Laser MFPs

Laser all-in-one printers for better speeds and text printing

Laser printers are generally more expensive than inkjet printers, but they do have three major advantages. Text printing is much finer than what inkjets can produce, the cost per page of output from laser printers is much lower and speeds are faster. Laser printers can have duty cycles of 10,000 pages or more per month. Most inkjet multifunction printers are made to print fewer than 5,000 pages per month. However, photo printing can't match that of an inkjet, so laser MFPs are better for small offices that don't need to print photos. Color laser all-in-one printers are best for printing color graphics, newsletters, circulars and sales materials. Monochrome laser machines only print and copy in black. They are less expensive and smaller than color laser printers, and they usually produce better text quality. For standalone laser printers, see our color laser printer and monochrome laser printer reports.

Nearly all laser MFPs include faxing capability, along with the standard print/copy/scan functions. This is perfect for many small businesses, as well as a home office that requires high volume output capability. Extra or high-capacity input trays are included or are an add-on option. Most laser multifunction printers take up a lot of space and are very heavy.

One offering in this category is the HP LaserJet M1319f (*Est. $300). Chris Holt at Macworld is enthusiastic about this laser MFP, saying that text quality is very good -- one of the natural strengths of a laser -- and that faxing is handy. Scanning ability is not as good, as Holt sees a huge drawback in the LaserJet M1319f's lack of a flatbed scanner, because not all documents can fit in the paper feeder. And even those that do fit through the M1319f's feeder don't scan particularly well. Simon Williams at TrustedReviews.com concludes that without better scanning, the M1319f just isn't a good enough value to recommend.

The less expensive Brother MFC-7840W (*Est. $300) fares much better in TrustedReviews.com's critique. The site places it among its recommended printers and describes it as "compact, quick and inexpensive to run." Still, Simon Williams criticizes the control panel as being not "quite as intuitive" as it should be and complains about the complicated wireless networking setup. Once it is set up, though, Williams is pleased with the printer's performance. About.com's Peter Piazza gives the monochrome Brother MFC-7840W laser MFP his highest possible rating, saying it's "hard to come up with anything negative to say about this all-in-one." PCMag.com notes that the MFC-7840W's Wi-Fi connectivity compensates for its lack of a duplexing feature, and it is solid enough to be named an Editors' Choice for a personal or small office monochrome laser all-in-one. Macworld is in agreement, calling the MFC-7840W a fine choice. User reviews at Amazon.com are excellent.

The Brother MFC-7840W offers a 250-sheet input capacity, on-board button control panel with two-line LCD display, wired and wireless networking capability, a 35-page automatic document feeder and standard fax, copy and scan options. With a footprint of 16.9 inches by 15.6 inches by 12 inches, the MFC-7840W is not too imposing for a home office. The 10,000-printed-page monthly duty cycle makes it a good choice for all but the busiest offices. This is the best-reviewed multifunction printer we found of any type (inkjet or laser).

If you need color printing, CNET honors the Brother MFC-9440CN color laser (*Est. $600). Felisa Yang says that it's very fast and that both print and scan quality are great. She indicates that her criticisms are trivial and that the MFC-9440CN executes most of its functions better than comparable models from Lexmark, Xerox or HP. PC World's Melissa Riofrio is also impressed. Some flaws are noted -- most notably slow graphics output and poor quality of both color and black and white images. However, that's offset by speedy text output with "flawlessly crisp, black letters."

Like many color laser multifunction printers, the Brother is heavy -- it weighs a whopping 72.6 pounds, and you'll definitely need to measure your desk to see if it will fit. The Brother laser all-in-one uses four color cartridges, which account for a chunk of that weight. The main tray holds 250 sheets, and the multipurpose tray holds 50 sheets. The Brother MFC-9440CN is not capable of duplexing automatically, though the Brother MFC-9450CDN (*Est. $650) is the same model with duplexing added; Susan Silvius at PC World finds this version an excellent choice for most workgroups, as long as sophisticated color imaging isn't a high priority. The monthly duty cycle for these models is 35,000 pages. Features include built-in networking and direct printing from digital cameras and USB flash drives (though neither model has a color display to preview images). They do offer optional high-capacity input trays, main-tray feeding of legal-size paper, color faxing and many other fax features. Both can also reduce and enlarge documents from 25 to 400 percent.

The Dell 2135cn (*Est. $550) features an unusual design among current color laser MFPs. Unlike most laser printers, the toner cartridges load from the side; paper is fed through the front, and printouts emerge on the top of the printer's monolithic black enclosure. The scanner bed hangs above the body of the unit on a kind of cantilever. Critics are divided on this model. IT Reviews finds that it is a dependable workhorse, with good print quality. James Hutchinson at PC World Australia disagrees, finding print quality "not up to a professional standard," though scan quality is better. Simon Williams at TrustedReviews.com says this Dell takes MFPs to "new levels of ugliness," though print quality is "fair" and there are some advantages to the unusual design. It's also about 66 pounds and requires significant desk space to leave room for accessing its loading drawers.