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Brother HL-5250DN Printer - Laser Printers
Customer Reviews for brother HL Series HL-5250DN Workgroup Up to 30 ppm Monochrome Laser Printer - Retail
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Review Summary (176 Reviews): Rating + 4
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Excellent Rating + 5 129ReviewsExcellent
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newegg
12%
Average Rating + 3 13ReviewsAverage
newegg
7%
Poor Rating + 2 5ReviewsPoor
newegg
3%
Very Poor Rating + 1 8ReviewsVery Poor
newegg
5%
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Reviewer Product Review
N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/6/2009 5:08:12 PM

Rating + 5 LOVE IT


Pros: This machine is a beast! It is fast and a workhorse. You cannot beat it for the price.

Cons: none

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Greyfox
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/2/2009 7:59:28 AM

Rating + 3 P.S.


Pros: Fast

Cons: Power hog

Other Thoughts: I forgot to mention==I have RMA'd the printer as it is not worth enduring the power problems.

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Greyfox
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/1/2009 7:10:45 AM

Rating + 3 Power hungry but fast


Pros: Fast printouts and the software setup process is easy.

Cons: There is a power drain of such intensity when this printer wakes up that my UPS beeps and the power supply in the computer (PC Cooling & Power 510 SLI) trips and shuts off the computer. Everything BUT the printer are protected by an APC 650 UPS. Isolating the computer, monitor (2101 DELL LCD), basic 2-speaker audio, cable modem, router and printer onto its own 20A circuit made no difference when this printer is on the same circuit. Before this, the computer and printer ( Brother 1270N network laser) were on the same circuit as my cable TV box, DVD player, VCR, stereo system, and 32 inch CRT TV. Once in a while the UPS would beep but the computer p.s. never tripped until I replaced my old Brother 1270N with this one. Needing a dedicated circuit just for this printer is a bit much, and costly, just to get the speedy printouts.

Other Thoughts: The curled printouts can be a real pain if you let more than 3-4 sheets accumulate in the output tray--they get shoved out onto the floor. Newegg.com continues to be an excellent merchant.

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Duffy
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/23/2009 1:36:38 PM

Rating + 5 Excellent printer. Very low cost per page.


Pros: Compact footprint (about 15" x 15")
Built in Ethernet
Built in duplexing (Love it! Saves paper & makes multipage docs half as thick)
Cost per page is only 1.5 cents when using the 7000 page toner (search for "TN580-7000" at New Egg). This is about 1/2 the cost of black toner for my HP 2605dn color laser, 2.8 cents! (1.5 cents includes a new drum for the Brother at 25,000 pages. Drums for HP's are part of the toner cartridge, not an separate purchase).

Cons: NONE! An LCD status & configuration screen would be bonus, but is not really missed.

Other Thoughts: In service as my main business printer for just over one month and it works great.

This is my second Brother printer. I have used a HL-2070N at home for several years.

MY EXPERIENCE: Certified systems engineer since 1996. CNE, MCSE, ASE, CCNA, A+, Security+, and other certs.

Great price and free shipping at New Egg. Thanks!

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Dave
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/7/2009 9:12:45 PM

Rating + 5 Brother 5250 DN


Pros: I have 2 of these printers both purchased from Newegg hooked into a network. It saves us so much paper being able to print on both sides of the paper. Easy to set up and easy to change toner. Holds a lot of paper in the tray. First page out starts in about 15 seconds on our peer-to-peer network.

Cons: You will not get 7000 pages out of the high yield toner. But Newegg has the best prices on the toner by far.

Other Thoughts: I always like to keep extra toner and drum on hand. The Brother 5250 has the same drum and toner, just not networked and will not duplex. But I have caught the 5250 on sale for less than purchasing a new drum unit and a low yield cartridge. So I have bought that entire unit just for the drum and toner. Then give the new printer to GoodWill.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/5/2009 10:03:39 AM

Rating + 4 On balance, great for the money


Pros: Fast, great print quality even with photos, duplex printing, multi-purpose tray will hold several sheets of labels or envelopes, network ready.

The printer itself is a 5 but see my notes on s

Cons: a tiny bit noisy, takes some perseverance to deal with tech support (see "other thoughts") and I couldn't have gotten everything working smoothly without support. Mainly because the PDF only manual is not well written.

Other Thoughts: I love the printer. A quantum leap from the 13 year old HP it replaced. If you're on Windows don't expect much for support which is overseas. Mac support is in the U.S. and was superb. BUT The support tech in the U.S. told me that after you're prompted for the model and asked for a brief description of the issue say "Mac software" and you'll get connected to the U.S. Even on Windows if you can get bumped up to 2nd tier support you'll get the U.S. support which is way better.

It took a couple phone calls to figure out that I needed a patch for the multi-purpose tray to work automatically. Also the manual wasn't very good for setting it up to work with postscript (I use InDesign). Once I got to 2nd tier support the little niggles I had were cleared up and all is working smoothly now.

I realize I haven't provided a lot of detail on the printer itself but IMO support is just as important. The printer does everything it is touted to do. Super fast and better quality than I expected.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

tedwards
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/14/2009 1:57:55 PM

Rating + 5 Great!!!


