PRINTERS
ISSUE 382|COMPUTER SHOPPER|DECEMBER 2019 73
IT’SNOSECRETthat inkjets have been slowly
replacing laser printers in small and home
offices, and Brother’s MFC-J5945DWshows
why.This MFP can print, scan, copyorf ax
one- or two-sided A4 pages. It can also print
single-sided A3 pages, though not A3+. It has
two 250-sheet input trays in the base and a
100-sheet multipurposefeed at the back, allof
which support A3. There’s alsoa50-sheet A4
automatic documentfeeder ontop.
The MFC-J5945DWsupports wired and
wireless networks, and is controlled via a
colour touchscreen. It’s an easy printerto
install and use,but setting up involves a
nine-minutewait forink priming, anda300MB
downloadof the iPrint&Scan software.
MESSYBUSINESS
The MFC-J5945DW’s A3 capability is welcome,
but it’s not perfectly executed. The main
paper trays needto be extendedto accept A3,
but if you only expand the bottom one then
its paper becomes partially exposedto dust.
Youneed to extend the output trayfully to
BROTHER
MFC-J5945DW
★★★★★
£277•From http://www.printerland.co.uk
VERDICT
Brother’sMFC-J5945DWisaf astand
economicalchoiceforA3p rinting
receive A3 pages, but leave it there and A4
prints get untidy,and can occasionallyoverrun
the stop.Having two output positions,
manually selected, partially undermines the
benefitof such flexible paper inputs.
On the plus side,this is an impressivelyfast
inkjet, printing blacktext at 20ppm, colour
graphics at 10.2ppm, and managingaheady
5.0ipm when duplex-printing colour graphics.
Each A3 pageof black text took about 10seconds, andapage of rich colour graphics
completed in 16 seconds. Connected via
Ethernet, all but oneof our scantests took 10
seconds or less, andeven scanning our
postcard photoat1 ,200dpitook just 25
seconds.ThisMFPcanmultitask,too, scanning
to one PC while printing from another.
We’ve seen better scan results than those
from the MFC-J5945DW, but while photos
were toodark and sufferedaslight aqua tint
–similarlyto the Brother MFC-J491DW–
documents were more than adequatefor
office purposes. The ADF can scan both
sides inasingle pass, so duplex scans and
copies arefast, and come with less chance
of apaper jam; this isagood devicefor
archiving lotsof paperwork. Print quality is
generally good, with impressive blacktext
in particular.Photocopies werealittle dingy,
but acceptableformost uses, while photos
aren’t really this printer’sforte.
The MFC-J5945DW’s results maybec loser
to decent than spectacular,but running costs
are impressively low: we calculated that an A4
page of mixed colour images andtext will set
you back 3.7p,which is relatively cheap.SHEETCRED
None of the other nine printers here has the
same combinationof A3 functionality,speed
and affordability,but unfortunatelyforthe
MFC-J5945DWit’s not lackingforcompetition
in the grander scheme.Epson’s WorkForce
WF-7710DWF (Shopper369) generally has it
matched or beatenforquality: it also supports
A3+ prints, A3 scans, and duplex A3 prints and
copies, yet it costs nearly £140 less.
Forquality and flexibility,we’dchoose
either theWorkForce WF-7710DWF or its
two-tra yvariant, the WF-7720DTWF.Brother’s
MFC-J5945DWisagood effort, but we’d really
only preferitw here its high speed and low
⬆The MF C-J5945DWisaneasy printerto use,once you’ve downloaded Brother’s iPrint&Scan software running costs are more important.
PRINTERS
receive A3 pages, but leave it there and A4
prints get untidy,and can occasionallyoverrun
the stop.Having two output positions,seconds, andapage of rich colour graphics
completed in 16 seconds. Connected via
Ethernet, all but oneof our scantests took 10