ONE of the first things I had to learn when I started out as an encoder for the editorial department of a newspaper was how to operate our gigantic printer—more specifically, how to fix a paper jam.
It was a very different time, as we would print hundreds of pages of articles after encoding them as some reporters still sent their stories via fax, and there were even handwritten ones from a few columnists. Our editors worked faster and preferred making corrections on paper rather than their PCs.
At the end of the day, I’d sort out those which I could still recycle and use them to print articles from the Internet for study materials.
But a lot has changed since then and the digital world has taken over a lot of the publishing industry. And while this column appears on print, I’m almost certain that you are reading a digital copy.
In the age of PDF and file sharing, how often does one really need or use a printer? Not much.
Even if you really wanted to get a printer for your home, investing on something you only use a few times a year might not be ideal.
And besides, you could always sneak in printing a few pages at the office, right?
Then Covid-19 struck and we all got stuck at home.
At first, it just proved that I really didn’t need a printer—that is, until a client asked for a paper billing and printed reports. I had to go out and find an open computer shop, which was hard during the first months of the ECQ.
The future of business printing is changing, and with the shift to remote working, people starting small businesses and remote learning becoming the norm, the compact and multi-functional printer has become a need once again. So if you’ve been putting it off for quite some time, there’s never been a better time to get a printer.
Brother Philippines launched a new line of compact, space-saving print solutions that deliver improved user-friendliness, print speeds and stellar cost-effectiveness—all without compromising connectivity, print quality, and features.
Glenn Hocson, president at Brother Philippines, pointed out that with the increase in remote working and the implementation of social distancing protocols in the office, the benefits of decentralizing your printing fleet can result in significant cost-savings and a great boost to productivity. Brother’s latest Ink Tank Printers, he said, offers powerful and affordable solutions in small, compact packages that can be effortlessly deployed across home and office departments to provide excellent print quality while keeping printing costs low.
The series features five new models: DCP-T420W, DCP-T520W, DCP-T720W, DCP-T820W and MFC-T920W. Each one designed to accommodate different workloads, usage and budget, but all share a neat new feature—the ability to print any document wirelessly without the need to be logged in on your local network.
All of them also have this feature called Email Print which allows you to send your document to a designated e-mail and it will print the file for you even if you’re outside.
The one I’m currently using is the Brother DCP-T420W, which is the most affordable of the lineup (priced at P7,650) but covers all the basic printing functionalities you need for a small home office.
The package includes everything you need to get started (except paper). You get the printer unit, its instruction manual, a power cord, a USB-to-PC cable, and four bottles of ink (cyan, magenta, yellow and black.)
Setting up and installation is pretty easy as it’s plug-and-play. This series can be used straight out of the box without the need for any driver installation on Windows 10 PCs and notebooks. Just make sure to follow the instructions on how to properly load the ink. The new printers have a transparent ink tank cover that allows you to clearly view individual ink levels for timely refills.
If you own an older Brother inkjet printer, you can still use your BT5000 cyan, magenta, and yellow inks, and D60 ink for black on the DCP-T420W. Each color/bottle ink only costs P390.
Plug it into power source, turn on the WiFi button to easily connect the printer to your WiFi network, and load paper into the manual paper feeder to begin printing.
To start printing directly from your phone without having to transfer the file to your laptop, just download the Brother iPrint&Scan app from Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store. It’s also compatible with Apple AirPrint, Mopria, and Wi-Fi Direct. The user interface has been reworked to make it easier than ever before to print, scan or copy.
Print time for documents take around 10 seconds and the DCP-T420W can print up to 16 inches per minute for black-and-white and 9 inches per minute for colored documents. It can print up to 1,200 x 6,000 dpi print quality and each bottle yields 7,500 pages (B/W) and 5,000 color pages.
Printing on the DCP-T420W is fast and the quality is great as it utilizes a new dye-based black ink. Document output is sharp with crisp lines and clear text even when using draft print settings. The same goes for colored printing and results in brilliant photos with nice color vibrancy. It supports borderless printing as well. All you need is to get quality photo paper so you can start creating photo albums again.
The new series all support Scanning and Copying for A4 sized documents and can be done through the app or at the push of a button.
The printer has become an unexpected work from home essential, and the Brother DCP-T420W will make a great addition to your home office or help you get started on your small business.
Like I mentioned, printing is fast, quality is great and the ink is cheap. It may be the entry-level printer of the series, but it does a superb job and offers all the features you’d want in a printer plus scanning and photocopying. You can also do everything faster wirelessly since you don’t need to transfer files to your PC. Brother is also offering an extended two-year warranty which is an additional bonus.
If you need an even more powerful printer, you can check out the other printers in the series, like the DCP-T520W, the DCP-T720W that includes a copying tray and allows you to automatically print on both sides of the paper; the DCP-T820W for larger home office needs, and the MFC-T920W which adds a 1.8” color LCD and is for high volume printing.
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