Brother MFC-7420 Multifunction > Reviews > BEAST of a printer, scanner, fax & copier (phew!)

Author's product rating:   

Picture quality	Excellent
Printing speed	Fast
Colour sensitivity	Excellent
Ease of use	Easy
Value For Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	A printer, scanner, copier and fax machine (phew ! )
Disadvantages:	It's heavy in size and in cost .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

What we have here is the Brother MFC-7420 Multifunction digital laser device. Try saying it in one breath. Go on, I challenge you to say it in one breath.

Did you manage it?

If you did then you probably deserve a medal, but then so would 'Brother' for managing to cram so many features and uses into one device. That is a challenge in itself, and I'd imagine it was far from easy to accomplish and keep the design as attractive as it is.

I know what you're thinking though. You've seen plenty of other printers out there that also do copying, scanning and faxing. They may even have been a fair bit cheaper.
This is true, but what this item has in its favour is the speed of the printing, the attractive design, the brand name 'BROTHER' attached to it and the hardcore feel of the product. It really does feel like something that would survive a comet hit and still get the printing done on time, leaving it waiting for you in the print tray.

Brother are a well known brand, particularly within the PC and electronics industries. They have a good reputation and almost always come up with the goods. They are not always the cheapest, but they are very stylish and reliable. In short, you get something you can depend on, is easy and functional and has good after-sales support for your money.

I've divided the rest of the review in to several categories to help you zoom straight to the section that you're most interested in. I would though read through the whole thing to form a full opinion yourself on whether this is something you wish to part money with (we are talking 150-250 pounds here).

The weight and design
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The design is very pleasing to the eye as you can see from the photo shown at the top of this page. It is a whitish-grey colour and has coloured buttons that control different parts of the device. Some for copying, scanning etc. The top lifts off for scanning and the bottom drawer comes out for reloading paper. It has a 250 sheet capacity, depending on the feature being used. Anyone who has worked in an office environment will tell you that it's great not having to come back and forth refilling the sheets as often.
The weight is on the heavy side though at 9.5 KG. Therefore this really is something that should stay in one place, not be moved from office to home or from room to room etc. Not only could this potentially harm the item in the long run but it would probably make you short of breath.
N.B. If you're planning on walking back with this item from the shop - take a friend! A strong one !!!!

Printing speed and quality
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The maximum printing speed is 20 ppm (pages per minute). The 133 MHZ processor within the machine allows for this.
You do need to bear in mind though that everything is taken into account for the speed. For example, a high quality of print selected and a photo on the page would reduce the figure above considerably. The amount of text on a page also is a factor. Scanning, faxing and copying obviously takes longer than standard printing at times depending again on the use.
It's a bit like a battery life for a remote. It can give an overall estimate that is rarely achieved as everyone's needs are different.
The resolution for some printing is as high as 2400 x 600dpi. In English this means that photos and text will look absolutely stunning coming out of this machine. Photos even printed in a standard quality mode come out looking fantastic and very colourful and clear. The text is defined and looks clear to the eye in a range of qualities and sizes. This is ideal if you are mass-printing courses, letters etc. Even the labels and envelopes come out looking great.

Extra uses
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As shown above, the printer allows for printing of envelopes and labels. Imagine not having to write out an envelope again or on a file or box. Not only does it look better coming out of the printer, but it looks more professional and organised on the envelope etc. It takes several different sizes of envelope and labels are easy to obtain from stationary stores and some supermarkets, although check the sizes of them first to be sure they are correct for you. You of course connect the printer to the PC with a USB connection and just think of all the digital camera snaps you could be printing out from this baby! They will look great, and it could save you a lot of money on printing elsewhere. Buy some glossy paper and have a ball!

The warranty and after-sales support
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The standard warranty is 1 year as with most items. You may want to check with the dealer if there are any extended options available, or if a credit card or other insurance you have may offer you something better.
Considering the relatively high price of the product, you don't want to take chances and you need to know all your options on the day.

Technical advice can be gathered from the manual (yes some people still read them!) or from Brother direct. You may even want to join some forums on the internet that can prove invaluable solving what would seem like faults, but actually turn out to be simple quirks with the new features. This is likely if you are new to printing and have not read anything before use.

Where can you buy it?
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Pretty much most places. You'll find most major department stores and electrical retailers will have these or can get hold of them. Online sites will help such as Kelkoo and Pricerunner in finding some of the cheapest prices available and check stock, but be advised that this can often result in mail ordering the items meaning card transactions on the net and a wait of a few days for the product.

Do I recommend it? Yes I do. To who? Offices, home businesses and people prepared to pay a bit more for a reliable product. I don't have my own but I know companies who use this and I've had plenty of time to get to grips with it's features. It's easy after a few tries, stylish and modern. Like I said, it's a BEAST!

Thanks everyone for reading. And to all reading this in December, have a Happy Christmas.