Brother MFC-J6960DW Ink Cost Per Page: What Keeping Fax Costs
The Brother MFC-J6960DW is an ink tank printer that prints, copies, scans and faxes, with duplex printing, Wi-Fi and a touchscreen. It sells for $390. Running costs land at $1.67 per 100 pages in black and $9.37 per 100 pages in color. The black figure traces to the LC506XXLBK cartridge, $83 for a 5,000-page yield.
The Canon MAXIFY GX1020 is the nearest rival from another brand on running cost, selling for $357 — under the Brother's $390 — with far cheaper ink: $0.57 in black and $1.70 in color per 100 pages against the MFC-J6960DW's $1.67 and $9.37. It drops fax but keeps duplex, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and a touchscreen; its 15 ppm top speed lags well behind the Brother's 31.
The Canon PIXMA G3270 is the ink tank running-cost floor, at $0.38 in black and $0.97 in color per 100 pages — both far below the MFC-J6960DW's numbers. It costs $249 up front but drops fax, duplex, Ethernet and touchscreen support, and its 11 ppm speed trails far behind the MFC-J6960DW's 31.
Within Brother's own tank lineup, the MFC-J5855DW undercuts the MFC-J6960DW on every count — $330 to buy, with running costs of $1.23 in black and $6.06 in color per 100 pages — while matching its fax, duplex, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and touchscreen support; the Brother's own rates, meanwhile, tie for 24th of 30 ink tank printers on black cost per page and for 24th on color, a standing five other tanks match on each measure.
The HP LaserJet Pro 4006dw is a mono laser alternative that only prints, dropping copy, scan and fax. It costs $400, close to what the Brother itself sells for, but its toner runs $2.23 per 100 pages, a real step up from the Brother's black rate. It prints at 47 ppm, well ahead of the Brother's own 31.