Brother DCP-7040 Toner Cartridges

Brother DCP-7040 Printer Review

The Brother DCP-7040 laser printer is a multifunction device designed for the home or small office user. If you do not need the multi-function capability then you should look at the Brother HL-2140 toner printer or if you need a faster multi-function unit, look at the Brother MFC-7440 toner printer. It offers great quality prints and fast speeds, but does not include faxing or color printing capabilities.

The design of the DCP-7040 is quite compact, especially considering the wide array of features available. The unit measures 20.5 inches by 21.7 inches by 20.1 inches (HWD) and weighs 32.8 pounds. Even though it is intended for the home or small office user, it is capable of handling a fairly high volume. Its recommended monthly print volume is 2,000 pages or less, but its maximum monthly duty cycle is 10,000 pages. Its input paper capacity is a solid 250 sheets. The only factor that is somewhat limiting is its 16 MB of memory, which means it will likely rely on the computer to do some of its processing, especially when printing graphics-heavy documents. The Brother HL-2170 toner printer might be a better choice for heavy graphics printing.

The unit includes both a flatbed scanning surface and an automatic document feeder with a capacity of 35 pages, giving users the flexibility to scan almost any media they have a need to. Color scanning is available, even though the unit is only monochrome. Scanning can be done at resolutions up to 2400 dpi and a whopping 48-bit color depth. PaperPort SE software is included with OCR (optical character recognition) for converting scanned documents into editable text.

Print speed is very impressive for the price, at 23 pages per minute. Copies print at the same speed, minus the time required for scanning. Scanning is faster for copies as the scanner only needs to scan in monochrome. Print and copy quality is excellent, with very sharp and detailed text and even good graphics quality, which is always a challenge for laser models.

Brother DCP-7040 toner cartridges have a solid capacity. The standard laser toner cartridge has a capacity of 1,500 pages, and the high-yield printer toner cartridge is good for 2,600 pages. Unfortunately, the starter Brother DCP-7040 toner cartridge that the unit ships with only has a capacity of 1,000 pages.

Overall, the Brother DCP-7040 laser printer is an excellent multifunction device with well-implemented features throughout and a compact design. Lack of faxing is a consideration, but many small office users won't need it.