INK & TONER
Brother MFC-8500 Review
 
Editor's Review
Brother MFC-8500 by Erik Lynch 08/22/2010 OVERVIEW: The Brother MFC-8500 is one of the most limited 5 in 1 multifunctional laser devices Brother has ever produced. It has limited print resolution, a slow print and copy speed, and bad optical scanning. The modem in the unit is slow, but it is still capable of faxing, along with PC faxing, and its three other main functions.
Editor's Pros & Cons
PROS: Though scanning resolution is extremely limited, the Brother MFC-8500 does allow for a full color scan. It also is capable of scanning in a decent range of sizes ranging down to around the size of the 3 x 5 card all the way up to that of full legal size paper (8.5 in. x 11 in.). It would be recommended that operators choose the interpolated scan of 9600 x 9600 dots per inch when scanning data because, however slow, it is much higher in quality than the optical scan this device is capable of. Paper handling is also decent with a single 250 sheet paper tray available, which is then expandable with an additional 250 tray, leaving buyers with the option to shell out the extra cash for the addition or save by avoiding unnecessary hardware. CONS: Printing at 15 pages per minute, the Brother MFC-8500 falls drastically behind its modern counterparts that print at speeds that are around twice as fast. The unit prints at 600 x 600 dots per inch, which is the absolute bare minimum print resolution one would even want to make a copy with, even when reproducing basic text. Scan resolution is one of the worst ever produced. In today'€™s market, optical scanning often exceeds the quality of the printer it is incorporated with, but in this case, it tops out at only 300 x 600 dots per inch. This is very confusing considering that copy resolution can reach 600 x 600 dots per inch with the same hardware. The Brother MFC-8500'€™s modem speed of only 14.4 Kpbs is unacceptable, even if faxing is a second priority. There are much more affordable units that do not include a fax modem and, due to the price difference, it would be better not to have one than to have one like this. At this speed transmission speeds will run at only 6 seconds per page, or one third the speed of the current Super G3 modems available. On board memory is only 8 MBs which allows for certain fax storage features such as 166 location broadcasting and 116 station auto dialing, but not fax page memory is present in the device, which is one of the most essential functions for an MFC.
INK/TONER NEEDS:
As one would expect in an electrophotographic monochrome laser device such as the Brother MFC-8500, the unit relies on a toner cartridge and a drum unit to distribute the toner. In this case, high yield toner cartridges are available that can produce up to 6,000 pages of yield at 5% coverage. The drum unit is set at around 20,000 pages of yield. 
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DRUM(s)
