Brother DCP-310CN Ink Cartridges

Brother DCP-310CN Printer Review

The Brother DCP-310CN can handle standard monochrome and color print jobs, as well as support casual scan and copy projects. The DCP-310CN is ideal for personal jobs primarily because it's too simplistic and slow to handle more robust needs, printing a maximum of 20 pages per minute for monochrome documents and only 15 pages per minute for color jobs. The rest of this inkjet printer's design is too basic to support busy offices, but for a low price tag users will be impressed with its flexible connectivity and satisfactory output.

Despite offering 3 features in 1 device, the DCP-310CN's design focuses primarily on printing photos. Built into the front panel are memory card slots that will enable printing images directly from compatible devices, which include CompactFlash and popular SD cards. Users will also be able to scan documents directly to memory cards as long as they are in JPEG or PDF file formats. Additional connectivity includes an ethernet interface, which provides network access.

The DCP-310CN's Photo Capture software suite will enable users to adjust images from their computer, while the scanner's optical character recognition technology allows computers to automatically change scanned documents into text that can be edited or searched. The control panel has the tools to enable standalone copying, including keys to enlarge or reduce documents and select how many times a job needs to be duplicated.

A low media capacity of 100 pages will limit users to light-duty use. This doesn't mean the casual job can't look professional, however, printing with sharp detail and a maximum resolution of 1200x600 dpi using black and color Brother DCP-310CN printer ink. The unit can duplicate documents with satisfactory quality as well, copying with accuracy at a total resolution of 600x1200 dpi.

With each of its individual cyan, magenta and yellow supplies lasting around 400 pages and the black Brother DCP-310CN printer ink cartridge yielding 500 pages, this device is suited to handle low volumes. Users can minimize costs by replacing these with remanufactured Brother DCP-310CN ink rather than expensive OEM supplies.

While some units put their all-in-one features first, the DCP-310CN instead favors its photo printing by including direct print connectivity and ample editing software. The copier and scanner still perform on par compared to other personal inkjet devices, but these functions are more of an afterthought and won't be able to handle high-volume jobs.