Brother HL-2170W 23ppm Laser Printer with Wireless and Wired Network Interfaces by BROTHER
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Digital camera reviews of Brother HL-2170W 23ppm Laser Printer with Wireless and Wired Network Interfaces
Digital camera Review: Affordable with Smooth Wireless Setup
Summary: 5 Stars
I decided to get this printer after seeing pretty good ratings. Specifically I was looking for an affordable laser printer with wireless capability. I needed wireless since my wife and I work in different parts of the house and we needed a central location for access to the printer. Initially, I was wary about running into setup/install snags with the printer, but setup turned out to be a breeze. The wireless setup with my Vista box and driver install was smooth (using the temporary network cable). Make sure you have your network SSID, password, etc. configurations on hand. After installation/setup and removing the temporary network cable...viola, wireless printing! Then I installed only the driver on my wife's XP laptop and entered my network settings, again, instant wireless printing!
NOTE: Initially I thought I might need a separate router than the one for my internet connection, but that's not the case. You can use your existing wireless router.
My previous budget laser printer, Samsung ML-1430, lasted about 7 years. I'm hoping this one will last just as long. Either way, the price point is good.
Digital camera Review: Affordable, easy setup, great quality
Summary: 5 Stars
That about covers it. I'm not using the wireless feature built in to the printer because it can slow down printing of large files (which I print often), but I have it wired into my home router and print from anywhere in the apartment... very convenient, no cable switching for different computers, and the setup was well explained in the startup manual and quite easy to do.
Print quality is great so far, and both warmup and print speeds are fast enough to not have become an issue at all. Once I figured out the correct refeeding position, double-sided printing (the only feature I really wanted that this printer doesn't have) is a breeze. The only minor complaint I have is that the manual feed tray is rather bizarrely small... impractically so. But I rarely use it, so not a big deal.
Overall, my experience thus far is that this is a good quality printer at a great price.
Digital camera Review: After Setup Printer is Great
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first laser printer; always had ink jets but figured I could use a laser printer since so many documents don't need color. I liked the wireless function so I purchased this printer. Setup was a little tricky... I'm computer savvy but it took me about an hour of troubleshooting and tinkering (and reading the manual...highly recommended for this printer) to get the wireless set up. Once I got it set up though, printer has been great. No complaints about quality or speed and seems to be a great price.Digital camera Review: Almost a 5 if not for...
Summary: 4 Stars
...the wireless setup. Wireless setup is very difficult and even setting it up to a network with the ethernet cable is hard. In fact, I still haven't gotten mine configured yet. (I'm on a Mac). This is a common problem I've read about in forums and it looks like I'll have to call Brother. BUT, the print performance from USB is great. It is as good if not better than our mammoth laser printer at work and with a price of $100 - $150 it is great. Ill never go back to inkjet again unless I have the need to print pictures. It's so nice to print out a page and not hear the inkjets racing back and forth. On the Brother, it just comes out in one nice smooth motion. Warm up time is very reasonable and much quicker than our giant HP laser at work. (I'm starting to think HP just sucks.) I know I'll get the wireless set up eventually. It would have been nice if it worked out of the box but besides that this is a great printer.Digital camera Review: Amazing little machine
Summary: 5 Stars
I received my Brother HL-2170w a few days ago and am very happy with it. Time will tell, of course, but what a bargain (I paid 89.95!). The setup on my Ethernet office LAN was totally painless and took about 2 minutes with my Mac. The instruction booklet clearly explains how to set it up using various computers and for each of the networking options. I'm not using the wireless capability, but that might be useful in the future.
The print speed amazed me and the pages look crisp and clean.
I was using an Apple LaserWriter 16/600, which finally died after 14 years of almost flawless service. How far the technology has come! The LaserWriter weighs 40 pounds, while the Brother is only 15. As the Apple product cost me $1,627.00 (!), it was over $40/pound compared to the Brother's $5.99. Of course we don't buy printers by the pound, but for performance and operating cost. This printer does up to 2400 X 600 dpi, while my old one maxed at 600. This one consumes half the power of the old, its cpu runs at 7 times the speed, it comes with 4X the memory, and it's almost 75% faster. Toner cartridges are a fraction the cost of those for the old printer. It's also much quieter when it's in standby mode. And all this for less than 6% of the 1994 cost of my old printer -- which, of course, has no wireless option.
My only complaint is that the plastic on the Brother seems a bit flimsy and the machine is therefore not as sturdy than the old technology. Then again, the unit is 1/3 the weight of the old dinosaur.
So if you're still hanging on to an old machine, as I was, I'd recommend you junk it and buy a Brother HL-2170w.