By M. David Stone Count the Brother MFC-J4610DW as one more pea in a pod, the pod being Brother's Business Smart series, and the peas being the individual printers as minor variations on a theme. Each of these multi-function printers (MFPs) shares the same key paper-handling feature: Despite being basically letter-size printers, they can print on up to tabloid size paper (11 by 17 inches) using a manual feed slot. The MFC-J4610DW is one of three closely matched models in the series, and one of two that's a current Editors' Choice.
The MFC-J4610DW's two near twins are the Brother MFC-J4410DW and the Brother MFC-J4510DW that it replaced as Editors' Choice. Compared with the first model, the MFC-J4610DW offers a larger paper capacity and faster speed, two obvious pluses that are balanced by a higher price. Compared with the second, the only supposed differences are that the MFC-J4510DW has a bigger touch screen and a lower paper capacity. Brother rates it at the same speed as the MFC-J4610DW and shows the same estimated street price for it on its Web site.
For all of these printers, it's important to understand that to print on tabloid-size paper you have to feed the sheets into a manual-feed slot one at a time. That limits how much you'll want to print at tabloid size. But if you absolutely must print tabloid-size output, and the need is both strictly occasional and only for short documents, this can be an attractive alternative to buying a more expensive printer with tabloid-size paper trays. It also makes for a much smaller printer—at 10.0 by 18.9 by 11.4 inches (HWD) for the MFC-J4610DW.
Basics
The printer's basic MFP features include printing and faxing from, as well as scanning to, a computer, including over a network, plus the ability to work as a standalone copier and fax machine. Additional conveniences include letting you print from and scan to a memory card or USB memory key, as well as print from a PictBridge camera. You can also preview files stored on a memory card or USB key before printing using the 1.8-inch color touch screen.
Mobile printing features include both printing through the cloud and printing from a smartphone or tablet over a Wi-Fi connection. For smartphones and tablets, the printer offers Wi-Fi Direct, so you can connect even if the printer isn't on a network with an access point. If it is connected to your network, by either Ethernet or Wi-Fi, and your network is connected to the Internet, you can also print from and scan to various online services, including Evernote, Dropbox, and Facebook.
The printer's paper handling is a strong point, with both a 150-sheet drawer and a 250-sheet drawer. The total 400-sheet capacity is easily enough for a shared printer in most micro and small offices. Also very much on the plus side is the built-in duplexer (for printing on both sides of a page) and the manual feed slot in the back, which lets you load paper larger than letter size.
As with all of the Business Smart series printers, the paper drawer—or drawers in this case—go into the printer with the long side parallel to the front, so letter-size paper comes out with the 11-inch side first. This sideways design is what lets you feed tabloid-size paper through the manual feed slot, with the paper's 11-inch side as the leading edge.
For scanning, the MFC-J4610DW offers both a letter-size flatbed and a 20-page automatic document feeder (ADF). As with most office-oriented MFPs, the ADF lets you scan up to legal-size pages.
Setup, Speed and Output Quality
Setting up the printer was standard fare. For my tests, I connected to a wired network and installed the drivers on a Windows Vista system.
Speed is another strong point. Surprisingly, despite Brother's claim that the MFC-J4610DW is the same speed as the Brother MFC-J4510DW, it was significantly faster on my tests. I timed it on our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing), at an effective 5.6 pages per minute (ppm). The Brother MFC-J4510DW managed only 3.3 ppm.
That not only makes the MFC-J4610DW faster than the Brother MFC-J4510DW, it also makes it fast for the price. Most printers in its price range are closer in speed to the MFC-J4510DW. As another point of reference, the Editors' Choice Epson WorkForce WF-3540 is faster than most, even at 4.5 ppm.
Output quality for the Brother MFC-J4610DW is good enough for most business needs. Text in particular scored well, with quality near the high end of the range for an inkjet MFP. Graphics were a touch below par, which makes them suitable for any internal business need and potentially good enough for PowerPoint handouts and the like, depending on how critical an eye you have. Photos were roughly a match for the low end of what you would expect from drugstore prints.
Except for the issue of speed and paper handling, the MFC-J4610DW is functionally identical to both Brother MFC-J4510DW and Brother MFC-J4410DW in most ways, with at least as attractive a balance of speed, output quality, and features.
The most convincing argument in favor of any of these printers is the ability to print tabloid-size pages with an inexpensive printer. If you don't need that capability, you may be better off looking elsewhere. On the other hand, if you have an occasional, but absolute, need to print short, tabloid-size documents, any one of these printers is a good choice. Ultimately, the difference in paper capacity is the single most important deciding factor between them, making the MFC-J4410DW Editors' Choices for personal use, the Brother MFC-J4510DW a close runner up, and the Brother MFC-J4610DW Editors' Choice for sharing in a small office.
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