Brother DCP-7020 Laser Digital Copier/Printer | 
| Brand: Brother
List Price: $207.99
Buy New: $137.64
You Save: $70.35 (34%)
New (20) Used (2) Refurbished (5) from $136.10
Rating:  94 reviews
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 20.8
Dimensions (in): 15.6 x 17 x 11.6
MPN: DCP7020
Model: DCP7020
UPC: 012502612834
EAN: 0012502612834
ASIN: B0007PF7GU
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Prints, copies, and scans--compatible with both PC and Mac | | • | Up to 20 ppm print speed--up to 600 by 1,200 dpi resolution | | • | Up to 17 cpm copy speed--reduces and enlarges 25% to 400% | | • | 600 by 2,400 dpi scan resolution, 36-bit color--up to 6 seconds per page faxing | | • | Parallel and USB 2.0 full-speed standard interfaces |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The DCP-7020 is a great compliment to your fax machine in your home office or at your small-to-medium size business. It offers high-quality laser printing, copying and color scanning in one small footprint. With a 250-sheet paper capacity that holds letter or legal size paper and its user-friendly control panel to help you quickly accomplish your office tasks, the DCP-7020 is the logical choice. You can even make copies without the use of a computer! Standard Interface(s) -Parallel & Full Speed USB 2.0 Optional Interface(s) - NC-2100P (external ethernet print server) & NC-2200W (external wireless print server) Printer Driver Compatibility - Windows PC & Macintosh OS Scanning Capability B/W & Color Scanning with Maximum Interpolated Scan Resolution (dpi) 9600 dpi / Optical Scan Resolution (dpi) up to 600x2400 dpi Input Color Scan Bit Depth - Up to 24-bit Scan To feature - Print/Copy/Scan Copying Capability B/W Copying - Flatbed Automatic Document Feeder Capacity - Up to 35 sheets Up to 20 copies per minute speed Reduction/Enlargement Control - 25% - 400% 1-Year Brother Limited Warranty Print, Copy, Scan speeds may vary according to equipment used, type of work and resolution setting
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| Customer Reviews: Read 89 more reviews...
 Agreed - awesome! June 11, 2005
J. Barrett (North Florida)
229 out of 232 found this review helpful
I almost never write a review, but the forest of multi-functions is so thick and I am so impressed by my Brother DCP-7020 that I figure I ought to share my personal view of this tremendous small office/home-office machine.
I spent weeks researching and testing multi-functions, going back and forth among Brother, HP, Sharp, Xerox, Canon, and others. What a nightmare, sorting out and comparing all the rival features!
My own needs were straight-forward: truly excellent, professional-looking B&W laser printing and copying capability; reliable paper-path routing with few or no jams; able to handle periodic high volume and otherwise steady daily use; large paper tray capacity; reliable Auto Document Feeder; handy and roomy output tray; acceptable color as well as B&W scanning; and reasonably priced laser supplies that have a reasonably high volume capacity.
While I had no need for fax or networking, I might have taken either or both if the quality of the more important features I sought warranted the extra price. I also was hoping for a stand-alone copying capability, just to give me more flexibility in office machinery since I also have a Brother HL-5150DLT (which is a tremendous stand-alone printer, by the way!)
Several times I almost decided on the Sharp AL-1641CS or its equivalent at Canon and Xerox. My initial misgivings about the latest Brother multifunction machines came down to three things: I was concerned about a few reports of modest paper curling; I was nervous about the paper output slot which seemed at first glance kind of puny and inconveniently located at the inside front, rather than outside to the side, of the machine; and the Brother multi-function machines somehow didn't look to me quite as robust or strong as some of their competitors, at least as they sat on the store shelf.
Repeated testing in multiple stores convinced me that the Brother DCP-7020 was the most likely to meet my needs at an initial price (and also a lower laser cartridge supplies price) so substantially less than the Sharp or equivalents that I decided to 'chance' it, as I thought. It turned out far, far better than I had hoped.
This is a GREAT workhorse machine that takes up substantially less work space and yet turns out excellent laser printing and/or copying with sharp, professional-looking text. Reliable, smooth paper handling with no paper jams to speak of (other than one deliberately caused for testing, which was very easily cleared). Superior copying capability (stand-alone or attached to a computer.) And, though not my top priority, very good scanning as well, supported by excellent, intuitive software.
The earlier review and product descriptions you can read at Amazon.com are accurate. This machine is awesome; the best buy for the money you will find, unless you need faxing capability or color printing in your multi-function. As for my original misgivings, here's my experience:
(1) Paper curling. Not a problem! The paper curling reports are true but greatly exaggerated. Very, very minor curling occurs (probably due to the extreme heat needed for any laser printing), but the paper flattens quickly as it cools and in a minute or so you won't even know it had a slight curl as it emerged from the machine.
