Issue #0514/1 - Brother’s baby inkjet MFP is an impressive little marvel with excellent print quality and fair costs.
Having been so impressed by the technical specification, features and design of the Brother DCP-310CN shortly after launch "Ink jet All-in-One category continues to hot up", and seeing the device displayed in a shop, I determined to gain a closer look with some hands-on experience.
Brother DCP-310CN In the knowledge that we could obtain comparisons of speed, print quality and Total Cost of Printing with the photo inkjet printers tested a little over a year ago, the Brother DCP-310CN was put through the same test procedure.
Setting up the DCP-310cn is delightfully simple. Once the ink tanks have been snapped into place, the device end of the data cable can be plugged into its neatly concealed socket inside the machine ready for plugging into the computer when instructed to do so.
At this point, the device charges the print heads, taking about six minutes to do so. Brother’s inkjet system is based on thermal technology, like Canon, Hewlett-Packard and Lexmark, but with independent ink tanks, similar to the ink tanks used by Hewlett-Packard in its Business Inkjet series, feeding a permanent print head.
Although Canon, Epson and Hewlett-Packard all use independent tank systems in various devices, most machines carry the ink tanks on the print head carriage. Brother, however, has created a mechanism where the tanks are located in a static position in the printer and the ink is fed to the print head via tubes. It is in this way that the Brother system is most similar to the Hewlett-Packard Business Inkjet and large format printers.
Unfortunately, the print heads in this machine are not accessible, so if there is any failure, like Epson machines, the user cannot effect a repair. However, unlike the Epson Micro Piezo technology, thermal print heads are less susceptible to failure and Brother claims to have developed a sealed system that ensures that there are no problems from air bubbles or ink clogging.
While the printer is charging its print heads, the user can install the software and drivers. This process is totally automated and also takes about six minutes, so, after 6 minutes and 7 mouse clicks, the computer is restarting with all software and drivers loaded. Only one additional mouse click is required if the network installation option is selected, just to ensure the correct network device is selected.
Software included with the machine, and installed by the automated installation process include: printer driver; scanner driver; installation diagnostics; Control Centre (for PC-based scanning, photo-capture and copy functionality); Status Monitor; and PaperPort from ScanSoft.
Control Centre 2.0 is the central software application for the DCP-310CN. In addition to providing the usual control functionality, Control Centre permits four custom scan settings to be saved for future use. Each of these allow the user to pre-set such options as scan-to location, target application, resolution, file type, scan type and document size. Similarly, four custom copy settings can also be saved.
One very user-friendly feature of the Control Centre is the PhotoCapture section. This gives access to the device’s memory card slots as a removable drive with options to copy files from the card or to import images from the card directly to a PC application.
In addition to the print-from-card functions (including proof sheet printing), the presence of card slots allows images to be scanned directly to the memory card and, a step up from that basic function, allows multi-page hard copy documents to be scanned to file in either TIFF or PDF format – perfect for digital integration of hard copy documents into a document management system.
Unfortunately, it appears that this particular feature is only available in Scan-to-Memory-Card mode, meaning that the user has to insert a memory card, digitise the document(s) and then copy the files to the PC for archiving or further work. However, it is very effective.
Also within the memory card management (PhotoCapture) section of Control Centre, if the Copy-to-Application button is pressed, Control Centre automatically commands the PC to launch PaperPort. PaperPort then manages the process of converting and importing files to selected applications – amongst a host of other functions.
For PaperPort to be supplied with the DCP-310CN is very impressive, it is an immensely capable, highly featured and intelligent application that Xerox ships with its solid ink colour MFP, the WorkCentre C2424 – but only with the most expensive model costing £2,949 / €4,249!
However, this is a review of the Brother DCP-310CN and not of PaperPort, so suffice it to say that, through PaperPort, the user has access to a host of features including Scan-to-OCR, Scan-to-Fax and Scan-to-FTP.
There is, however, one function of the Control Centre that does not appear to work – the ink level indicator! Although these can be accessed on the machine itself, sometimes it is valuable to be able to access these at the PC.
Once up and running the Brother DCP-310CN continues to impress. For instance:
- Whereas other AiO devices effectively suck the very life out of the PC they are attached to (especially a relatively low speed desktop or a laptop), the Brother shows no tendency to degrade PC performance.
