Text and graphics output are both easily good enough for any internal business need. Output quality earns the same general description: respectable, but not impressive, which translates to par quality across the board. As another point of reference, the Editors' Choice OKI MB471 managed 9.5 ppm, putting the speed for all three printers in the same range of being respectable, but not particularly impressive. The Brother MFC-8710DW actually came in a touch faster, at 10.5 ppm, which isn't enough of a difference to count as significant.
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I clocked the MFC-8910DW on our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing), at 10.0 ppm. On our tests, however, the two were essentially tied. Interestingly, despite all the similarities to the Brother MFC-8710DW, Brother rates the MFC-8910DW at a slighter faster speed, namely 42 pages per minute (ppm) rather than 40 ppm.
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Speed and Output QualityFor my tests, I connected the printer to a wired network and ran the tests from a Windows Vista system. Assuming you have room for it, setup is absolutely standard. However, it's small enough to fit easily enough in most micro or small offices. Note too that the combination of a duplexing scanner and duplexing printer gives you the ability to copy both single- and double-sided pages to your choice of single- or double-sided copies.Īs with the Brother MFC-8710DW and most other MFPs with a similar paper capacity, the MFC-8910DW is a little large to share a desk with comfortably, at 17.6 by 19.3 by 16.3 inches (HWD). That should be enough for most small offices, but if you need more, you can boost the input capacity to 800 sheets with an optional 500-sheet second drawer ($209.99 list). Paper Handling and SetupThe MFC-8910DW also scores well on paper handling for printing, with a 250-sheet paper drawer, a 50-sheet multipurpose tray, and a built-in print duplexer.
The good news is that the speed was still a lot faster than scanning each side separately. In my tests with the MFC-8910DW, however, the scanner visibly slowed down when I scanned in duplex. In theory, using two scan elements should let you scan both sides of the page as quickly as one side, which is usually true for most duplexing desktop scanners for example. The result is much faster scans, with the paper moving through the ADF only once instead of twice. With the MFC-8910DW, the scanner does the duplexing, with two scan elements that each scan one side of the page at the same time. With these MFPs, the ADF is doing the duplexing, scanning one side of a page, turning the page over, and then scanning the other side. What most inexpensive MFPs offer is often called a reversing ADF. There are two ways to scan both sides of a page. Even more important is that it can scan in duplex, which may be an even better feature than you think. Unlike most of its competition, however, it can fit legal-size pages on its flatbed, so you don't need to use the 50-page ADF for one-page legal-size documents. Seeing Both SidesAs with most MFPs aimed at offices, the MFC-8910DW offers both a flatbed and an automatic document feeder (ADF) for scanning. The most important extra, however, is the duplex scanning. Conveniences include the ability to print from and scan to a USB memory key, as well as support for Wi-Fi and for a variety of mobile printing options, including AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, and Brother's own mobile print and scan app.Īlso loosely in the convenience category is the addition of on-site service to the one-year warranty, a little sweetener that isn't included with Brother MFC-8710DW.