Review: Brother MFC-8860DN mono laser MFD

Ranging in price from £279.99 to £479.99, the 8000 series from Brother includes a selection of devices from the entry-level non-network DCP-8060 up to the soon-to-be-released MFC-8870DW, which includes both wired and wireless networking.

Brother's new range includes DCP models, which incorporate print, copy and scan features, while the MFC range adds fax. All are built on the same basic engine and external design with features being added as you progress up the range.

The MFC-8860DN, as reviewed here, also includes networking; double-sided printing, scanning and copying.

All share a high-quality 28-page per minute print engine and can make copies at the same speed. Users can scan in colour directly to email, OCR (optical character recognition) or to a file. Network versions allow scanning directly to an FTP server.

The built-in LDAP (Light Weight Directory Access Protocol) functionality allows users to select recipients for faxes or emailed scans by name from a corporate address book. This means documents can be sent directly without the need for first scanning to a PC or looking up addresses.

The MFC-8860D has a control panel festooned with buttons, but don’t let this put you off. Many of these are very helpful. You get 40 direct dial slots for faxing and a numeric keypad for fast data entry.

Other keys let you change the most common options without having to enter the menu system at all, while the most important buttons are either correspondingly large or lit up with a bright blue LED.

An illuminated LCD panel sits above three large, buttons, each of which selects one of the major functions of the device (Fax, Scan or Copy). These buttons take you to a further set functions appropriate only to that task, helping you to find what you want quickly without having to navigate convoluted menus.

Driver installation is simple. The USB setup is automated and even setting up printing over a network didn't throw up any problems. With a single MFC-8860DN on your network, all you have to do is select the network option and let the installation finish – it’s no harder than setting up a local printer.

Being a monochrome device, consumables are simple to install. The replaceable drum costs £117.49 while toner comes in two capacities: 3,500 and 6,700 pages at £52.86 and £70.49 respectively. Given the price differential, the high-capacity toner is most certainly the recommended option.

Capable of printing sharp, high-quality text, the MFC-8860DN is a good-value mono laser with a wealth of features.

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