Brother Expands Multi-Function Color Laser Series

Brother International Corp. announced this week that it has launched its MFC-9000 Series Color Laser Multi-Function Centers, a multi-functional device that dramatically increases the companys range of color printers.

The new series, which includes the MFC-9440CN and MFC-9840CDW, features print speeds of up to 21 ppm (pages per minutes) in both color and monochrome for a price of $849 and $699, respectively. Formerly, Brother offered only one color laser printer, which printed at less than 10 ppm.

“A good feature for small and medium-sized business users is that the new device from Brother prints at speeds of up to 21 ppm in both black and color,” said Sahaja Sarathy, a Hardcopy peripherals analyst at the Framingham, Mass.-based technology research firm IDC.

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A comparable product, Canons imageCLASS MF8180c, has an extensive list of features including print speeds of up to 20 ppm black and 4 in color but for a price of $699.

“Color MFP devices have typically been very expensive in the past so they really were not an attractive proposition for the customer,” Sarathy said. “With this device, Brother is trying to break the barrier with low-cost products that have enhanced features.”

The MFC-9440CN features: up to 17 copied pages per minute; color scanning of up to 1200×2400 dots per image; and a 300-sheet paper input capacity that is able to expand with an optional 500-sheet paper tray whle the 9840CDW adds to those features with a large 5-line LCD display and 40 one-touch and 300 speed-dial memory locations.

“Before this announcement, Brother had just one product in their color laser portfolio, [and] that printed at speeds of less than 10 ppm. So this new offering is a huge leap and should help strengthen their portfolio,” Sarathy said.

Both the MFC-9440CN and 9840CDW are available now.

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