- The platen lid has been intelligently designed to be flexible. By this I don’t mean that it bends but rather that it is hinged in a way that will permit a book or a thick pad or document, up to a thickness of a little over one centimetre, to be placed on the platen with the lid still closing on top of it.
While not being a vital feature, there is little more frustrating about a copier than a lid that either cannot be closed or that gets in the way of copying a bulky item. Sadly, Brother has stopped short of allowing the lid to be removed completely but it could be taken off if absolutely necessary (with some risk of breaking the hinge).
- Paper jams are easy to clear either by lifting the lid or removing the rear paper guide, or both, depending on the location of the jammed paper. The rear paper guide can even be removed and refitted simply by leaning over the device – there is no need to turn the machine around.
- The 2-line by 16-character scrolling display is clear, concise and easy to understand, while the control panel is simple, logical and intuitive to use.
- One aspect of the Brother DCP-310CN that is thoroughly assured is its photo print quality. When printing photographs on glossy photo media, the quality is better than Hewlett-Packard’s 3-ink system and easily challenges 6-ink printing.
In particular, the merits of the Brother photo print quality are accuracy, neutrality and depth of colour – yellows are truly yellow and greys are grey – while colour gradations are smooth. In fact, because printed greys are exceptionally neutral and colours are rich and vibrant, the overall result is decidedly more pleasing than results from many printers that inject a colour cast (notably a purple tint to light greys) into the print or give results that may seem slightly pallid by comparison.
Even copied photographs are good, again with accurate colours but, as with any copied photograph, one would never mistake the copy for an original print.
However, text print quality could be described as questionable. Edges are not as crisp and straight as one would have hoped. This is a bit of an anomaly though, as it is necessary to look at the printed page very closely (far more closely than any user would) to see that the quality is lacking. So, for general usage, this will not be an issue. Indeed, the machine would appear to be able to produce text that is nice and crisp – in which case the inconsistency is a little alarming.
- While definitely not as fast at printing as other similar machines, normal copy speeds are very adequate in both mono and colour (no direct comparison has been made). One advantage that the DCP-310CN has over other copy devices is the use of a scan head lit by an LED array. This removes any need for lamp warm-up time that delays the start of the scan in other. It also allows the use of green LEDs, in mono copying mode, to maximise mono copying quality.
This said, one fairly severe downside to the device is that its print speed is rather slower than some competitive devices. For instance, the Hewlett-Packard PSC1210, with its wide 8.5mm swath No.56 and 57 cartridges, is considerably faster than this Brother device with its 6mm print head.
It is unlikely that it is the width of the print head that is most at fault for the relatively slow print speeds of the DCP-310CN. Slow printing is most noticeable when printing photographs, indicating that the print head is needing to make more passes over the media in order to build up the image, in turn indicating that the density of the print head (nozzles per mm) is lower (nozzles more widely spaced) than the Hewlett-Packard print head. In addition, the printer pauses periodically to pass a red LED sensor across the media.
Whereas the Hewlett-Packard PhotoSmart 7960 (printing in 3-ink PhotoRET III mode) completed the CharisCo Photo Test Suite (12 diverse photos – see http://www.charisco.com/photosuite/) in a little over 33 minutes, Brother’s DCP-310CN took one hour and 34 minutes to complete the set – three times as long! This equates to 10 minutes and 27 seconds per 10×15 (6×4) photo, compared to 2:46 for the PhotoSmart.
However, this is nowhere near as bad as the Lexmark offering (P707) that was tested a year ago, which took 13:43 per 10×15 photo and 45 minutes for a full borderless A4 photo – 24 minutes on the DCP-310CN.
One further comment on print speed, the DCP-310CN appears to suffer from the same data transmission, or data processing, syndrome that dogged the Xerox M750 five years ago.
Whereas the print configuration (bi-directional printing with a wide print head) should allow blinding performance, the print head pauses at the end of each pass while the printer received the data for the next pass. While printing a black only page, particularly in normal print mode, the Brother can pause for as much as 2.6 seconds between passes – the average is about two seconds.
This means that a 5% page (CharisCo 5% test page) takes one minute and four seconds to print. When waiting for a long black document to print, this would be a severe handicap and could become very frustrating, not to mention inconvenient.