(2) Output tray. Not a problem! True, the output slot at the front of the machine looks a little inconvenient or insubstantial, but that turns out to be a mirage, probably because we are so accustomed to expecting to see a bulky exterior separate output tray. The Brother DCP-7020 output tray actually is an innovation. It works perfectly and can hold up to 100 pages, no problem. Lift the lid below the copier and you will see you have access to the entire output tray in all its glory.
(3) The wrong-est I was in my initial misgivings was in thinking that visually the Brother DCP-7020 looked somehow more fragile, or less robust, than the Sharp or similar competitors. It may look that way, but in reality it is every bit as much a workhorse machine as its equivalent competitors. The DCP-7020 is a strong, muscular, and reliable machine. Just a much smaller footprint and at half the price.
Although not my own top priority, I've also been very pleasantly surprised at how good the scanning function is. A couple of reviewers here and there on the web grumble about this, but I found the Brother DCP-7020 scanning function and quality does at least well with color photos as any other $200-$400 scanner I've used, and far better than most of them. The text recognition software is far superior to what most well known competing brands use. And the scanner control panel is very intuitive with good defaults and ample opportunity to easily customize. I've wound up putting my 1 year old $400 HP scanner in the attic.)
I unhesitatingly recommend the Brother DCP-7020. It is everything I wanted in a B&W laser printer/copier/scanner -- and more! -- at half the price of the competition.
Afterword about Brother support: For those concerned about tech support, there is good, and bad, and more good news -- but REALLY good news if you pay attention to what I have to say here.
1. Good news: Brother's toll-free number you can call in an emergency usually leads you to a live English-speaking person who isn't in India or Sri-Lanka or some other Exploited-Labor-of-the-Month hell hole.
2. Bad news: Like the infamous Indian "tech support" people we all know and loath, you probably will get an American who is mostly clueless other than they've been trained to read the manuals. If you haven't read the manual yourself, they can be a kind of "aural" manual and walk you through a few quick fixes. If you know the manual and those fixes haven't worked, go to the next point below.
3. More good news: If you have time to e-mail or call Brother support and ask specifically for a truly knowledgeable tech person to contact you, in a day or at most two you will wind up being called by a REAL expert who will take the time to answer all of your questions patiently and in depth. These people know what they're doing. They're honest and knowledgeable. They are the way tech support used to be, once upon a time.
The Macintosh view: January 21, 2006
Gene Leynes (Chicago, IL United States)
81 out of 81 found this review helpful
Overall, I'm amazed with this printer. I've only used it for a few weeks, but I've already printed a few hundred pages in various sized jobs, and installed it on multiple machines across platforms.
The Good:
-Very fast startup
-Very fast printing
-The printing is very detailed, even for a laser printer.
-Good OCR (optical character recognition) software. I tested this on small grey text from the back of a bank statement.
-Very little page curling
-Once connected to a computer, shared printing is a snap.
-The output area, embedded in the machine itself, is very sturdy
The Bad:
-No automatic duplexing
-Windows oriented documentation
-Somewhat loud
-The scanning is slow, although typical with my experience.
-Limited use if connected directly to a network router / airport express (i.e. no scanner)
-Not appropriate for high volume printing. The volume specifications are on the Brother website, but they don't mention that the output area is only an inch or so tall.
More Details:
As a Macintosh user, I thought that the software was horrible. It installs a bunch of weird files and folders in your applications folder. I spent a ton of time trying to install the printer. However, if you follow the advice below it should only take you about 5-10 minutes.
As far as I can tell, the drivers from the Brother website work just as well in place of the software on the CD. The printer drivers and the scanner drivers are separate, and the scanner driver is labeled "TWAIN" driver. Unfortunately, the OCR software is only on the CD.
Photo scanning - I had good luck with one photo, and bad luck with the other. I suspect that you could tune the settings better if you knew what you were doing, since there are many options.
The documentation is totally wrong in places, even in the short "quick setup" guide. I called tech support and got through to a person quickly. They were somewhat brief and surly, but they were US based (if that's important to you).
FYI: The Brother website is useful for research. It's accurate and detailed, and good for side-by-side comparisons. Unfortunately, limit of only comparing four printers at a time forced me to copy the results to Excel.
I wrote this detailed, independent review because I had a hard time believing the other reviews when I was making my decision (especially since the some reviewers hadn't posted many other reviews). I figured that high quality laser performance was impossible at this price, but I have to confess the good reviews are highly accurate.
 Avoid. Good features, but poor execution. July 19, 2005
Paul Robinson
39 out of 55 found this review helpful
Seriously deficient.
