Brother HL-2700CN user reviews

Pros Color and Mono for the price of a Network Mono Printer. Not sure why other reviewer had problems with color photos. I spoke with the Toll free tech support (very helpful) and they helped me get the settings I needed to reproduce my real estate flyers in

Cons Wide Format would be nice, but would probably raise price too high. YOU CANT USE Cheap copy paper.

Pros 1. Good print speed. 2. Networking was very quick and easy. 3. Text and simple graphics have good quality.

Cons 1. Photos are worst than a below average ink jet. Very grainly with low detail. Little difference when using 2400 vs 600 dpi or when using the adjustments available. 2. Paper jams easily, even with the specified paper (approx every 30 pages)

Pros This printer is know for good B&W laser printing. I like the networking setup, and the ability to print from the Internet.

Cons This printer prints bad quality color images. I have streaking, wrong coloration. I also have spent far too much money on toner.

Summary It seems the general consensus is that this printer is good and fast for B&W text printing, and bad for everything else. I would agree. Unfortunately for me, I don't use it for B&W printing, I actually use a cheaper B&W laser to do that job, saving this printer only for color jobs.

From day 1, my printer had a vertical bare streak all along the left side of my page. I wasn't diligent enough to get it fixed under warranty, so I just put up with it. Apparently, it's the OPC belt.

What is an OPC belt? What does an OPC belt do? For those of you who are curious, an OPC belt is an Organic Photo Conductor belt or drum. It is on this belt that the laser scores the image, and the toner adheres before being impressed on the paper.

Still on the topic of the OPC belt, they tend to get consumed fast on this printer. While Brother says 60,000 pages, what then mean is 60,000 images. And in fact, each page may have far more than 1 image, especially when you count each of the four colors as 1 image. Basically, don't be surprised if you get an OPC warning between 15,000 and 40,000 pages. You can try calling Brother, but they won't be sympathetic.

This printer is sold under the "razor blade" model. That is, give away a cheap men's shaver, and then make money on the expensive razor blades. This business model has worked for many businesses like Polaroid cameras and video game consoles, and is alive and well in the printer industry. The printer may have been cheap, but the ongoing toner and OPC belt and fuser costs will drive you to the poor house.

The cost of consumables doesn't even include the cost of being without a printer for days, while you wait for new supplies to arrive. I don't keep stock, because the parts are so expensive. In fact, what I do now if I run out of a toner...

I'm making a lot of runs to Kinkos for printing because this printer produces inadequate quality and runs out of consumables so often. Kinkos isn't the greatest quality, but it's much better than the 2700CN. The reason I bought this printer was so that I could STOP making runs to Kinkos. Mission NOT accomplished.

Print quality is just too bad. After two years, I think I am done. I've spent a lot of money, been disappointed with my output, and returned to my Kinko's ways. This printer didn't do what I expected of it, and I need to get one that does.

Pros Help - no pros

Cons Many Issues

Summary Our first unit had a set up issue right out of the box. Several days later, someone came and fixed it. Within a month or so, it developed streaking issues. Brother involved us in a great deal of troubleshooting time. They finally relented and sent us a replacement unit.

The second unit began having issues within a month or two. There was some type of defective issue. They had us on the phone troubleshooting, then mailing them print samples back, going back and troubleshooting some more for them.

Once again,they agreed to ship a third unit. After being in service for 7,500 pages, the OPC belt was defective. Even though we had a one year on-site warranty, they wanted us to pay $350 for this part. Once again, they relented and shipped us a replacment OPC belt, but expected us to install it (so much for the onsite warranty). After 14,400 pages the replacment OPC belt became defective. Its useful life should be well beyond 30,000 according to the Brother customer service people.