If you’ve got a wireless network at home then a Wifi printer is a no brainer. With just one wire for the power supply the Brother MFC-225CW can sit anywhere — I had mine out of the box and sitting on a shelf, ready to print within just 5 minutes. While the MFC has a bigger footprint than some it’s rivals the paper is housed almost entirely within the machine, with just 5cm or so sticking out, and it fits well tucked away on the bottom of a bookcase.
Whilst I’m sure there are some vitally important and deeply fascinating pearls of wisdom in the accompanying technical support literature — a small booklet, a quick start guide, some “IMPORTANT messages”, plus a warranty in 10 European languages — I didn’t need any of it.
I simply pushed in the inkjet cartridges, plugged in the power and used the menu to select Wifi > Setup Wizard. The MFC it immediately found my Wifi network, I entered the wireless key and it was done — it was amusing to see my neighbours networks appearing too… perhaps I could give them access and charge them a few quid to make their own colour prints.
While in Setup mode the Brother makes some interesting noises, I was worried it was having some kind of technical fit, but apparently it was aligning print heads and just generally flexing it’s muscles before showing me what it could do.
Again, during the first print run, there were some more funny little noises, but this time it was more like a sing song — not unpleasant and actually rather cute. I hope it always plays a little tune every time I hit print. The quality of the images is great, I printed some photos from a recent birthday party, big A4 images to stick on the fridge, and they looked great. Black and white is fast, text pages coming out in under 10 seconds.
While Faxes have almost gone the way of the Dodo there are still odd occasions when a client or lawyer needs a ‘wet signature’ and insist on a fax copy of a contract. While I’ve not, yet, had a need for this it’s reassuring to know I can also send fax rather than having to find a decent online service at the last minute.
Scanning is brilliant with four options: scanning to file, email, OCR and image to your desktop (or an inserted memory card). Copying is swift and easy, as good as any multi-function copier I’ve used.
Currently selling for around £87 online the Brother MFC-225CW is great value — don’t forget this is a full colour printer, fax, scanner AND copier.
While Brother are not at the forefront of my mind when thinking about inkjet printers they’ve recently expanded their entire range for Home and Small Businesses and the MFC is a joy to use, solid, reliable and affordable — I’d certainly recommend and try any future models.
Everything you need in one box with one cable: 9/10
