If you assumed that laser printing was for the office and that inkjet printers were only good for printing photos at home, think again. The X Series from Brother introduces five inkjet engines all aimed at small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The Brother MFC-J5945DW is the more affordable of the trio of four-in-one multifunction devices and costs £419 (about $534, or AU$739) including VAT.
Because inkjet technology takes up less space than lasers, Brother has been able to cram more paper and ink capacity into this fairly compact desktop unit. In fact, it can even print onto A3-sized paper, plain or glossy. It comes bundled with standard-size ink cartridges, but with high-yield cartridges available and capable of delivering 6,000 pages, this MFP's operating costs are actually lower than some laser printers. The following is a review of the Brother MFC-J5945DW Review:
Brother MFC-J5945DW Review Recommendation for the Best Brother Multitasking Printer
Design
Like most of Brother's office-oriented machines, the MFC-J5945DW looks like a pretty big lump of gray plastic. The footprint is quite large, especially when you pull out the multipurpose paper tray at the back and extend the front paper tray to accommodate A3 sheets.
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| Brother MFC-J5945DW, the Best Brother Multitasking Printer |
The scanner bed cover is also quite thick as it includes a 50-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF). Even the compartment that holds the four ink cartridges protrudes from the front of the machine by a few centimeters. Overall, the MFC-J5945DW takes up quite a bit of desk space, but is still smaller than laser-based devices that offer all of these features.
The inkjet refillable cartridges are larger than those found in your average photo printer and the two paper trays are deep enough to hold 500 sheets of paper between them. Perhaps more surprising is the fact that this printer can accommodate A3 size paper either through the rear multipurpose tray, or the extended front tray. We should point out at this point that the scanner is limited to A4 paper, and if you need to scan A3, you should take a look at the more expensive MFC-J6945DW.
The color screen and control panel are also a good size. The 9.3cm touch screen is quite responsive and is set in a tilting panel which makes it very easy to operate. There is a convenient USB port on the front panel for plugging in flash drives and other USB ports inside the printer body.
You'll need to open the entire top of the printer to access this last port and Ethernet connection, but if you choose to use this, plugs are less likely to be unplugged and cables are neatly managed so they come out. from behind.
It's a lot of plastic, but the MFC-J5945DW feels as though it's built to last, and the curved lines make some effort to blend more bulk into the backdrop.
Feature
The Brother MFC-J5945DW is a four-in-one multifunction device which means it can print, scan, copy and fax, but those are just the basics. Both Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity are built-in so you can print and scan remotely, or by pairing via an NFC-enabled smartphone.
This MFP can print on both sides of a page and scan two-sided documents onto a single sheet. There are 50 sheets of ADF if you need to scan a stack of pages and the large 9.3cm display gives you easy touch screen operation.
There are two paper trays built for a combined 500-sheet capacity and a multipurpose paper tray in the back for envelopes and letterhead paper. And being an inkjet means it's possible to load photo paper too. You can even load A3 size photo paper and it is this flexibility that gives this MFP a real advantage over laser-equipped competitors. What it can't do is duplex print on A3 paper, or scan A3-sized documents, but the built-in features make it very easy to blow up an A4 scan onto A3 paper.
Print speed is 22ppm (pages per minute) at full speed in mono, which is fast for an inkjet, but slower than your average laser printer. The maximum print resolution is very high at 1,200 x 4,800 pixels and this MFP will scan up to 600dpi.
Another standout specification of the box and brochure is the quoted printout of 6,000 pages. This is a bit misleading as it only deals with high yield cartridges. The black cartridge you get in the box can manage up to 3,000 pages, while the supplied color cartridge will print 1,500 pages. Switch to high-yield cartridges and the machine's operating costs are better than most other inkjet printers in this category.
Performance
The Brother MFC-J5945DW prints quickly and quietly, for the most part. The motor that pulls documents through the ADF is rather loud and the speed difference between fast mono printing and higher print quality is huge. In normal mode you can produce plain text pages at 22ppm, which is fast for an inkjet. Switch to smooth mode and you'll get less than half that speed, and the difference in print quality is also marked.
In fast mode some pages arrive with only half of the text readable. This appears to be a one-off error and all subsequent documents are fine, if a little pale when compared to the same page printed at good quality settings. At this slower setting, every character appears crisp and dark and consistent. So while laser printers are much better at churning out draft-quality documents, these inkjets manage to print high-quality pages.
Where these inkjet printers have an advantage is in printing color documents and photos, as inkjet printers tend to mix their inks more effectively to achieve realistic shadows. In this case, color prints take longer to print than any laser, but appear more natural.
Conclusion
Given the full range of features included with this multi-talented multifunction printer, it seems like a cost-effective way to get all your office needs done in one device.
The start-up costs seem reasonable given the decent build quality, and low running costs if you switch to Brother's high-yield ink cartridges. The paper capacity is also very high, making it very suitable for offices with large printing needs.
We encountered several printing errors during our tests, highlighting the fact that laser printers tend to be more consistent than inkjet printers and are faster at sifting through pages.
Photo printing isn't the most powerful of the Brother MFC-J5945DW, but the fact that it can handle glossy photo paper at all puts it ahead of any laser competitor, while the ability to print on A3 paper, either glossy or plain, is another important feature. which makes this machine something so versatile.
In short, the Brother MFC-J5945DW performs multiple tasks fairly well without outperforming them. Thus a review of the Brother MFC-J5945DW Review, hopefully it can be useful for friends Erzedka..