
Best Bang for the Buck Laser Printer
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
I had had it with using inkjet printers for everyday, routine printing. Ink costs make them way too expensive to operate. I shopped around for an inexpensive, monochrome laser printer with low per page printing costs. The Brother HL-2140 came out tops in my research. After using it for a month, here are my pros and cons.
Pros:
+ Cheapest initial cost of any laser printer on the market.
+ Low per page printing cost for a printer in this price range.
+ Small footprint (I have it sitting on an old telephone table).
+ Fast printing, even for first page.
+ Very sharp, clear printout, even on toner saver mode. I can see no difference between the printout on this printer and the printout on much more expensive printers.
+ Easy set up, even on a home network (just enable printer sharing and then use the CD to install the printer as a network printer on your other PCs--you don't have to buy a more expensive network model to share a printer on a home network).
Cons:
- Manual duplexing only. This means opening the paper tray and reinserting the paper. When I open the paper tray, the catch on it makes a loud click. I suppose this is normal, but it always makes me think that if this is done excessively, it might break, so it has caused me to cut down on duplexing. But since I can use cheaper paper than I can with an inkjet, I suppose that's ok.
- Pulls a lot of current on startup and warmup (from sleep mode). This means that it needs its own surge protector. Ideally, it shouldn't even share a house circuit with other equipment. I have no choice but to have it on the same circuit as my one of my PCs. When the printer starts up, it causes the UPS for the PC to go to battery for a second and makes the lights blink. This is only for a second, though, so I suppose it is ok.
- The manual paper feed for thick paper, envelopes, and labels seems like it could be inconvenient. I haven't had much experience with it, but if you are going to be printing many envelopes or labels, this may not be the printer for you.
Despite the cons, I still rate this an excellent printer for the money, at least for my needs.
Review ID: 10000000007888009

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