Brother MFC-L3720CDW Cost Per Page And Cost To Run
The Brother MFC-L3720CDW is a color laser all-in-one — print, copy, scan and fax — with a touchscreen and Wi-Fi, selling for $400. The cost to run is $4.15 per 100 pages in black and $20.26 per 100 pages in color.
That black rate traces to Brother's TN229XLBK cartridge, priced at $96 for about 3,000 pages — though the printer also wears down a $188 drum rated for 20,000 pages, so cartridge price and yield alone won't reproduce the $4.15 per 100 pages rate. Among color laser printers InkTax tracks, the MFC-L3720CDW ties for 9th of 13 on color cost per page, a rate four other machines in the class also post. Its black cost per page ranks 52nd of 97 printers InkTax tracks across every type.
Brother's own lineup barely moves on toner: the HL-L3220CDW, at $230, and the HL-L3295CDW, at $400 like this printer, both post the same $4.15 per 100 pages in black and $20.26 per 100 pages in color. Both drop copy, scan and fax for print only; the HL-L3295CDW also prints faster, at 31 ppm against this printer's 19 ppm.
HP's Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw sells for the same $400 but runs cheaper toner, at $3.59 per 100 pages in black and $18.94 per 100 pages in color. It gives up copy, scan and fax for print only, and skips the touchscreen this printer has.
For a cheaper-to-run alternative, Canon's PIXMA G3270 is an inkjet tank printer that sells for $249 and refills from bottles rather than cartridges, running $0.38 per 100 pages in black and $0.97 per 100 pages in color. It handles print, copy and scan but not fax, skips auto-duplex, and tops out at 11 ppm against this printer's 19 ppm.