The purchase of this printer was based on a decision to print my own A3 landscape plans created from a CAD package without having to resort to an outside source. This is my first Brother printer so was keen to write a short review.
1. Delivery was quick and faultless. Very impressed with Amazon overall on this aspect.
2. Product was fairly quick and easy to set up (30 minutes) and quite different from the HP process I have been used to. I found the quick setup guide not so good and referred in the end to the main manual, which was nice to see was in paper format.
3. B&W Printing: Despite some of the reviews concerning poor quality print, I was eager to see what the results were like. Some people who have had poor results either have very high standards or a faulty printer as I only had, IMHO, excellent results. Printing black only onto 190GSM coated paper, the first CAD drawing came out clear and crisp with small font (1mm) dimension labels easily discernible, with just a very small amount of bleeding. A lot of printing issues come down to poor quality paper.
4. Colour printing seemed fine, obviously not as good as some of the dedicated photo printers, but acceptable nonetheless.
5. For the price, with the ability to scan, copy and fax in A3 as well, it certainly gives value for money. Saying that, I would not call this a 'budget' printer either. The print quality is above average and hard to fault. However....If you are a photographer wanting high quality A3 prints then you may be expecting too much from this machine.
6. Construction is, hmmm...not as sturdy as I would like but I think they wanted to keep the weight down. Although okay for me as I treat things with respect, it may not be robust enough for heavy office work and indifferent staff. It does take up almost a desk of its own, but I certainly wouldn't get one if I lived in a studio flat.
7. Can't comment on the fax ability as I never use FAX but in the manual it says it can connect to both PBX and VOIP lines.
(Although I couldn't believe that some places still use FAX, a doctor in the NHS told me that FAX has to be used between departments in a hospital she works at as email is not accceptable!!!)
8. Cartridges as always are a rip-off, whatever way you look at it but there are cheap replacement non-branded out there so that can be an option. Although many people have had problems with the aftermarket continuous ink supply systems I think they are brilliant. I have two HP A4 printers running for the last two years on CISS systems and although a little tricky to install I have saved hundreds of £'s. I will update to a CISS system with this printer when the cartridges run out.
I will have to see how I get on with this printer and hope it gives me a few years service. Time will tell...However, for anyone printing 2D drawings from Sketchup, Autocad, Viseo and other design programs, I would highly recommend this printer if you are on a tight budget.
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