We researched extensively before picking this. We wanted to replace or complement an inkjet printer we had because they use up so much ink that they are outrageously expensive to operate. A laser multi-function seemed like a good idea.
This one looked like it had the best combination of features, including a good interface, good front panel buttons, and at a good price.
Unlike many reviews of products that are offered in the first days or weeks, and are filled with gushing praise, we waited until we really found out what the machine could or couldn't do.
It's now been several months and we remain severely disappointed. Here are just some of the problems:
1) NOISY. When printing, this thing sounds like a jet plane taking off. Even when idling the fan is incredibly loud. Fortunately, it does eventually go to sleep.
2) LOUSY ENVELOPE FEEDING. This is a particular shame. We've been losing probably 3 or 4 envelopes for every one that comes okay. they often feed in caddy corner, or get stuck in the machine.
3) POOR CLEARING OF PAPER JAMS. When those envelopes have gotten stuck, the machine tells you to open it up and clear it. We do that, and it never stops showing the message and won't permit copying. We have to turn it off and on again to clear its software bug.
4) DISPLAY HARD TO READ. You have to be at just the right angle to see it.
5) PAPER OUTPUT "TRAY" is not. Envelopes remain inside the opening so you can't even tell if it's come through or not.
6) CAN'T SCAN MULTIPLE PAGES. That is with the included software. Alas, this means you can't scan in a document into a single document on your computer, but must save it as a series of individual pages.
7) XEROXING OF BOOKS IS POOR. A real test of a copier's quality. Can it xerox well pages from a book with a spine? In other words, when you can't lay the printed page perfectly flat, can it capture the text that's raised? Or does it render distorted text with dark bands of black where the spine is raised?
This one is particularly poor (and we've tried different settings--text works best, IIRC). Our old inkjet was much better. Go to Kinko's and you'll discover that their machines are incredible at capturing books.
8) MISLEADING DIRECTIONS. The directions actually tell you to not copy on to an already printed page. That would mean NO BACK TO BACK copying. Tech support assured me, though, that there was no problem... and there doesn't seem to be.
As much as we'd like to like this (as stated the ergonomics, size, interface, and even the printing are fine), these deficiencies are glaring.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS ONE!
Very good !!! April 18, 2005
Han32some (Burlington, MA)
32 out of 38 found this review helpful
Here is my review for the sister model of DCP7020 (7820N), the only difference between this and 7820N is this does not have fax & the rest is the same, so my review should apply to MFC 7420 as well (EXCEPT FAX DOESN"T APPLY TO DCP 7020)
WoW ! This must be the best MFC out there. I have owned several canon, hp, lexmark MFC, photo printers, fax machines etc. This machine is it. All you need is this MFC & a separate photo printer. you are all set.
1. This is a laser MFC - scan(color), copy, fax, print
2. very fast for home/small office use
3. very compact - very space saving
4. Network ready - other computers on network can use all functions of this.
5. unlimited tech support. not just 1-year like HP/canon.
6. Machine feels sold & feels it will last long
7. All fax,copy, scan can be operated either from machine buttons or pc software interface.
8. installation was breeze
9. software is top notch. very intuitive
10. tested print, copy, scan & fax - AWESOME AWESOME.
11. they don't outsource cust support to india
12. only regrets: no duplex, no separate output tray, but from a compact machine like this, you can't expect output tray.
13. This MFC is clearly the winner. nothing else.
14. $50 cartride takes you upto 2,500 pages. not bad
15. Auto feeder works flawlessly
16. buy from local office depot store when they give $40 gift card with it.
17. you can connect any answering machine, so all you need is one line for phone callss & fax. this machine shows whether it is a phone call or fax. can use distinctive ring too.
18. backlit LCD menu
19. if you network with this printer, you don't need to buy USB cable
20. 32mb memory for printing, huge memory for fax.
21. super fast fax speed
22. Excellent looks.
23. DEDICATED MAC SUPPORT, although i only used it for Windows.
why didn't i know about Brother earlier ?
A Workhorse. But, toner level sensor is defective. January 28, 2007
Ted Kaehler (Las Vegas, NV)
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
I agree with the review above by "On The Level". My wife has copied school papers on this machine continuously since we got it. It appears to be tough as nails.
We bought two full-sized toner cartridges in addition to the starter cartridge. Each of them reported low toner and stopped copying with about half the toner still left! For a while, I switched cartridges to fool the machine, but even that did not work. The ink cartridge has two small circular windows in the sides. The machine shines a light through the cartridge to see how much toner is left. The holes are not at the bottom of the cartridge! The light can get through when lots of toner is left.
I put a piece of black tape over the hole in side of the carrier for the cartridge. This keeps the sensor light from entering the cartridge, and makes the machine think there is plenty of toner. Works like a charm. With this fix, I am very happy with the machine.
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