Brother MFC-J430W review
A home office MFP that's affordable to buy and run, but its performance is only average
Although not exactly fast, this printer is quick enough, delivering more than eight pages of text per minute, or three pages of mixed colour graphics. Colour prints were quite good, but text had a shaky outline that was just visible to the naked eye. Although draft text was even chunkier, it was good enough – and fast, at more than 17 pages per minute (ppm).
Brother’s scan interface isn’t the best, but it’s easy enough to use
Brother’s scan interface is simple, but it has the annoying habit of deleting the preview image if you change between the Photo, Web and Text scan types. There’s no auto-exposure feature and the auto-crop is entirely automated; you either need to select a scan area manually from the preview or trust that the scanner will get it right. Frustratingly, although you can select the size of your original, you can’t choose the orientation of the resulting crop, so you must pay attention to the guide marks around the platen. Our results were OK for office work, but photo scans revealed a lack of dynamic range, leading to a loss of detail in very light and dark areas.
Overall this is a capable MFP for the home office, but its cheap feel and so-so results make it hard to love.
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 |