken advantage of via the device’s semi comprehensive controls.

The device’s paper cassette with its 200 sheet capacity is not particularly impressive, but is more than sufficient for a device intended for such low print volumes. Output volume and automatic feed volumes are also very limited, but, again, more than acceptable for a device of this caliber.

Cons:

The downsides to owning an obsolete device such as the Brother MFC-1870MC almost go without saying. Extremely sluggish print speeds and fax speeds, along with poor image quality and the lack of color printing capabilities make the 1870 a very poor option for both business and private usage. The devices print resolution is adjustable only to the standard specifications of a fax machine, making printing and copying quality very poor.

A built in 14.4 Kbps fax modem makes faxing about one third the speed of that found in current devices, while a locked in horizontal resolution of 203 dots per inch ensures poor text and image quality. Vertical resolution can be selected from 98 line per inch standard quality, 196 line per inch fine / photo quality, and 392 line per inch superfine quality, which is the default setting for all copies.