The Brother MFC-J4410DW($699.00 at Amazon) is a striking example of Brother's tendency to build a printer for every niche it can think of. In this case it fills in the already small jump in Brother's Business Smart series between the Brother MFC-J4310DW($315.00 at Amazon) below and the current Editors' Choice Brother MFC-J4510DW above. Whether you think of it as the MFC-J4310DW with an automatic document feeder (ADF) added or as the MFC-J4510DW with a smaller touch screen, you won't be far off. Either way, it costs less than the MFC-J4510DW, but is close enough to it in capability to replace it as Editors' Choice.

Like all of the Business Smart series printers, the MFC-J4410DW is primarily a letter-size printer that can also handle up to tabloid-size paper (11 by 17 inches) through its manual-feed slot. If you need to print on tabloid-size paper, but only occasionally and only for one- or two-page documents, that makes it an attractive choice compared with more expensive printers with tabloid-size paper trays. It also makes for a much smaller printer—at 7.3 by 18.9 by 11.4 inches (HWD) for the MF-J4410DW.

Basics

Aside from the smaller touch screen, at 1.8 instead of 3.7 inches, the MFC-J4410DW is essentially identical to the Brother MFC-J4510DW. The only other significant difference is that Brother rates it at a slower speed. However, it actually turned out to be just a touch faster in my tests.

Like the Brother MFC-J4510DW, the MFC-J4410DW is small enough to share a desk with easily as a personal printer, but along with the ubiquitous USB port, it also includes Ethernet and Wi-Fi as connection choices, so you can share it easily on a network. Basic MFP features include the ability to print and fax from, as well as scan to, a computer, including over a network, and the ability to work as a standalone copier and fax machine. It also offers the convenience of letting you print from and scan to a memory card or USB memory key.

Like more and more printers today, the MFC-J4410DW supports mobile printing too, including both printing through the cloud and printing from a smartphone or tablet over a Wi-Fi connection. In addition, it offers Wi-Fi Direct for easy connection directly to the printer even if it's not on a network with an access point. Web-connected options let you print from and scan to various online services, including Evernote, Dropbox, and Facebook.

Paper Handling
The 150-sheet input capacity for the MFC-J4410DW's main tray is a little meager, but enough for most personal use or for light-duty use for a shared printer in a micro or small office. Very much on the plus side are the conveniences of a built-in duplexer (for printing on both sides of a page) and a manual-feed slot in the back. The manual feed not only lets you print on different paper stock without having to swap out paper in the tray, it also lets you print on paper up to 11 by 17 inches.

As with the Brother MFC-J4510DW, the MFC-J4410DW positions the main tray with the long side parallel to the front or the printer, so letter-size paper comes out with the 11-inch side first. This sideways paper feed also lets you feed tabloid-size paper, with its 11-inch side as the leading edge, through the manual feed slot. You have to feed the pages one at a time, but for occasional printing of one or two-page tabloid size documents, it's a nice extra in what's otherwise a letter-size printer.

For scanning, the MFC-J4410DW offers both a letter-size flatbed and a 20-page ADF. As with most office-oriented MFPs, the ADF lets you scan up to legal-size pages.

Setup and Speed and Output Quality

Both physical and network setup for the MFC-J4410DW was standard fare. For my tests, I connected to a network using the Ethernet port, and installed the drivers on a Windows Vista system.

The MFC-J4410DW's speed is within the typical range for its price. 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). That makes it a little faster than the MFC-J4510DW, at 3.3 ppm, despite Brother giving it a lower speed rating. It's also tied with the MFC-J4310DW, and a little faster than the similarly priced Editors' Choice HP Officejet 6700 Premium e-All-in-One , at 3.4 ppm.

Output quality is good enough for most business needs, but nothing to get excited about. 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 use. Graphics were just a touch below par, which still makes them good enough for any internal business need. Depending on how much of a perfectionist you are, you may or may not consider them good enough for PowerPoint handouts and the like. Photos were comparable to the low end of what you would expect from drugstore prints.

The Brother MFC-J4410DW offers everything that made the MFC-J4510DW Editors' Choice. It delivers just as attractive a balance of speed, output quality, and MFP features, and, above all, the convenience of being able to print an occasional page at tabloid size without having to pay for a printer with tabloid-size paper trays. It's also a little less expensive than the MFC-J4510DW and a touch faster too. You have to weigh those pluses against the minus of the smaller touch screen, but, on balance, the Brother MFC-J4410DW just enough more than the MFC-J4510DW to replace it as Editors' Choice.

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