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Brother DCP-J715W review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £104
inc VAT

This MFP does everything adequately, but nothing particularly well. High print costs compound these problems.

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Despite Brother’s competitive speed figures, the DCP-J715W turned out to be one of the slowest printers we’ve seen recently. Draft text appeared at a reasonable 13.3ppm, but returning the quality to its normal settings slowed the output down to just 3.4ppm in black, and only 2.6ppm in colour. Far from taking 30 seconds, each 6×4 inch photo print took three minutes and 40 seconds at the highest quality setting. This did drop to one minute 42 seconds when printing directly from a memory card, but the results – though fair – weren’t quite lab quality, with some visible grain and a lack of definition in the darkest areas. The direct print menu hung each time we tried to access one of our test images, so we had to substitute it with an alternative version.

On plain paper, black text wasn’t as crisp as the best inkjets and colours lacked vibrancy. This was particularly noticeable in colour copies, while the graphics in mono copies were far too dark. During our 10-page copy test, the ADF didn’t leave the original documents in a tidy stack.

Brother DCP-J715W Memory slot

We were more satisfied with the performance of the DCP-J715W’s scanner, which is reasonably quick, delivering all but our 1,200dpi photo scan in less than 30 seconds. Colours were captured accurately, if a little too bright, and the focus was sharp without overt signs of processing. While it’s good enough for many creative applications, however, it wasn’t able to resolve the very lightest shades in our Q-60 target, or several of the darkest, meaning that it’s not ideal for detailed photography work.

Ultimately, this MFP would be suited to occasional creative jobs in a small office if not for its print costs, which are some of the highest around. For only a little more, Epson’s PX720WD is faster, better quality and cheaper to run.

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Basic Specifications

Rating**
Maximum native print resolution6,000×1,200dpi
Max optical resolution1,200×2,400dpi
Output bit depth36-bit

Quoted Speeds

Quoted speed, mono A435ppm
Quoted speed, colour A428ppm

Tested Print Speeds

Time for two 10x8in photos 1.016m 18s
Time for six 6x4in photos 1.021m 57s

Physical and Environmental

Standard printer interfacesUSB, PictBridge, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11 b/g wireless
Optional printer interfacesnone
Size390x375x180mm
Weight7.5kg
Noise (in normal use)50dB(A)
Duty cycle2,500

Paper Handling

Maximum paper sizeA4/legal
Maximum paper weight220gsm
Standard paper inputs2
Standard paper input capacity120
Maximum paper inputs2
Maximum paper input capacity120
Duplex (code, cost if option)No

General

Printer technologypiezo inkjet
Supported operating systemsWindows 2000/XP/Vista/7, Mac OS X 10.3.9+
Other inkjet features8.2cm colour screen, lifetime technical support
Other inkjet optionsnone

Buying Information

Price£104
Consumable parts and prices£8
Price per colour A4 page7.0p
Quoted life of supplied black cartridge300 pages (ISO/IEC 24712)
Quoted life of supplied colour cartridge(s)cyan, magenta, yellow 240 pages (ISO/IEC 24712)
Quoted life of supplied photo cartridge(s)N/A
Warrantyone-year RTB
Supplierhttp://www.oyyy.co.uk
Detailswww.brother.co.uk

Print Quality

Number of ink colours4
Number of ink cartridges4
Maximum number of ink colours4
Maximum number of cartridges4
Quoted photo durability100 years
Quoted photo durability sourceBrother

Tested Scan Speeds

Full scan area preview14s
A4 document at 150dpi15s
A4 document at 300dpi20s
6x4in photo at 600dpi25s
6x4in photo at 1200dpi1m 19s

Tested Copy Speeds

Time for single A4 mono copy 1.031s
Time for single A4 colour copy 1.042s
Time for 10 A4 copies using feeder 2.05m 46s

Photo Features

PictBridge supportYes
Borderless printingA4
Direct (PC-less) printingYes
Supported memory cardsUSB flash, SD, SDHC, Memory Stick Pro
CD printingNo

Copy Features

Maximum number of copies99
Max mono copy resolution1,200×1,200dpi
Max colour copy resolution600×1,200dpi

Fax Features

Max mono fax resolutionN/A
Fax memory (maximum mono pages)N/A