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"Ships with introductory toner only good for 1000 copies" on by adab31
Pros: 1) Low price, 2) fairly compact size, and 3) good quality output, 4) drum rated at 12,000 copies, 5) easy to setup
Cons: 1) Unit is shipped with only a 1000 count toner
2) The 2500 count toner replacement costs more than the sale price of the new printer
3) no supplies status: no page count remaining on the toner or drum -- control panel lights advise low supply levelsSummary: Printer seems to be a good value at $59 after mail-in rebate at Office Depot this week (10/31), however, I am a bit put off by the reduced count toner unit that the printer ships with. I do not see this mentioned anywhere in the unit specifications or sales literature.
As it turns out, the reduced count 'Starter Toner Cartridge' is mentioned in the product brochure under Supplies and Yields, so there is no overt misrepresentation by Brother. I just did not see it.
Updated on Oct 31, 2008 -
"Excellent monochrome printer for personal use." on by rod.ney
Pros: Quality prints, low price under $100, laser printer, solid workmanship, fast warm up, quiet, automatic energy saver, on-off switch, and USB port. Low profile perfect for your desk.
Cons: Not recommended for large print jobs or photos.
Summary: Prints labels, envelops, letter and legal size documents and spreadsheets. Prints in monochrome (black not color) but still great for most all jobs. It slightly curls the top of each printed page/envelop (or bottom in reverse mode). Read the User Guide for suggestions on how to reduce paper curl.
The User Guide is located on the included CD; go to readme.html it's worth reading.
Memory is fixed at 8MB (not expandable) but enough to print quickly; on occasion large graphic files may take a few minutes to print.
Power consumption is high however when not-in-use the energy saver automatically switches the printer to standby mode after a few minutes (adjustable) to keep from continually using energy. At 9-amps the printer can easily trip a 15-amp breaker if another printer is on the same circuit. Your computer is fine.
No matter what the sales clerk says; it doesn't come with a USB cable in the box. Available at Fry's Electronics for $5.00 buy a USB 2.0 cable no longer than 6-feet.
The TN-330 toner cartridge costs $34 and prints 1000 pages (2 reams). The TN-360 costs $54 and prints 2000 pages (4 reams). Paper and toner together costs 5 cents a page. Toner is available on-line.
You can connect (network) your two home computers to this one printer through a hard wire router. If your second computer is in another room, recommend a wireless router and the HL-2170W wireless printer available for under $100. In either case, you will most likely need help to setup the network. -
"Perfect for my black & white needs!" on by flyrockies
Pros: Quick, Clean, Good quality
Cons: Toner costs just about as much as the printer.
Summary: I have been a brother laser printer fan for about 10 years. I started with the HL-1240, then moved on to the HL-2040 and now I have an HL-2140. Every time I get near the end of the life cycle with the drum unit, I find that it is cheaper to just buy another printer. I've never had a problem with a brother and am happy with mine.
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"Cheap printer - paper jams constantly" on by dan5181
Pros: Cheap printer.
Cons: I have tried different types of paper and have the same paper jams. Do not buy this printer as the frustration it provides the user is not worth it if the printer was for free.
Summary: After over 50 paper jams - I am throwing it out. Spend a little more and buy a quality printer. I also have the Brother HL-5240 which is the best printer I have ever used. Save up and buy that instead.
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""Every Girl's Little Brother"" on by Dr_Shalit
Pros: Price, Print Quality, Print Speed (20+ ppm), 250 Page Paper Capacity
Cons: A bit slow to print first page (Energy Star configuration, no doubt), Low Toner Warning is premature (found fix on youtube). Replacement Drum costs more than machine.
Summary: OK, this spring our medium duty 50ppm laser printer broke and was in for warranty repair. Had to get an extra printer to fill in. Had looked at this unit previously and bought an HP LJ P1006 instead, another good product, and my default printer. Office supply store "S" had it on sale for $60 + tax. Bought it, installed it on Windows XP computer and we were back in business. Since then, it has been installed and used on every computer in our business, including Vista and 2000 Pro Operating systems as well as XP whenever a need for a b+w laser printer comes up. It has worked flawlessly within its specification. As I noted above, it is a bit slow to print the first page - slower than my HP, faster than our medium duty machine when cold.
My assumption is that Energy Star compliance causes this, it also saves electricity, so I guess a bit of patience shows up as savings on utility bills. The Low Toner warning light does come on prematurely. Fix it with two bits of duct tape and have an extra toner cartridge on hand for when toner actually runs out. The pricing of the replacement drum for this printer is higher than the cost of the printer. When the drum goes, I will buy another machine, an HL-2140 if still available, and keep this one for parts. My comment came from one of our female employees after moving the machine around, true, and the kind of "little brother" most women would want, competent, unassuming and reliable. That is all.
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