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Overall, the unit is 405 x 400 x 320mm high and is finished in the now ubiquitous black. It looks a little top-heavy as the sides taper outwards from a slightly smaller base. The ADF accounts for it being higher at the left hand side. In the centre of the control panel, which is set at a convenient angle for viewing, is the 2-line LCD display. Above the 250-sheet capacity paper tray, which is within the body of the machine, is the single-sheet manual feed slot.
Its normal print resolution is 600 x 600 dpi, however there is also the HQ1200 mode which gives 2,400 x 600 dpi. Print speed claimed is up to 26pages/minute single sided with the first copy emerging in less than 10 seconds. Although a lot slower, duplex printing is still at the acceptable speed of around 5 pages/minute. When duplex printing there are options include for long/short edge binding.
When copying one has the choice of placing the original on the glass platen or using the ADF. In practice, even for single originals, I found it easier to use the latter as it was difficult to lower the lid smoothly onto the platen without it jarring. It is simple to use: all one has to do is insert the original, select the enlargement/reduction ratio between 25 and 400%, number of copies and copy quality (auto, text, graph or photo) at a resolution of up to 600 dpi and then press Start.
Although higher resolutions can be obtained by interpolation, the scanner’s optical resolution, when an original is placed on the platen, is up to 600 x 2,400 dpi but when using the ADF this is reduced to 600 x 600 dpi which is more than adequate for most practical situations. Although it is possible to alter settings from the control panel on the machine itself, I found that it was easier to use Brother’s ControlCenter4 program which is installed during initial printer setup. This enables one to set up the individual configurations for image, OCR, e-mail or save to file scan options. When scanning one just selects the appropriate one.
In practice, I found that it was often more convenient, however, to access and control the scanner functions via an application such as photo editing or OCR software. In this context, although the incorporated OCR worked I feel that anyone needing to make use of it regularly would be advised to use one of the well-known OCR packages.
Its ecological credentials include power saving so that, when the machine has been idle (default setting 3 minutes), power consumption in Sleep Mode falls to around 1W so there is no really worthwhile saving in keeping the machine switched off except when needed.
Overall, Brother has produced a machine that is easy to use, produces more than adequate results and so should find favour in the majority of small offices -- especially when networked and shared among a number of users. The SRP is £179 + VAT but I’m sure that, with a little searching, it will be found at a lower price.
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