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Brother MFC-990CW all-in-one printer

With a fax and an answerphone too

In normal printing mode, we saw a five-page text print complete in 1m 47s, a speed of 3.8ppm, though the machine took 13 seconds before starting the first page. A 20-page print, which normally gives a slightly higher print speed, returned 3.0ppm, so no advantage there. A five-page black text copy from the ADF completed in 1m 52s, and a single page colour copy took 42s.

Brother MFC-990CW

A usable phone, but hardly attractive

Five copies of our black text and colour graphics page took 2m 13s, or 2.3ppm, so the machine is pretty slow here, too. These speeds are all slow in comparison to other machines in a similar price bracket. For example, the £185 Kodak ESP 9 achieved the same 2.3ppm speed for text and colour graphics, but managed 5.1ppm on our 20-page text print - over 66 per cent faster. The one place the Brother machine is quick is in printing 15 x 10cm photos, where we saw a good time of 49s from an SD card.

The quality of black text is reasonable, but not as sharp or crisp as typical Canon or HP output. Colours are bright, but large areas of colour fill look mottled, often a sign the paper is under inked and fibres are showing through. Black text registration over colour is good.

Photo images are well reproduced, with natural colours and good levels of detail. Colour copies are noticeably paler than the originals and this is mainly down to the scanner, as images scanned into a PC also have a faded look. This is reasonably common with all-in-ones, particularly those using contact image sensors, as here.

The ink cartridges are the only consumables in this machine and are available in two capacities. Brother states the ISO page yields of the high-capacity cartridges as 900 for black and 754 for colour, so at home or in a small office, they should last a fair time between changes. A new set of high-capacity cartridges will still cost you around £40, though, giving a cost per page of 2.5p for black and 5.8p for colour. These costs are reasonable, in comparison with competitor machines at this price.

Verdict

If you know what you're looking for when considering this machine and its compactness and multi-function design are paramount, you won’t be disappointed. The inclusion of a DECT phone and answering machine is handy, and the touchscreen is worthwhile. In comparison with mainstream all-in-ones, though, it's performance is far from outstanding. ®

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Brother MFC-990CW

Brother MFC-990CW all-in-one printer

A lot of functions in a small box, but print quality and especially speed don't shine out.
Price: £229 RRP

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