Are you looking for a better solution for home color printing, or need a better way to connect your mobile devices to your printer? Brother has been busy in the past several months, releasing new affordable LED printers for color printing at home, as well as faster monochrome models. The new iPrint&Scan app turns your smartphone or tablet into a standalone printing station, and even makes scanning that much easier. We’ll take a look at some of the models and technologies in Brother’s current laser and LED lineup.
Brother HL-3000 Series
Brother HL-3040CN
The Brother HL-3000 Series is perhaps the most impressive offering in the new lineup, as one of the least expensive color LED series in its class, making it an excellent choice for home or small office use. Users can choose from the HL-3040CN with networking, or the HL-3070CW with wireless support. The latter is worth the slight upgrade in price for many buyers, as it includes features like USB Direct for printing from a digital camera, and makes it easier to connect to mobile devices with its Wi-Fi connection. Speeds for both models are a bit slow, at 17 pages per minute, but home users should find this adequate. Both include a Toner Save mode to help reduce Brother toner cartridge costs.
iPrint&Scan Apps
The iPrint&Scan mobile app.
With the trend shifting more and more to mobile devices, Brother won’t be left behind. The iPrint&Scan app offers a quick and easy way to print photos and documents to a supported Brother printer, and is available for free download to Apple, Android, and Windows Phone devices. Users can also scan documents from a multifunction Brother model and send the file directly to their mobile device. This eliminates the need for a separate computer for these functions. The app should greatly appeal to those who spend a lot of time on a tablet or smartphone and those who need a solid printing or scanning solution.
See it in action in this video:
Fast Monochrome Printers
Brother HL-6180DW
Buyers looking for a little more speed will be impressed with some of the new monochrome laser printers in Brother’s lineup. Two of the most appealing models include the HL-6180DW laser printer and the MFC-8950DW all-in-one. Both include fast speeds of up to 42 pages per minute, and Brother HL-6180DW toner cartridges have a large yield of around 12,000 pages, which keeps operating costs low. The MFC-8950DW also includes a large, 8-inch touchscreen display, with support for Brother’s Web Connect feature. This allows users to save or retrieve photos and documents from services like Dropbox, Evernote, and Google Docs.
With a new lineup of products, Brother continues to innovate. Combining the ease of mobile printing with the solid printing and scanning features of these new products, users get the best of both worlds. Whether buyers want affordable color LED printing or faster monochrome laser models, they now have even more excellent models to choose from, and all at affordable prices.