Note that during a copy process, there is no pausing of the print head, meaning that real copy speed is much faster than real print speed.
Now to factors affecting direct Cost of Printing.
At first glance, exhausted ink tanks appear to have a disturbingly large amount of ink remaining inside them. On closer inspection however, although some ink has to remain in order to prevent unwanted air entering the system, the amount wasted actually appears not to be too excessive.
End of life is determined by a combination of droplet counting and a rather neat, but potentially inconsistent, flag system. While the droplet counting technology alerts the user to expected low ink status, it is the raising of the flag, visible inside the translucent-walled tank, that actually triggers the drop-dead ‘Ink Out’ message. The flag is a simple pivoting float, so when the ink level drops to a predetermined level, the float drops, thus raising the flag which is in turn recognised by a sensor that shuts the system down.
Presumably, the float/flag mechanism could be calibrated to trigger when there is even less ink remaining but the system does appear to e very effective.
In fact, it can be too effective. If a tank is removed for any reason, for instance to visually check the quantity of ink remaining, the disturbance cause by the removal and replacement process can easily cause the system to register an ‘Ink Out’ message prematurely. Once this has happened, no amount of refitting the tank will cause the flag to relocate itself in the working position. Only putting more ink into the tank, even quite a small amount is effective, can rejuvenate the tank.
So, Brother’s recommendation is not to disturb the tanks once installed until the Ink-Out message is given. Presumably, simply moving the printer itself could trigger this message because the movement would disturb the ink level in the tank and thus trigger the flag mechanism.
In terms of Cost of Printing, the Brother DCP-310CN does not quite match the cost of Hewlett-Packard’s 3-ink system printing the photo suite in PhotoRET III mode (the only 3-ink comparison currently available).
While ink usage in the Brother DCP-310CN worked out at an average of 18.69 pence per photo, a photo on the Hewlett-Packard system costs an average of 15.95 pence.
So, lets ask a few questions regarding its worth as the device of choice.
Q. Would I consider buying a Brother DCP-310CN (if I were in the position of needing to buy an inkjet AiO?
A. An unequivocal Yes!
Q. Would I buy the DCP-310cn in preference to an equivalent Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard or Lexmark?
A. In preference to a Lexmark – absolutely no doubt at all!
In preference to a Canon – almost certainly yes – because there isn’t really an equivalent model. Canon AiOs are much more expensive to buy and the entry-level model (which is the only model with a competitive price) does not have a memory card facility and does use single ink technology.
In preference to an Epson – probably yes – because the Epson print heads are known to cause problems with clogging and nozzle failure, although the RX420 is a similar 4-ink system with memory card slots and should be competitive on ink costs (untested at this stage).
In preference to a Hewlett-Packard – not quite such an easy answer! Ink costs for printing photos look like being a little higher on the Brother (17%) than on the 4-ink Hewlett-Packard PSC models. However, the Brother does have the advantage of individual ink tanks. While both are refillable if desired, the Brother is quicker, easier and cleaner to refill. In addition, although the Hewlett-Packard models are faster in printing, the photo print quality of the Brother is arguably better (by a fraction).
By the time the built-in network interface has been taken into account, at £119 the Brother DCP-310CN represents excellent value for money with excellent functionality, features and print quality. Although there is a bit of a trade-off with Cost of Printing against the Hewlett-Packard equivalents (and probably the Canon and Epson as well), as an all-rounder it has to be a serious contender in anyone’s eyes.
Quite frankly, the DCP-110C and DCP-310CN (together with other variants using the same engine/tank system) are probably the perfect inkjet devices for either the user who is prepared to refill the ink tanks or for being fitted with a Continuous Ink Supply System (CISS) as described in TCPglobal Issue #0513 - "Continuous ink supply for desktop inkjets".
In theory, the ink tanks could be refilled without even removing them from the printer. The downside would be that the ink drop counting mechanism would never have a chance to reset itself, so it is worth removing the tanks and refilling all four in one process.
In conclusion, the Brother DCP-310CN is a truly amazing little device. Not only is it a printer, but it is a scanner and a colour copier; it is also a photo-lab capable of printing very high quality borderless photos; it is also the hub of a sophisticated digital workflow and document management system.
~End~
