This old printer is unlikely to turn up as a new model. It’s discontinued by Brother and by all accounts searching online yielded little luck in finding a new model.
Used Option
This is a little sad as for the price you used to be able to pick up this model for it was a good buy in its day. It used to retail at around $300 but Amazon used to have them on their site at half the price. What is available on Amazon right now for this model is a used option only, which may not be everyone’s idea of a sensible purchase.
The Brother MFC-5860cn Color Photo Inkjet All-in-One is only available currently on Amazon as a used model for around $90.
I will proceed to tell you more about this model and then lead you on to something more current with similar features.
Best Fit
The Brother MFC 5860cn is best suited for the home or a small office. It’s an all-in-one machine that’s capable of printing, scanning, copying and faxing. The 5860cn has Ethernet and USB connectivity. You will have the option of shared printing and scanning and faxing. In addition to that, this model has PictBridge technology, meaning you can print photos directly from any PictBridge-compatible digital camera.
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Let’s look at speed. The Brother MFC 5860cn can produce prints up to 30 pages per minute black and 25 pages per minute color. This is slightly above average. The copier can copy up to 22 pages per minute black and 20 pages per minute color.
The fax operates at 33.6Kbps high speed and has 100-station auto dialing. It can also store up to 480 pages. You can use the fax and copier without the computer.
The speed numbers are reasonable. We will get back to them soon, but first let’s look at the quality numbers. Photo prints can reach resolution as high as 6000 x 1200 dots per inch. Ink droplets will be as small as 1.5 picoliters. These are solid numbers for photo quality.
Copies will reach resolution up to 1200 x 600, which is average. The copier also has a standard Brother Model feature – you can enlarge and reduce document sizes from 25% to 400%. Multi-copying peaks at 99 copies. Scans reach resolution up to 19,200 dpi interpolated and 600 x 2400 dpi optical.
The feature that had many attracted to this model was its dual paper tray with a generous 350 sheets. For some being able to load a machine with a large amount of paper for larger print jobs and be able to get on with something else is vital.
The front tray can hold up to 100 sheets and the back tray can hold up to 250 sheets. This model also has 35-page automatic document feeder. The software for the scanner is easy to use, as it is with most Brother Printers.
The 5860cn should only be considered by those wanting to save money on an all-in-one machine that can offer decent speed, quality, and features. It’s not a bad model, but there are better options available. Borderless prints are no problem and the 5860cn is PC and Mac compatible.
Click Here To Find The Best Price On This Printer
The Brother MFC 5860cn is best suited for low to moderate volume environments, such as the home, a dorm, or a small office. While it’s not the best model Brother sells, it’s still a good value if you ever found a new one but as that is unlikely its worth telling you about some other Brother printers with similar attributes of which new models are more easily available.
Younger Brother
A newer and more current printer is always going to be easier to find. A popular printer with similar performance stats as the MFC 5860cn is the Brother MFC-885CW Photo Color All-in-One which can deliver you wireless networking plus 5.8 GHz Cordless Phone, 4.2-inch widescreen LCD display and a splendid 6000 x 1200 dpi printing resolution.
The copier has a maximum copy speed of 22 cpm black and 20 cpm color. It also comes with an automatic document feeder tray has a capacity of 10 pages for fast copying of multiple pages. The copier can also reduce or enlarge documents from 25 to 400 %.
As for the scanner, it has an optical scan resolution of 600 x 2400 dpi at a 36-bit color depth. It also comes with OCR software where as you can convert scanned pages into editable documents.
However this model does not come cheap. A new model could cost you as much as $385. A better choice could well be a refurbished machine available from Amazon for around $150.
Dual Paper Trays
As said before, the popularity of the MFC 5860 was for many due to the dual paper trays. To have that attribute with a current brother model, look to the Brother MFCJ6710DW. Available at around $200 this machine is designed for business and has 11 Inch x 17 Inch Duplex Printing, 11 Inch x 17 Inch Scan Glass.
The MFC J6710DW has the dual paper trays (up to 250 sheets each) for total capacity of 500 sheets. it also has wired Ethernet networking, 3.3″ widescreen color LCD display and conveniently you can obtain Super High Yield (XXL series) replacement ink cartridges approx. 2,400 pages black and 1,200 pages color.
Rather than risking a used model, this is a great alternative with all the features and more of the featured Brother MFC5860. At $200 this is an excellent choice for those that have higher volume jobs.
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