I've purchased and installed many laser printers and multi-functions at my office and shop over the years, but resisted the laser investment at home, relying on an ancient ink jet for my relatively small number of home office print jobs, despite the lower quality of the printed outputs. When the old HP DeskJet finally bit the dust, prices on multi-function lasers had dropped to the point that I couldn't resist going laser. The addition of an integrated FAX, scan and copier functionality in a network ready machine were icing on the cake.
A bad experience many years ago with a cheaper "off brand" laser printer made me intensely loyal to HP printers and Canon laser multi-functions. But reading the many favorable reviews on Epinions (and CNet too, to be honest) made me jump on a price too good to pass up for a Brother MFC 7820N multi-function laser.
KEY FEATURES:
The spec sheet for any piece of computer-related hardware is as long as your arm, so I'm only going to list the features that favorably impacted my purchase decision on this machine:
- 20 PPM printer/copier output - 10,000 page/month duty cycle
- Separate toner cartridge (2500 pp) and drum unit (12,000 pp), nested within front access door
- 2400 x 600 max print resolution
- "Stand alone" copier functionality
- 25% to 400% reduction/enlargement
- Network ready, no print server needed
- 250 sheet paper supply drawer, adjustable for various paper/envelope sizes
- 35 sheet ADF
- 33.6K bps Super G3 FAX modem
- 32 MB memory
- 10 FAX speed-dials readily accessed from control panel
- PC FAX capability
- FAX function interfaces with external TAD
- Basic document viewer and OCR software included
- "Push" and "Pull" functionality for Scan and FAX functions
- Lighted LCD display
- Compact machine envelope of 17.0" W x 15.6" D x 11.6" H
IMPRESSIONS DURING USE
Set up of the machine was quick, simple and straight forward. Following the installation instructions precisely, it was up, running and fully functional within about 30 minutes, including running cabling, phone wires, relocating my TAD and installing software/drivers.
Print and copy quality are excellent, as is to be expected from a laser printer. The basic scanning and OCR software are intuitive, easy to use and effective. I hate paper files and have limited filing capacity in my home office, so I have taken to scanning new incoming documents for archival purposes (with data back up on an external, stand-alone hard drive, naturally) rather than retaining paper copies. Although nothing fancy or supercharged with capabilities, the ScanSoft PaperPort software facilitates this easily and I was impressed with the accuracy of the OCR software as well.
The machine spools up from the "sleeping" power save mode quickly and produces the desired outputs rapidly (I'm still stunned at a 20 PPM output speed from an inexpensive SO/HO machine). FAX transmission and reception are flawless, although I admit that I do habitually keep the FAX resolution set at "fine".
The ADF, although certainly light duty, works surprisingly well. I've had machines costing many times the price that could, at times, have more ADF mis-feeds than I've had with this little Brother so far.
The down sides to this machine are relatively few. Its very compact size results in a circuitous, serpentine paper path that puts a pretty significant curl on output paper and envelopes. This is an annoyance, but not a deal breaker. It's the price one pays for shoehorning a laser printer and multiple additional functions in to such a small physical package.
I'm not at all impressed with the manual paper/envelope supply feeder set up, which is very fussy to use and is more likely to produce a document printed cockeyed than straight. Annoying (and wasteful), but again, not a deal breaker at this price point.
Finally, the LCD display contrast, although adjustable between 2 settings, is not the greatest at all angles, but this is purely a minor quibble.
THE BOTTOM LINE
If your goal is primarily printed document handling and outputs in monochrome at modest volumes in a SO/HO environment, with the added functionality of FAX operations and basic image capture at relatively low levels of resolution, all in a physically compact envelope, this machine is a good choice.
If you want to archive and/or print photos in high resolution and quality, or produce/handle documents in higher volumes, you'll have to spend more money and move up the model hierarchy, or get a second machine.
Finally, I haven't had this product very long, nor have I owned or operated a Brother printer before, so I can't speak to the durability or reliability of the unit as of yet. If there are problems, I always try to come back and update my reviews here at Epinions.
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