Printer Primer, Brother MFC-J680DW

Recently launched among several new printers, the Brother MFC-J680DW is one of the latest editions to the company’s WorkSmart™ line of inkjet printers. The MFC-J680DW, aimed at home users, delivers 4-in-1 (print, scan, copy, fax) functionality from a reasonably compact footprint of 15.7" x 13.4" x 6.8" (W x D x H) and weighs close to 17 lbs. Print speeds on the unit top out at 12 ISO ppm for black and up to 10ISO ppm for color pages. The unit offers a wide range of useful features for its intended audience at a very reasonable price point.

Located in the top middle of the device is a 2.7” is a color touchscreen LCD which allows for easy and intuitive navigation of machine menus and functions. Designed with today’s networked family in mind, the MFC-J680DW offers lots of choices for getting documents and images printed. It can function as a standalone AIO with a dedicated wired (USB) connection to a laptop or PC or users can forego the wired connection in favor of Wi-Fi across a local home network so it can be shared among a family or group of friends.

The unit is also a tool for mobile users as well. The J680DW supports Wi-Fi Direct connectivity for compatible mobile devices which allow them to establish a direct peer-to-peer connection without needing a router to serve as an intermediary. It is fully compatible with Apple AirPrint for iOS devices as well as Google Cloud Print and Cortado Workplace which are not mobile OS specific. Further it is Mopria-certified and works with Brother’s own native iPrint and Scan app which can be installed on iOS, Android, Windows devices in addition to the Kindle Fire. With, its Web Connect capabilities, users can print from and scan to popular cloud services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and use Brother’s Cloud Apps as well, giving users an amazing array of mobile power.

Paper handling on the J680DW is pretty much in line with what one would expect for home users. The main input capacity on the device is listed as up to 100 sheets of plain paper which can be as large as 8.5” x 14” (legal). There is also a 20-sheet capacity photo bypass tray available and a 1-sheet manual feed bypass for heavier media. For unattended faxing, scanning, and copying, there is a 20-sheet capacity single-sided automatic document feeder. As with virtually all Brother inkjets, automatic two-sided printing is included. The maximum monthly duty cycle is 2,500 pages, though the recommended volume is between 50-1,000 pages.

The MFC-J680DW uses a standard four-cartridge ink system which has individual cartridges for black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. It should be noted that the unit ships with starter-sized cartridges, so depending on print volume, users may want to opt to buy additional cartridges from the outset. The standard yield black is rated for up to 260 pages and each of the colors for 260 pages as well. The high-yield XL cartridges all provide the same 550 page yield which will provide more than double the capacity for a small increase in price.

The Brother MFC-J680DW AIO is available from the company for $129.99. For more information on the unit, visit the product page on the Brother website.