Verdict
The Brother DCP - J1800DW is a decent all - round multifunction printer , suitable for a micro or domicile office , but it ’s charge with high run cost . It ’s definitely deserving it if you have a use for its newspaper - trim down party deception , but while its guillotine is beautifully mix and seems to behave faultlessly , it is rather recession . If you wo n’t use it , you could buy a good MFP for less .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Brother DCP - J1800DW see for all the world like any of Brother ’s home spot inkjet MFPs .
It ’s a squat , not especially attractive machine , with a tiltable control control panel gestate a mediocre colour touch screen . However , this MFP ( multifunction printer ) has the unique power to automatically slice up an innocent A4 Sir Frederick Handley Page into two A5 sail .
Combine this with reflexive duplex ( double - sided ) printing , and it can turn out flier , heavyset booklets , or even shrunken photos . Intrigued , I wanted a cheeseparing look . Here are my thoughts .
Design and features
The Brother DCP - J1800DW is , so far as I know , unique . While it look like any other Brother multifunction printing machine , it ’s a little heavier thanks to its inbuilt closure by compartment . Other than that , there ’s no obvious sign of the zodiac that it can cut paper to size – I could n’t even work out where the blade was stow .
There is little else remarkable about this MFP . In its base you ’ll find a 150 - sheet paper tray that seems a little clattery and flexible . On top there ’s a scanner equipped with a 20 - canvas robotic papers birdfeeder ( ADF ) , mean it can mechanically finish a multi - page scan or simulate occupation . You ca n’t institutionalise or invite faxes with this manakin , however .
While the printer can mechanically move around tabloid round to print both sides , the image scanner ca n’t – this mean you ca n’t will this MFP to do an neglected two - side to two - sided copy , and it ca n’t mechanically scan a two - sided original written document . Still , it ’s good to have two - sided printing , specially as this is incorporate with the tender , allowing you to make duplexed A4 or A5 documents without lifting a finger’s breadth .
The Brother DCP - J1800DW supports wire and wireless networking , so it ’s promiscuous to share among users in a family or pocket-sized spot . I ’m also a sports fan of Brother ’s touchscreen operating system of rules , which permit you set up agile shortcuts to the function you be given to utilise the most often – a handy timesaver .
For a cartridge - base inkjet , this MFP is supplied with a reasonable amount of ink . Only towards the end of my testing – which demand printing about 160 unembellished paper pages and 10 photos – did the printer part displaying a low ink warning . you may replace drop supplies with steady or XL ones , but the latter are n’t especially competitively priced , signify you ’ll pay around 11.8p for every Thomas Nelson Page of mixed text edition and computer graphic . When tank - based pressman typically be under a cent , I find it more and more toilsome to commend a pressman with such high-pitched running price .
Print speed and quality
The Brother MFC - J1800DW performed reasonably well across all of our tests . It ’s swift , needing just 20 second gear to deliver a first page of text , and go on to reach 6.5 pages per second ( ppm ) on our five - varlet document . It was profligate when print multiple written matter of a single pageboy , gain 15.0ppm over 25 pages .
On round-eyed colour Job , this printer matched its 6.5ppm black speed . More surprisingly , it hardly ask to slacken down for our longer , more intensive graphics job , where it reached a more impressive 6.0ppm . Even photos did n’t trouble oneself it too much , with each 6×4 ” ( 10x15 cm ) borderless print needing about 75 seconds .
Scan speeds were similarly bracing , ranging from nine seconds for a preview , up to 81 seconds to capture a postcard photo at the maximal 1,200dpi . Unsurprisingly , copying was also lively , with a single page make out in just 13 seconds , or 16 second in colour . I load 10 pages in the ADF and copied them in 80 moment , or 104 seconds in colouration .
I was n’t bowled over by the quality of any of the consequence , but the Brother DCP - J1800DW is a estimable enough printer . On plain paper it produced strong black text , and reasonably adept color graphic – although not as bluff or colourful as from the good inkjets . photo were n’t at all speculative given that this MFP is biassed more towards office text file function – print on coated composition were more than good enough for holiday pushover or helping with school prep .
Photocopies were n’t defective either , so I was a little surprised that the Brother DCP - J1800DW was n’t a strong electronic scanner . text file were sharply concentre and had little or no bleed through from the rearward side , but they were a small on the sour side , with some loss of detail from dark area . I was n’t impressed with picture CAT scan , which seemed moody , with exaggerated line and a tendency to over - emphasise red tone .
It ’s heavy not to be impressed by this MFP ’s party trick , however . You ’ll line up its paper cut alternative in the photographic print number one wood , where you get a pick to either scale your document to the slash composition , or just cut without scaling . While the latter might be utile if you already have an A4 text file designed to be switch off into two A5 text file , scaling takes away the headache of creating a custom page layout .
With scaling selected , your regular A4 documents are shrunk down so they impress two to a page , which is then deftly halved by the closure by compartment . Pages arrive out in the veracious guild , and the process supply only a second or two onto the time each sheet takes to print . you’re able to hear the cutting headway move quickly across the paper , but it ’s quieter than our agency guillotine .
I was peculiarly impressed that Brother has managed to make the system work with semidetached house prints . Here , the page is printed on both sides before being gash , and again the conclusion result is a diminutive , three-fold - sided text file in the right page order . In all my testing , pages were evenly sized and neatly cut .
It is , however , a fleck of a niche feature . It ’s useful if you demand to create throwaway , saving you the trouble of buying A5 newspaper . It might also be useful if you ’re in the drug abuse of making duplexed , two - pages - per - side prints to save paper .
It could also save up you money , as A4 theme is generally cheaper , and doubly so if you skip it in half . By my calculations , though , you ’d require to print about 7,500 A5 sheets to recoup the roughly £ 100 premium Brother charge for the feature film . My sums also suggest that using a refillable pressman and just buy A5 paper would probably be cheaper in the long run .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
:
This multifunction printer is unparalleled in helping you spare money if you need to publish on A5 report
In most other ways , it ’s an fair multifactor printer , and its ink cost are high
Final Thoughts
The Brother DCP - J1800DW is n’t a bright multifactor pressman in most ways . Although it ’s easy to use , fleet , and its sheer paper photographic print timbre is good , its scans are underwhelming and it ’s expensive to run .
Its power to cut paper is unique , and it ’s carry out brilliantly , meaning the Brother DCP - J1800DW may make raw things potential in a small business . But if you ca n’t see a need for it , you could bribe a standard but similar inkjet MFP for about half the monetary value .
Trusted Score
How we test
Every printer we review break down through a series of undifferentiated checks designed to gauge key thing including print lineament , speed and cost .
We ’ll also compare the features with other printers at the same toll percentage point to see if you ’re getting skillful time value for your money .
FAQs
As far as I can work out , there ’s no meaningful fortune of an stroke involving this printing machine ’s curve blade . You ca n’t tally your hand into the paper release one-armed bandit without removing the paper tray , which would stop the printing machine forthwith anyway . To be on the dependable side I would n’t advocate using the abridge feature film with unattended kids or pets in the room , but that ’s probably excessively cautious .
