The Brother MFC-J4310DW is the low-end version (at the moment at least) in Brother's Business Smart series, a group of multifunction printers (MFPs) that includes the Editors' Choice Brother MFC-J4510DW and the Editors' Choice Brother MFC-J4410DW. What defines the series is its paper handling. Although the printers are designed mostly for letter-size paper, they can also handle up to tabloid size (11 by 17 inches). The larger paper has to be feed manually, one sheet at a time, but if you have only an occasional need for tabloid-size printing, that won't be a problem.

As the low-end printer in the series, the MFC-J4310DW is one of the least expensive options on the planet for printing on tabloid-size paper. To some extent, that makes it potentially attractive as a personal printer or as a shared printer in a micro or small office, but that's not the whole story.

To get to the low price, Brother left out the automatic document feeder (ADF) that both the MFC-J4310DW and MFC-J4510DW offer. That means you can't scan stacks of paper easily, and the maximum scan size is limited by the letter-size flatbed. Before you opt for saving a few dollars with the MFC-J4310DW, you'll want to be sure that won't be a problem.

Basics

Aside from the lack of an ADF, the MFC-J4310DW is almost identical to the MFC-J4410DW. It's also functionally equivalent to the MFC-J4510DW. It's small enough to serve as a personal printer, measuring just 6.4 by 18.9 by 11.4 inches, but includes Ethernet and Wi-Fi as well as USB, so you can share it easily on a network. Basic MFP features include printing and faxing from, as well as scanning to, a computer, and working as a standalone copier and fax machine. In addition, it can print from and scan to a USB memory key or memory card.

Web-connected features let you print from and scan to Evernote and Dropbox among other online services. Support for mobile printing includes printing through the cloud as well as from a smartphone or tablet with a Wi-Fi connection. In addition, the printer's Wi-Fi Direct offers easy connection from a mobile device to the printer even if it's not on a network with an access point.

Paper handling, with a 150-sheet input capacity for the main tray, is suitable for most personal use or for light-duty use for a shared printer in a micro or small office. Two highly welcome extras are the built-in duplexer (for printing on both sides of a page) and a manual-feed slot in the back, which is what lets you print on paper as large as 11 by 17 inches.

Like the rest of the Business Smart series printers, the MFC-J4310DW prints sideways in relation to the front of the printer. Instead of inserting the main paper tray so the short edge of letter-size paper is parallel to the front of the printer, the 11-inch side is parallel to the front. When you print, the paper comes out with the 11-inch side first.

This design also lets you insert tabloid-size paper through the manual-feed slot in the back, with the paper's 11-inch side as the leading edge. You have to feed the pages manually, one sheet at a time, but if you need to print on tabloid-size paper only occasionally, and particularly if you print only one- and two-page documents, being able to print on tabloid-size paper at all can be a tremendous convenience.

Setup and Speed and Output Quality

Setting up the printer and connecting it to a wired network is standard fare. For my tests, I installed the drivers on a Windows Vista system.

Although Brother rates the MFC-J4310DW as a little slower than the MFC-J4510DW, it came in a touch faster on our tests. On our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing), I clocked it at an effective 3.7 pages per minute (ppm), which makes it tied with the MFC-J4410DW. However, it's faster than the MFC-J4510DW, at 3.3 ppm. Both speeds are within in the typical range for the price. The Editors' Choice HP Officejet 6700 Premium e-All-in-One , for example, came in at 3.4 ppm.

Output quality is a bit of a mixed bag. Text quality in my tests was near the high end of the range for an inkjet MFP, making it easily good enough for most business needs. Graphics output was just a touch below par, but still within a range that includes the vast majority of inkjet MFPs. It was easily good enough for any internal business need, but it lost points for dull color and minor banding. Depending on how much of a perfectionist you are, you may or may not consider the graphics good enough for PowerPoint handouts and the like. Photos were comparable to the low end of what you would expect from drugstore prints.

The MFC-J4310DW offers a lot to like, with an attractive balance of speed, output quality, paper handling, and MFP features. However it also comes up short in comparison with Brother's own MFC-J4410DW.

As I've already pointed out, Brother MFC-J4310DW is virtually identical to the MFC-J4410DW except for its lack of an ADF. But the price difference between the two is so small—just $10 at this writing—that it's hard to argue that losing the convenience of an ADF is worth the savings. Unless you literally never deal with legal-size paper or multi-page documents for scanning, copying, or faxing, you'll be better off with the MFC-J4410DW. That said, if you're absolutely sure you can do without an ADF, and you can find the Brother MFC-J4310DW at a low enough price, it can be worth considering.