Brother MFC-J430W Ink Cartridges

Brother MFC-J430W Printer Review

The Brother MFC-J430W is a home or small office device that has a decent bundle of features considering its affordable asking price. The color inkjet printer incorporates a printer, copier, scanner and fax machine with a flexible range of capabilities and easy-to-use control options. The unit stood well against speed tests, with monochrome projects printing at a maximum rate of 33 pages per minute and copying in as fast as 22 pages per minute. The fax feature has a somewhat slow modem speed of 14.4 Kbps, but can transmit pages at a rate of around 7 seconds per page.

Incorporated in its inexpensive compact design of only 15x14x7 inches are a number of useful features including Wi-Fi that works with the downloadable iPrint mobile device application to make it easier to integrate with mobile devices, for both printing and scanning. The unit also provides a 20-sheet automatic document feeder that will allow for multiple-page scan, copy ad fax projects to work continuously without needing to be overseen. Its intuitive control panel is user-friendly with plenty of navigation and buttons for selecting specific scan and copy features, as well as one for an economy mode that helps conserve Brother MFC-J430W printer ink.

The machine's abundance of features can't distract from disappointing output tests that showed graphics and images lacking vibrant color detail. Text yielded the best quality with a resolution of 600x1200 dpi using black printer ink, although other similar units with slightly higher prices are reviewed to offer better all-around output.

The unit's print head system and Brother MFC-J430W ink cartridges can produce a minimum droplet size of 1.5 picoliters. It uses 4 individual black, cyan, magenta and yellow supplies with standard yields of 300 pages each that will suit low volumes best. Each Brother MFC-J430W ink cartridge has optional high-capacity replacements that can last up to 600 pages.

With built-in wireless networking, quick speeds and a solid package of features, this compact and inexpensive inkjet multifunction printer has a lot to offer low-volume home and small offices. For those willing to pay more to guarantee a consistent monochrome and color output, the MFC-J430W may not be the best choice, however.