Brother MFC-J4535DW INKvestment Tank printer
MSRP $249.99
“Brother’s MFC-J4535DW is a surprisingly good plain paper photograph printer, however the copy and scan high quality damage an in any other case nice design.”
Professionals
- Spectacular plain paper photograph high quality
- Quick doc print pace
- Two 200-sheet paper trays and a media tray
- Compact dimension
Cons
- Poor ADF scan and replica high quality
- Poor flatbed scan and replica high quality
- 4×6 pictures are washed-out
Brother’s MFC-J4535DW is a house workplace printer with print, scan, copy, and fax capabilities. This all-in-one inkjet comes with a yr’s provide of ink, and Brother calls it an INKvestment tank printer.
The MFC-J4535DW is a singular printer in some ways, and you’ll inform simply by taking a look at it that Brother rethought its printer design right here. The query is whether or not the variations add as much as a greater expertise whereas retaining good high quality, reliability, and long-term worth, that are key traits of all one of the best printers.
Design
The Brother MFC-J4535DW is a surprisingly quick printer for an all-in-one with an automated doc feeder (ADF) and three paper trays. The peak is beneath 10 inches and it takes up 17 x 14.6 inches in your desk or stand. With the rear media tray and the entrance output bin open, you’ll want 24 inches of depth. It’s straightforward to maneuver the MFC-J4535DW round because of its 21-pound weight.
The design is a pleasant darkish grey on off-white, with a four-position management panel that includes a 2.7-inch shade touchscreen. Two 200-sheet paper trays are totally detachable, permitting straightforward printing on two sorts of paper or 4×6 photograph inventory. The rear paper tray offers a straight path for envelopes and thicker paper.
A USB-A port close to the left edge lets the Brother MFC-J4535DW print from or scan to a thumb drive for simple walk-up use. The cellphone line ports for facsimiles are on the left facet and the connected energy twine cis on the left as properly.
The USB-B and Ethernet ports for a wired connection to a pc are positioned contained in the printer, with channels to direct the cables out the again. It’s an uncommon design resolution meaning you would possibly want longer cables to succeed in your laptop. That gained’t matter in the event you join through Wi-Fi as I did.
Printing efficiency
Brother gave the MFC-J4535DW a quick print engine. Black-and-white paperwork print at a speedy 20 pages per minute (ppm) and shade pages are practically as fast at 19 ppm. That’s as quick as some laser printers, however with the added capabilities of an inkjet printer. Shade paperwork got here out so properly that I made a decision to strive plain paper pictures.
The standard was outstanding. Whereas saturation was a bit too excessive and element was decrease than a devoted photograph printer just like the Epson EcoTank ET-8500, the Brother MFC-J4535DW can print nice-looking photos on plain paper.
Transferring on to shiny paper, I used to be shocked to seek out the standard dropped. I attempted two several types of 4×6 shiny photograph inventory in case one was incompatible, however the saturation was muted on high-quality photograph paper. Shade accuracy is sweet however a bit washed-out and low distinction.
You need to use thick paper within the paper tray, but it surely had a little bit of a curl after passing via the printer. If you happen to place heavier-weight paper within the rear media tray, it comes out flat.
The three paper trays made testing fast. I may swap between photograph and plain paper simply and feed a specialty paper within the again with out reloading the 2 predominant trays.
Particular options
With an all-in-one printer, it is best to be capable of deal with all your small business wants with no journey to the native workplace retailer. Sadly, I wouldn’t depend on the Brother MFC-J4535DW for scans or copies. Epson’s EcoTank ET-2800 is priced equally and has good scan high quality.
I used to be ready to present this printer an eight or 9 out of 10, however the scans are a bit blurry, and that reveals up when making copies. Half of the performance of the MFC-J4535DW is misplaced resulting from a poor scanner. There’s an opportunity I obtained a lemon, however I discovered Amazon critiques commenting on the poor copy high quality as properly.
The ADF doesn’t help duplex scanning, however duplex printing works reliably. The ADF is considerably slower than the printer, so copy pace is sluggish. The flatbed scanner can be sluggish and yields barely fuzzy outcomes.
The USB-A port works properly for fast photograph prints from a thumb drive with out the necessity for a cellphone. That is extra necessary for an workplace surroundings, however nonetheless a pleasant addition.
Software program and compatibility
Putting in the MFC-J4535DW is fast and Brother made the method easy with some time-saving options. The 4 massive ink cartridges slide in with a reassuring click on and it solely takes 4 minutes to cost the system. After a quick print high quality verify, I carried out the optionally available printhead alignment.
Brother makes use of the print and scan technique, aligning the printheads routinely. Each printer producer ought to make the most of the built-in scanners of all-in-one printers as a substitute of requiring the person to evaluate alignment pages and make handbook changes.
A sticker with a QR code for the cell app is positioned on the highest of the printer. The identical QR code seems on the touchscreen show throughout setup. Brother’s Cellular Join app is on the market for the iPhone and Android telephones.
The one minor concern I got here throughout when putting in the MFC-J4535DW was the firmware replace. You should enter the printer’s password, which is situated on the again of the printer. I used to be in a position to get a readable photograph by reaching across the again with my cellphone. I needed to kind this password on the touchscreen, which felt somewhat too small for my fingers. It’s not an enormous downside, however price mentioning.
Whereas most printers present you bars for every shade that characterize ink ranges, Brother goes a bit additional. The user-friendly Web page Gauge characteristic estimates the variety of pages you may print with the ink remaining. With recent cartridges, that quantity might be properly over 1,000 pages.
It’s straightforward to attach through Home windows and macOS. The Brother Cellular Join app helps iOS and Android. Every little thing labored as anticipated besides printing envelopes from my cellphone. There’s no choice to print envelopes from the cell app or through AirPrint. Envelopes are straightforward from a pc.
Value
Shade cartridges present about 1,500 pages, whereas black doubles that to three,000 pages. Brother additionally sells a high-capacity black that holds as much as 6,000 pages price of ink. Based mostly on Brother’s testing, you’ll pay about 1 cent for every monochrome doc and 5 cents per shade doc — 4 cents in the event you order shade cartridges in a three-pack.
Brother’s MFC-J4535DW isn’t a real inkjet tank printer because it nonetheless makes use of cartridges, but it surely nonetheless provides nice worth in comparison with most cartridge-based inkjet printers and shade laser printers, the place shade pages can value greater than 10 cents every. A real tank printer reduces ink value to tenths of a cent per doc.
Brother estimates the big starter cartridges on this INKvestment printer ought to allow you to hold printing for a couple of yr.
Is that this the printer for you?
The Brother MFC-J4535DW is such a pleasant plain paper photograph printer that I wished to love it. Nevertheless, you will get related outcomes with the Brother MFC-J1205W INKvestment Tank printer at about half the value. The MFC-J4535DW is quicker, but when pace is most importan yo you, then a shade laser printer just like the HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4301fdw is difficult to beat.
If you happen to want shade copies or scans, I can’t advocate the MFC-J4535DW, for the reason that outcomes are disappointing. As an all-in-one that lacks good copy and scan high quality, this in all probability isn’t the correct printer for you except you get it at a reduction value.
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