We look at an innovation A4 printer, that's
has a neat trick up its sleeve
It's increasing rare that a product offers
something innovative enough to make you wonder why nobody had thought of it
before. However, Brother’s new range of J4000 inkjet printers, that turn paper
input orientation on its head, is a good example.
MFC-J4510DW
Instead of portrait mode, the J4000
printers opt for landscape mode feeding. “So what?” you may think. Well, this
change of orientation has allowed Brother to design an A4-sized printer than
can deliver A3 documents.
The first model in this new series is the
MFC-J4510DW, a multi-function unit offering scan, print, copy and fax
capabilities with automatic duplex printing and a 20-page automatic document
feeder (ADF). This model gives you a choice of USB, wired or wireless network
when connecting to your computer system and supports various types of remote
printing.
With dimensions of 480 x 186 x 290 mm (W x
H x D), the J4510DW is fairly plain, with a colour scheme reminding me of a
sweet with a liquorice centre. Mounted on top is an A4 flatbed scanner,
incorporating the ADF facility, while the inkjet printer takes up the central
position, itself sitting on top of the landscape orientated paper tray with its
150-sheet capacity. This was a little awkward to remove and replace, though
whether that's down to the orientation change is unclear.
The
first model in this new series is the MFC-J4510DW, a multi-function unit
offering scan, print, copy and fax capabilities with automatic duplex printing
and a 20-page automatic document feeder
The various connection sockets are located
in the belly of the printer while inkjet cartridges are inserted into a
concealed compartment at the front of the unit. This inkjet compartment is
positioned next to an adjustable control panel featuring a 3.7" colour
touch screen and a touch panel that lights up when an appropriate mode is
selected. The touch screen lets you know when each of the four cartridges
(magenta, cyan, yellow and black) has been correctly inserted. On the opposite
side of the control panel is a second hidden compartment providing access for
memory cards (Memory Stick, SD and MMC formats) plus PictBridge.
Faxes can be sent and received in
monochrome or colour, with an option to preview before dispatch. While the
phonebook facility has a limit of 100 entries, each with two numbers, you can
carry out a bulk send to 200 destinations. To save on paper there is an option
to make incoming faxes fit onto A4 paper.
Faxes
can be sent and received in monochrome or colour, with an option to preview
before dispatch.
The A3 documents facility is accessed by
pulling down a flap at the rear of the unit. Paper will need to be fed manually
using adjustable paper guides, though. An upshot of this system is that you
must therefore allow space for this when you're positioning the J4510DW.
The Brother print driver gives you a choice
of Fast, Normal or Best print quality. Full speed test results can be seen
below, but an eight page monochrome document was photocopied using the ADF in
72 seconds, while a single A4 colour page needed 15 seconds to be scanned and
printed. It was noticeable that photo printing was quicker when sourcing images
from the host computer that a USB stick.
The
Brother print driver gives you a choice of Fast, Normal or Best print quality.
While you will probably reserve Fast
printing for editing or internal use, either Normal or Best would be fine for
more important documents. Photo image quality was of a reasonable standard.
Replacement cartridges should be available at $37/$ 50 for black and $23/$35 for
colour with a rated output of 600/1200 pages.
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Details
·
Price: $278
·
Manufacturer: Brother
·
Website: www.brother.com
·
Required Spec: Windows XP and later or Mac OS
X 10.5.8 and later
Ratings
·
Quality: 9/10
·
Value: 8/10
·
Overall: 8/10
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