Brother International Corp. is using this week’s PC Expo event in New York to introduce the MFC-4800 and MFC-8500. Both devices are laser multifunction centers that provide faxing, scanning and printing capabilities to both Macs and PCs.
The MFC-4800 is an entry-level 5-in-1 center that combines laser-based fax, printing, copying, scanning and computer-based fax capability. It uses a 10 page per minute engine, rated 4 pages per minute faster than its predecessor, the now-defunct MFC-4600 model. The device features 600 x 600 DPI resolution, and sports both parallel and USB computer interfaces. The unit is compatible with various flavors of Windows and Mac OS (Brother did not offer Mac OS X compatibility info, however).
The printer also features a 14.4 Kbps fax modem and 2MB of memory buffer for Quick Scan faxing or out of paper reception. It incorporates a 20-page auto document feeder and a 200-page paper cassette. It scans at up to 1200 x 1200 DPI (interpolated).
Brother said the street price of the MFC-4800 is expected to be US$330.
The MFC-8500 features an engine rated at 15 pages per minute, 3 pages per minute faster than the MFC-8300 and MFC-8600 models it replaces. It features 8MB of on-board memory — good for up to 500 pages of out-of-paper reception, according to Brother — a 30-page auto document feeder, 116 auto dial locations and a 250-sheet paper cassette with the ability to add an optional 2nd 250-sheet cassette, as well.
Brother said the MFC-8500’s street price would be around $400. Both models are expected to hit stores in August.
Brother noted that the software included with both multifunction centers provide Macintosh scanning and PC fax sending functions only. Fax receiving is not available for Mac OS at this time.