Brother HL-4070CDW Laser Printer

Now I'm pretty picky when it comes to electronics purchases, so I did a lot of reading. After the positive reviews for this printer on Amazon I made the leap and got this one. I'm very glad I did.

SETUP

First of all, this thing is pretty heavy, something like 75 pounds in the box. The UPS man was glad to be rid of it. It's all assembled out of the box, just a bunch of tape to take off, etc. Directions are easy to follow. It just fits on top of cheapo two-drawer metal filing cabinet like you'd get at Wal-Mart. It hangs off the edge maybe a half-inch on either side.

Following the directions for the software setup is easy, too. I initially set it up and configured it to print via the built-in wireless, since that's how all my computers are networked. After the printer is setup on the first computer, you just install the drivers on the other computers with the same disk. Again, follow the instructions and it's pretty simple. It prints flawlessly from all my computers, both Mac and PC (Apple iMac Intel, Apple iBook G4, HP Pavilion TX1000Z Tablet). By the way, I'm running Mac OS X Leopard on my Macs and Windows Vista on the HP Tablet. It also prints great from Boot Camp on the iMac (with Vista), as well as through VMWare Fusion (using the Boot Camp Partition as the virtual machine).

PRINTER START-UP

First, let me state that I leave the printer on all the time. It comes preset to sleep after 5 minutes, which is about right. When it sleeps it is silent. After you click print, it only takes maybe 20-30 seconds (on average) for it to get warmed up and start printing. If you have printed recently it takes less time. If it isn't sleeping, it starts pretty much right away.

As expected for a laser printer, it uses a fair amount of power, as my lights flicker slightly when it starts up. But I haven't blown the breaker yet, and I have quite a bit of stuff hooked up on that circuit.

SPEED

I haven't timed it exactly, but I would say that the stated 21 ppm is about right for single-sided pages. In duplex, it's less than half that, probably 8-10 per minute. This still suits me just fine, as my Canon iP6000D printed about 1 page every 3 minutes in duplex mode.

QUALITY

The print quality is very good. It is what you would expect from a good color laser printer. I have not printed photos with it, but I have no need to. It isn't a photo printer and I don't expect it to print them like they came from the lab. My Canon does, but it's a photo printer. That said, it prints pictures of animal anatomy, etc. in my wife's lecture slides very well. Definitely with enough detail to make everything out, even in small pictures.

It does curl the pages somewhat, but not bad. They flatten back out over time. This hasn't been an issue for me, and it was something I was concerned about before I ordered it.

CONCLUSIONS

In summary, this is an excellent printer. I've had it for a month and a half now, with no complaints. I've printed over 500 pages, mostly mixed B&W and color, and all four toner cartridges still register as full. If I run into any problems I will edit this post, but I don't foresee any. Excellent color printer with built-in duplex for the price. Of course, this printer isn't for everybody, but if your needs are similar to mine, then this is the printer for you.

I should mention I also own a Brother 5250DN, a HP 2600n, a zebra 2844 thermal printer, and a canon MP210 inkjet. Each has a purpose in my office.

The Brother 4070CDW is great, I had been using the 5250DN for manual duplexing, I didn't know what I had been missing! The automatic duplexing feature work perfectly the back and front are 100% lined up from the first print to the 100th print (a problem I had with manual duplexing). The speed is good - much faster than my HP, but the warm up time seems longer than my other brother laser, not a problem but I figured I should mention it. The color is a little more faded or dull when compared to the HP, no matter what setting I tried to change. Then again my HP burns through toner faster than either of the brothers. The toner usage was a big factor in the decision on whether to go with a Duplexing Brother or Duplexing HP.

I printer 1500+ pages (with alot more than 5% coverage) within the first 2 days of pulling it out of the box. The black toner signaled it was empty but there is a little trick to get more out of the toner cartridge, I use this trick on both of my Brother lasers and the HP. There is a light or laser that is directed through the toner cartridge, as long as the light does not go through the printer thinks the cartridge has toner left. Normally the light will pass through well before you are out of toner. Easy fix - block the light, I normally take a sharpie and color in the clear plastic windows on the cartridges, a piece of masking tape may work as well. This gets many more prints. If the prints start to come out faded on one side or the other - take the cartridge and shake it gently side to side to distribute the toner evenly inside the cartridge.

Overall I am very please with this printer: the price point is fantastic ($399 retail), the features are great, the speed is acceptable, and the replacement toner cost is among the lowest.