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Brother MFC4420C COLOR FLATBED MFC COLOR F/P/C/S/PC FAX/MEDIA CENTER (Brother-MFC4420C)
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More…| Print quality: text/graphics | Fair/Good |
| Print quality for photos | Good |
| Overall speed | Fair |
| Rated print speeds | 13 ppm monochrome, 11 ppm color, standard mode |
| Tested print speeds | 2.8 ppm text, 0.5 ppm graphics |
| Scan quality: color/black and white | Very good/Very good |
| Scan speeds | 66 seconds, 1200-dpi color/33 seconds, 300-dpi black-and-white |
| Photocopy quality | Fair |
| Copy speed | 26.6 seconds, black-and-white |
| Rated fax speed | 14.4 kbps |
| Features | Very good |
| Interfaces | USB 2.0 |
| Number of color ink cartridges | Three |
| Cost per set of color cartridges/average pages per set | $14/400 |
| True print resolution, color | 2400 by 1200 dpi |
| Maximum print resolution, color | 2400 by 1200 dpi |
| Maximum paper size | Legal |
| Paper input capacity | 100 sheets input, 30 sheets output |
| Maximum optical scan resolution | 600 by 2400 dpi |
| Scan color bit depth (external) | 36-bit |
| Fax type | Stand-alone |
| Fax resolution | 203 dpi |
| Fax memory (pages) | 480 |
| Size (width/depth/height) and weight | 15.7 by 18.5 by 5.2 inches, 17.6 pounds |
| Overall ease of use | Fair |
| Installation | Good |
| Documentation | Very good |
| Design | Outstanding |
| Support quality | Fair |
| Support policies | One-year warranty, 10-hour weekday toll-free support |
Bottom Line
The Brother MFC-4420C is slow, and the quality of its color prints was rated only Fair, but the device's scans are good enough for most home offices.
Brother MFC-4420C
MFC4420C COLOR FLATBED MFC COLOR F/P/C/S/PC FAX/MEDIA CENTER (Brother-MFC4420C) Review, by Roy Santos May 1, 2003
WHAT'S HOT: The compact Brother MFC-4420C yielded the best overall scores in our scan quality tests. The device's built-in fax lets you send and receive documents without switching your PC on. The 4420C's Memory Stick, CompactFlash, and SmartMedia card reader lets you print digital photos using the included ArcSoft PhotoPrinter software, and you can use the reader to access the contents of memory cards on your PC, too.
For people who want to reduce the number of bulky machines in their office, the MFC-4420C is a space-saver. Its low profile (only 5.2 inches tall) will help make a home or small office feel roomier.
WHAT'S NOT: The MFC-4420C is an underachiever at making text copies (and predictably, monochrome prints as well). The text documents it duplicated in our tests looked smudgy and somewhat blurred. The device's software is functional but could use clearer explanation.
Unlike the Canon and HP MFPs, the MFC-4420C doesn't let you print photos directly from memory cards, without going to your PC (the Canon and HP drivers handle printing from media cards). With the Brother you have to use the device's ArcSoft PhotoPrinter software. The MFC-4420C doesn't read Secure Digital cards.
WHAT ELSE: The MFC-4420C uses one black and three color-ink cartridges that can be replaced individually. Its TextBridge stand-alone OCR software worked well in our tests, with few hiccups. The device did a fine job converting a scanned newsletter into a text file, but it failed to scan a multicolumn newspaper article accurately.
An icon called SmartUI installs itself in your Windows system tray, with no indication that it's Brother's software. When you click it, a window with mysteriously labeled icons appears. Unexplained tabs labeled 'Hardware' and 'Software' divide the interface further. After much exploration of the software, we discovered that the Hardware section lets you set functions normally accessed from the MFP control panel, while the Software settings let you choose the programs to perform your scans, copies, and faxes. These are useful functions, but their practical value is limited by the ambiguousness of the icons' purpose.
UPSHOT: The Brother MFC-4420C is slow, and the quality of its color prints was rated only Fair, but the device's scans are good enough for most home offices.
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Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
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Reviewed by: pocosmom
Strengths: Prints well from computer, easy set up
Weaknesses: Panel shorts out, LOTS of error messages
Overall: We bought one of these and had to exchange it for another within 2 weeks, the panel buttons stopped working- thus no faxing. Then worked fine for about 6 months and then again- shorted out by touching it to make a copy! called the company, NO help. worked for a while as just a printer and could scan using the feature from the computer. Now does not work at all.
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Reviewed by: jonroth
Strengths: Lots of functions for the price. Small size.
Weaknesses: Postcards and envelopes.
Overall: As long as you are not wanting to run postcards or envelopes through the machine, it will work fine.Scanning is tricky but does work. I use mine mostly as a printer and copier, with some light to moderate faxing.The problem I have is when I try to run postcards or envelopes, it starts to feed, then stops feeding... but it thinks it has fed properly and continues to print onto nothing, making a mess. Then the next several sheets through come out unusable due to the extra ink sploches.I even spoke to Brother about this issue and they basically deny the problem. "If the envelopes and postcards are within specifications, it should work."I tell them they are and it does not work, and they say that "there is nothing wrong and that I'm using the wrong envelopes and postcards"... like the mechanical functions of the machine are flawless or something. That really pissed me off.I'm shopping for a Canon or HP today!
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Reviewed by: weltwon
Strengths: Size & design
Weaknesses: Poor print quality, defective printer driver
Overall: No matter what printer settings I tried, this unit failed to properly print text & graphics that appear perfectly when I send the same file data to any of my 3 other printers. Even at the 'best' settings, the ink appears to bleed into paper. This is also the 2nd time in 4 years that I've tried a Brother all-in-one and discovered that they continue to do the thing that annoys me the most as a consumer: Brother releases new products with defective drivers. This unit is being returned today to Office Depot for a full refund.
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