Brother MFC-8120 Toner Cartridges

Brother MFC-8120 Printer Review

The Brother MFC-8120 is a multifunction monochrome laser printer and copier designed for the home or small office user. It has solid speeds and good print quality, and works well as a standalone copier. Network support is also built in. If color printing is needed, check out the LaserJet 3600 toner printer.

Despite it often being advertised as a copier, the Brother MFC-8120 is really a multifunction printer which can print, scan, and copy. The only thing missing is fax functionality, but many users in the device's target market probably won't need it. Copying is a highlight on the MFC-8120, however, as it works very well as a standalone copy machine, even if that is all it is ever used for. It can copy at a top speed of 21 pages per minute, minus scanning times. Up to 99 copies can be made at a time. It can also reduce and enlarge from 50 to 400 %.

Speaking of scanning, it is also a high-quality scanner, capable of scanning at 1200 dpi resolution. The MFC-8120 has an automatic document, but it does not have a flatbed scanning surface. This can be a little limiting, as it makes it impossible to scan books and other large media.

The MFC-8120 has a built-in ethernet port for connecting directly to a network. In this manner it can function quite well as a network printer. Scans can be sent directly to computers on the network as well. Print quality is generally good using laser printer toner, but a little below average. As the MFC-8120 seems designed for copying capabilities, print quality may have been a bit of an afterthought. Print speed is good, at around 21 pages per minute, and should be fast enough even to support a small office of network users.

The Brother MFC-8120 toner cartridges come in two sizes. The standard cartridge has a capacity of 3,300 pages and the high-yield version has a capacity of 6,700 pages, which just edges out the competing LaserJet 2300 toner printer. The high-yield cartridge is the more economical of the two, and buying third-party compatible cartridges rather than the more expensive brand Brother MFC-8120 cartridge can reduce costs even more.

Overall, the Brother MFC-8120 has a focus on copying, and does an excellent job, but its printing features are a little lackluster. Scanning can be a little more difficult without a flatbed scanning surface.