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Brother MFC-J430W review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £86.75
inc VAT

A home office MFP that's affordable to buy and run, but its performance is only average

Specifications

print speed, USB, 802.11b/g/n wireless, 180x405x378mm

http://www.lambda-tek.com

The Brother MFC-J430W is a squat device that can print, scan, copy and fax. There’s also a smallish colour display and wireless networking, but no wired Ethernet connection or memory card slots. This is an office-orientated device, though, so memory card slots aren’t a surprising omission.

Brother MFC-J430W

This MFP has a single paper tray that clatters paper noisily into its belly. It’s not the only part that feels a little cheap; the 20-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) is formed by a panel that flexes, and which needs a firm push at the rear edge to lock it closed when not in use, otherwise it swings open when the lid is raised for access to the scanner platen. The lid’s hinges extend upwards to accommodate thick original documents, but it’s a wobbly movement rather than a precise one.

Brother MFC-J430W

The MFC-J430W takes four ink cartridges inserted into a compartment at the front right, with ink fed to the heads via capillary tubes. While this is generally a quiet device, this ink system produces a characteristic high-pitched sucking sound, and the control panel tends to chirp and beep more than most – you can turn audio alerts off, though. The choice of ink cartridges includes Brother’s LC1240 range which are good for 600 pages each, giving this MFP reasonable running costs of 7.6p per page overall.

Brother MFC-J430W

Despite the lack of a touchscreen, this is an easy device to use directly rather than via a PC, with the exception that entering a wireless password can be a fiddle if not using Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). It’s a similar story with the print driver, in which the options are ranged across three simple tabs, with a pane at the left to summarise the selected options. It’s straightforward to change individual options or to select a profile from the Print Profiles tab.

Brother MFC-J430W manual duplex
The MFC-J430W can’t print on both sides of a page, but it can help you do it manually

Pages: 1 2

Basic Specifications

Rating ***
Maximum native print resolution 6,000×1,200dpi
Max optical resolution 1,200×2,400dpi
Output bit depth 24-bit

Tested Print Speeds

Time for two 10x8in photos 1.0 11m 14s
Time for six 6x4in photos 1.0 13m 40s

Physical and Environmental

Standard printer interfaces USB, 802.11b/g/n wireless
Optional printer interfaces none
Size 180x405x378mm
Weight 9.0kg
Noise (in normal use) 50dB(A)

Paper Handling

Maximum paper size A4/legal
Maximum paper weight 220gsm
Standard paper inputs 1
Standard paper input capacity 100
Maximum paper inputs 1
Maximum paper input capacity 100
Duplex (code, cost if option) No

General

Printer technology piezo inkjet
Supported operating systems Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later, Linux (via free download)
Other inkjet features 4.9cm colour screen
Other inkjet options none

Buying Information

Price £87
Consumable parts and prices £10 each
Price per colour A4 page 5.0p
Quoted life of supplied photo cartridge(s) N/A
Warranty one year RTB
Supplier http://www.lambda-tek.com
Details www.brother.co.uk

Print Quality

Number of ink colours 4
Number of ink cartridges 4
Maximum number of ink colours 4
Maximum number of cartridges 4

Tested Scan Speeds

Full scan area preview 10s
A4 document at 150dpi 10s
A4 document at 300dpi 17s
6x4in photo at 600dpi 20s
6x4in photo at 1200dpi 58s

Tested Copy Speeds

Time for single A4 mono copy 1.0 18s
Time for single A4 colour copy 1.0 23s
Time for 10 A4 copies using feeder 2.0 3m 3s

Photo Features

PictBridge support No
Borderless printing A4
Direct (PC-less) printing No
Supported memory cards none
CD printing No

Copy Features

Maximum number of copies 99
Max mono copy resolution 1,200×1,200dpi
Max colour copy resolution 1,200×1,200dpi

Fax Features

Max mono fax resolution 200x400dpi
Fax memory (maximum mono pages) 400