Aug 082012
 

brother mfc printer Brother MFC 9970CDW Named Top Color Laser Multifunction Printer By PCWorld

The latest edition of PCWorld Magazine (Yeah… I still get hard copies of print magazines!) names the Brother MFC-9970CDW as the “Best Buy” in their “Top 10 Color Laser MultiFunction Printers” list. The printer earned a score of 3.5 stars (out of 5.0) and a rating of “Very Good” with mentions for the 5″ touchscreen display, print speed, Wi-Fi support, and inexpensive toner. The Brother MFC-9560CDW and Brother MFC-9125CN also made the list, which gave Brother three different units on the Top 10 List. Pretty good news for a printer company whose printers you could barely find in the box-store marketplace just a couple of years ago!

We see Brother laser printers come through our shop at American Printer Service, Inc. every now and then. We’ve found them to be sturdy machines that most customers are pretty happy with; however, when parts are needed, we sometimes have trouble rounding up a supplier as easily as we can for laser printers made by Hewlett Packard or Lexmark. Still, it is certainly worth noting that Brother seems to be gaining more and more of the market share when it comes to personal and business class laser printers.

Jun 112012
 

As a printer repair company, we are frequently asked about which printers we recommend, and one of the questions customers ask is:

Should I buy a laser printer or an inkjet printer?

The real fact of the matter is that whether a laser printer or an inkjet printer is right for you is largely dependent on your printing needs. Things such as speed, volume, quality, consumable cost, and output quality are all factors that you should consider before purchasing your next printer. Another item (perhaps the most important) that most people do not think of when purchasing a printer is whether or not the unit can be serviced if it happens to break or have a paper jam that you cannot clear.

It is no secret that inkjet printers are generally considered to be ‘disposable’ items by the manufacturers. Even more expensive models are typically not supported with parts, and outside the warranty period end users are typically left with no recourse than to replace the printer entirely. While inkjet printers can last for years, you may happen to be THAT person who encounters a fatal breakdown a day after the warranty period expires.

I am always a little amused that this fact is not really factored in when you read glowing reviews of inkjet printers in computer magazines. While the majority of persons will probably never encounter a problem with their inkjet printer that requires replacing it completely, for those who do, the options outside of the warranty period can leave them completely frustrated. At American Printer Service, Inc. we have called manufacturers on several occasions on behalf of customers and invariably when it comes to inkjet printers, the Technical Support’s resolution is a flat, ‘Replace the printer’.

Generally, we recommend that businesses purchase laser printers for their printing needs. We’ll go more in depth about the reasons why in future posts so stay tuned!