Brother HL 5340D

Finding an affordable printer is not easy these days, especially if one is looking for a great product. For anyone facing this problem the Brother HL-5340D might be just up your street. The combination of price, running costs and reliability combine to make this a decent prospect when you need your next printer.

It offers an average speed of 32 pages per minute for text documents. I decided to test this, and even when using a stopwatch to ascertain the truth of this claim, had to grudgingly accept it. Decent spped and good quality monochrome printing makes it ideal for small business and home users like me.

The duplex printing mode makes it easier to print double-sided documents. It can actually cut the time in half for those like me, who produce mostly double sided prints. Monochrome flyers and leaflets are still popular, thankfully, and I produce thousands of them, which is why I needed a reliable printer.

The Brother HL-5340D offers a standard paper capacity of 300 sheets with 50-sheet multipurpose tray for envelopes and letterheads. It is a decent capacity for the average user and there should be hardly any need to replace the papers on an average working day in a small office or home office environment. Although, when the time comes, filling the paper tray is extremely simple. The Brother HL-5340D offers an optional 800-sheet tray but someone my size would find this an unnecessary add-on, with the standard 300 sheets being plenty enough. While the standard toner is more than adequate in economy and efficiency, there is also a high-yield 8,000-page toner offered for that extra value for money.

The actual performance of Brother HL-5340D is pretty good. Most users will be able to use the ‘plug and play’ mode without any complicated setup. Even when fully installing, the driver CD takes care of it for you. Even where there are times of high demand or deadlines, printing dozens of pages a minute and loading new jobs constantly, the HL – 5340 is able to keep up.

The Brother HL-5340D performs well under strenuous working conditions and there are hardly any issues with cooling, overheating or slow response. Overall this is a workhorse printer that can work all day and night without needing any TLC at all. My kind of printer.

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Brother HL 4040CN

I am a freelance writer and editor and often have to print in large quantities. I bought the Brother HL-4040CN and found it to be ideal for my workload. Previously I was using a printer that was almost eight years old and extremely toner hungry, noisy and inefficient. A friend told me about the Brother HL-4040CN and I ended up buying one, despite plenty of research into competitors.

The main reason for buying Brother HL-4040CN is that it’s a color laser. I was tired of using black and white printers, and there was some work that needed an elaborate colored printing. Clients often want proofs with colored marking, which a monochrome printer just can’t handle. While my color needs were modest, I couldn’t do without it. I therefore opted for the Brother.

It’s also quick, offering an output of 21 pages per minute and has monochrome printing capability as well as full color. I am using the included Ethernet interface connectivity and it’s working fine for me. Paper capacity is around 300 sheets and there is high capacity replacement of toner cartridges.

The USB Direct Interface on Brother HL-4040CN provides PictBridge support. This means that I can connect my PictBridge-compliant camera to the printer and then print pictures directly from the camera. There’s simply no need of first downloading them on a PC. This is handy if I just want to print a picture or two rather than having to boot the whole computer.

I was concerned about the setup part as I am not well-known for my technical prowess. It was, however, quite an experience for me, being able to set it up within 10 minutes. The instructions definitely helped me out there as they were clear, descriptive and actually in English.

The control panel of the HL-4040CN is one-touch operation and enables me to complete all printing jobs with the minimum of fuss. I like things to be simple to use, and this certainly qualifies. An LCD display makes it easier to check the status of print jobs and the menu selection helps me in starting the process.

The replacement of toner cartridges and cleaning isn’t a difficult job as it is done through a front loading flap. I have become a fan of the Brother HL-4040CN because of it easy-to-use working and excellent printing results. While I’m no technophile, it does seem exceedingly easy to use, straightforward and does exactly what it says on the box.

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Brother HL 4070CDW

The Brother HL-4070CDW is another good, solid printer from the Brother range. This is also aimed squarely at the small or home office market, and delivers on all its promises.

This is a color laser printer that can output up to 20 pages per minute monochrome or color. Print quality is good in the default 600dpi resolution. Monochrome blacks and grays are clear and well formed. No bleed or jagged edges on large text or images. Color was much the same, with accurate reproduction and smooth clean lines throughout.

Paper is fed into a drawer on the front which can hold up to 250 pages. Toner cartridges are also fed from the front, and a convenient release button allows quick access. The black cartridge will print up to 5000 standard pages, with the color ones reaching 4000.

The LCD screen and controls are simple and easy to use. The screen changes color depending on the status of the machine, which is a good touch. It stays green when it’s ready to print, red when there is an error or problem, and orange when settings are being configured. The controls are a square directional affair with a Go and Cancel buttons to complement.

Setup is easy, with four connection options to choose from. Standard USB, parallel, Ethernet and WiFi. Configuration and driver installation is just as easy, with the software package installing in just over a minute. Wireless setup is probably the most straightforward you can get. You can either use the SecureEasySetup program or connect via Ethernet and configure it. The first method worked well and detected the network straight away.

Another useful feature is the USB port at the front, which enables you to print straight from a USB drive or digital camera. This saves a bit of time, not having to load them data onto a computer then print. The LCD screen allows you to choose the files you want to print and then prints them directly from the device.

The reasonable cost of the printer, added to the availability of consumables from places like Quikshiptoner.com make the HL-4070CDW a solid contender for the home or small business market. While a bit light on features, the reproduction is of good enough quality to satisfy most business needs. With fast printing and good quality results, this is a great purchase.

Source: http://hubpages.com/hub/Brother-HL-4070CDW

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