Brother MFC-5440CN Review
If you're looking for an all-in-one (AIO) for your small or home office, or to serve as a personal AIO in a larger office, the Brother MFC-5440CN is bound to catch your eye. Not only is the price right for those on a tight budget, the printer also offers all the right functions for an office. It's also suitably compact, at 10.6 by 18.1 by 17.0 inches—easy to squeeze onto crowded desks.
The MFC-5440CN's long list of features includes a network connector, a flatbed scanner, a 35-page automatic document feeder (ADF) for handling multi-page documents easily, and a fax modem so it can work as a standalone fax machine. Besides being a standalone copier, this device can also print (of course), scan, fax from your PC, and scan directly to e-mail documents over a network. Unfortunately, at this price you can't have everything. The tradeoff for all these features is slow speed, slightly below-par output quality, and an extremely small paper capacity—just 100 sheets.
Setup is typical for an inkjet AIO. You just load in paper, connect the power cord and cables, and install the ink cartridges, then run the automated installation routine. One key difference from most ink jets is that the MFC-5440CN uses a separate cartridge for each color (cyan, yellow, magenta, and black). Separate cartridges help keep the running costs down, since you don't have to throw out unused ink when one color runs out.
The MFC-5440CN's speed isn't the slowest all-in-one printer and is significantly faster over a USB connection, taking 29:11 for the business applications suite. But that's still sluggish. The USB connection is slower for photos, with the printer averaging 8:39 for each 4-by-6 and 15:47 for each 8-by-10.
Output and graphics aren’t amazing, however the photos print decent, with some even qualifying as true photo quality, though others showed a slight color shift. Keep in mind that the MFC-5440CN's photos aren't water-resistant, which means they are best kept framed behind glass.
The Brother MFC-5440CN is affordable, easy to use, and full of professional features, but this all-in-one printer is not the best for scans and prints. Even with its flaws, we do recommend this printer for the cost conscious consumers.
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