Brother MFC-9840CDW All-In-One Laser Printer (21 PPM, 2400x600 DPI, Color, 128MB, PC/Mac)

This is a color laser

Color laser printers like this one are becoming the standard choice for businesses. In general, they offer the fastest way to print color output--if not always the best way: they manage pie charts, logos, and simple graphics just fine, but they tend to struggle at producing smooth, natural-looking photos.

Color Lasers print by using a laser and rotating mirrors to beam an image indirectly onto a photoconducting drum; attracting toner to that image; and then melting the toner at high temperature to transfer the image to paper. Each of the four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) has its own drum. A multi-pass color laser runs the paper through each color in turn, which makes the printer slower. A single-pass color laser runs the paper through all four colors in succession, which tends to make the printer faster. 

Uses Four Primary Colors of Ink to Produce Color Palette

This type of inkjet printer uses the basic four colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. (Some extremely low-end printers might even mix colors to produce black). This array is sufficient for creating a wide color palette, but differences in ink type and marking technology will affect how printed colors look.  

The first three colors come in either a unified "tricolor" cartridge or in separate cartridges. Black is always separate. The tricolor cartridges are more compact, but they’re also wasteful because you have to replace the entire cartridge whenever you run out of any one color.

Fax Capability Saves Space in Small Offices

This printer can also be used as a fax machine, a feature you'll find on some multifunction models. If you frequently send faxes, having a device that does both can save space in a small office. This printer may have just one phone jack for faxing, or two so it can also be used to place calls via a handset. 

If faxing features are important to you, pay attention to fax-page and speed-dial memory -- 100 is the common capacity in both cases. Also look for fax transmission speed, resolution, and perhaps the ability to fax to networked computer.

Document Feeders a Big Convenience If You Scan Lots of Multi-page Documents

This multifunction printer contains an automatic document feeder (ADF) for feeding multi-page documents through the scanner. While users who make an occasional copy of a photo or document could get along with a plain old flatbed scanner, an ADF is essential for users who scan, copy, or fax a lot of multi-page documents. ADF capacity varies widely, from as little as 10 or 15 pages to 50 or more pages on higher-end machines, so consider the typical length of your documents when you look at this feature. Most ADFs can scan only one side of a document at a time ("simplex"); if you scan a lot of two-sided ("duplex") documents, a duplexing ADF would save you a lot of time.

Compatible with Macintosh and other Apple systems

Printers such as this model are compatible with computers designed by Apple, meaning it has at least one appropriate connection type and also has drivers written for the Mac OS X operating system.

Compatible with Microsoft Windows Operating System

Printers such as this model are compatible with computers that use the Microsoft Windows operating system, meaning it has at least one appropriate connection type and also has drivers written for Windows.

Compatible with Both Apple and Windows Operating Systems

Printers such as this model are compatible with computers designed by Apple that run either Mac OS X; or computers that use Microsoft Windows. In addition to having at least one appropriate connection for each computer platform, it should also come with drivers written for both operating systems.

Be Skeptical of Color Print Speed Claims

A printer's stated color print speed (expressed in pages per minute, or "ppm") should be taken with a grain of salt. Vendors often use contrived methods to arrive at such numbers. For instance, they might print in draft mode, which is faster than the default mode most people use. Or they'll exclude the first page out from a document's total print time, because its slower exit reflects the processing time needed to create the document image for the printer. Or they might send raw data straight to the printer, bypassing any application or PC processing time. The PC World Test Center uses dedicated testbed PCs and real-world applications to reflect actual use as closely as possible. We also time the document "from click to clunk" -- from the time we click the "Print" button to the time when the last page falls into the output tray.

Take black-and-white print speed times with a grain of salt

A printer's stated monochrome or "black-and-white" print speed (expressed in pages per minute, or "ppm") should be taken with a grain of salt. Vendors often use contrived methods to arrive at such numbers. For instance, they might print in draft mode, which is faster than the default mode most people use. Or they'll exclude the first page out from a document's total print time, because its slower exit reflects the processing time needed to create the document image for the printer. Or they might send raw data straight to the printer, bypassing any application or PC processing time. The PC World Test Center uses dedicated testbed PCs and real-world applications to reflect actual use as closely as possible. We also time the document "from click to clunk" -- from the time we click the "Print" button to the time when the last page falls into the output tray.

Medium-Resolution Scanners Keep Enlargements Clear

This scanner's optical scan resolution is midrange. In addition to scanning typical documents or photos at actual size (300x300 dpi or 600x600 dpi suffice for such tasks), it can also use these higher resolutions to enlarge such items digitally with good results. The image-file size also gets bigger, of course, so make sure you have enough storage space.