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Brother claims even more ludicrous speeds for this machine than for its other all-in-ones we've tested recently. According to its spec sheet, it can print up to 33 mono pages per minute and 27 colour ones. In reality, if you're printing in normal mode, you'll see around 3.8ppm and 2.3ppm, respectively.

For comparison, Brother's £50 MFC-250C managed 3ppm for both mono and colour prints and the £150 HP Photosmart C6380 came in with 5.5ppm and 3.7ppm, so this isn't the fastest all-in-one on the block and speed is not one of the reasons you pay the extra money.

A colour photocopy took 42 seconds from the flatbed and a five-page black text document copied in 1mins 52 secs, both of which are reasonable times for a SOHO device. Photo print speeds are also respectable, with a fastest print time for a 15 x 10cm print of 1mins 40secs, from an SD card.

Scanning into a PC is quick and easy, but scan quality is only reasonable. Scanned images can look pale in comparison with originals and this also shows in our photocopy tests, where colour copies came through with a faded look.

Colour prints are generally better, though there's still some mottling in solid areas of colour, particularly blue. Text registration over colour is good, with no signs of haloing, and black text itself is passable although it doesn't have the crispness seen in samples from some of the machine's main competitors.

The ink cartridges for the MFC-990CW are available in two capacities and we were able to find them more cheaply from ValueShop than when we tested the MFC-5890CN, which uses the same consumables. This resulted in slightly cheaper page costs of 2.5p for ISO black pages and 5.8p for colour. Both these costs are lower than average and the high-yield cartridges have good yields of 900 and 750 pages, so you won't be replacing cartridges every other week.

Verdict

If you're running a small business and really want a machine that can replace a lot of desktop equipment, the MFC-990CW fits the bill. While its print quality and speed are no better than other Brother all-in-ones, having a phone, answering machine, fax, scanner, copier and of course a photo/doc printer all in one compact device could be very appealing. Just be aware that it's a bit of a jack of all trades…

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