Pros: Fast and Cheap to Run. Great looking prints.

Cons: None.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

zen
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/26/2009 7:19:21 PM

Rating + 5 Best Monochrome Laser for the Money


Pros: I have clients that have been using these printers for more than 3 years now and they are extremely durable and have good print quality, even for minor black and white photos. Networking and 2 sided built right in. Very heavy duty cycle.

Cons: Cannot think of one.

Other Thoughts: Get one of these while you can. They may not be around much longer.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
4/26/2009 2:48:37 PM

Rating + 5 Great Little SOHO Laser


Pros: After some research, I bought this so I could print faster than I can with my inkjet (as well as cheaper per page). I put this on my network, and configuration was a breeze, although I would recommend setting a static IP address or adding a static entry in your DHCP server. Ubuntu Linux finds and sets it up quickly. The duplex option is a great paper saver and reduces bulk for my purposes. Quiet. Excellent print quality. Fast at lower resolutions.

Cons: Minor annoyances:
The house lights dim a bit for a second when it warms up.
The paper tray only holds 250 pages instead of a full ream.
The paper curls a bit when it comes out, especially when duplexed; however, it flattens out for me after a few days.

Other Thoughts: You might need to add RAM if you're printing highly complex pages; luckily it takes an inexpensive laptop PC 133 SO-DIMM module. Complex jobs can be slow.

My inkjet feels unwanted and lonely.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Wooster
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
4/17/2009 9:09:12 AM

Rating + 5 Great Solid Cheap Printer


Pros: DUPLEX! Rock solid performance. Never jams. TCO for printer is very low. Web interface. No need for custom drivers.

Cons: Initial setup through web interface can be confusing.

Other Thoughts: This printer has blown away my expectations. It performs reliably. In the time I've owned it, I've never had a paper jam, and only had to restart the printer three times. If you do your research, comparing to other laser printers in the same price range, you'll see that other manufacturers make their toner extremely expense (per page). Brother doesn't play that game.

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Jim
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/14/2009 4:47:54 PM

Rating + 5 I love this printer


Pros: After years of dealing with ink jet printers, this was my first laser printer, and my first printer with network capabilities. As the tech support for the family this printer has been heaven. It connects to our ethernet network without needing a computer to support it. My kids and wife all connect to the network wirelessly, and have never had a problem printing to this printer. The print quality is equal to the mega printers in my firm's office, it's fast enough for our needs, and a big plus is that it can do duplex printing, which saves on paper and bulk in the prints. We're on our second toner cartridge, and so far have not had a single paper jam or any other trouble with the printer. Set up on the network was very straight forward, and adding the printer to each computer was also straight forward. I have the printer hard wired to our ethernet, but I suppose it would work equally well connected to a bridged wireless access point for those without a wired network.

Cons: No complaints so far. Can't think of anything more I'd want this printer to do for home use.

Other Thoughts: Be prepared for your printer usage to increase dramatically. With the inkjet printer we didn't print many things because it was slow, smeared, and unreliable connections because the main computer had to be on. With this printer, printing is fast and easy, so the family tends to print more. My daughter's in grad school, so she especially appreciates finally have a reliable printer that produces quality results. The old color inkjet is still connected and available, but we've discovered that very little of what we print requires color. We don't do photographs, which is probably all we would really need color for.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
4/9/2009 1:40:33 PM

Rating + 2 Terrible printer


Pros: Relatively fast, decently small size (I guess?). Not much else.

Cons: Boss bought this printer for the office a year ago and let me tell you, this thing is junk. We have the HL-5280 model but this one looks identical and I'm sure has the same problems. Since we got it, it can't take more than 2 sheets of paper as they will all come out at once and either jam the printer, or print completely wrong. I have tried everything from lower static paper, fanning the paper before putting it in, but I basically have to manually load this thing EVERY time I want to use it. I called cust support, no help there. They are completely clueless on how to fix anything. I don't need to turn off the printer and turn it back on, seriously.
Also, it now has started (on 10+ page print jobs) to print random blank pages with symbols scattered all over them. This is a big deal when we're paying for expensive high quality paper that it is ruining. I'm so angry at this piece of junk, seriously.

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Yumbaman
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
4/9/2009 12:15:28 PM

Rating + 1 Power Crazy!!


Pros: Looks amazing! RJ-45 connectors fit in the jack. Has drivers. Finally able to get my Dad to buy one.

Cons: Hooked it up first time on it's own 15 amp circuit. Lights in the room would flicker a lot. Even my UPS on another circuit kept beeping for more voltage. After 5 mins, almost got the configuration tool to change the IP configuration for the home subnet. After 5 mins, no power on circuit. Flipped the circuit breaker and unplugged it. A lamp wouldn't even power on. Pulled the wall socket out, tested with a meter, no power. Followed the circuit to the Ceiling light in the other room. Blew the wires out of the Wire nut!!!! - Sweet Cheetos!! Returned it right away.

Other Thoughts: If you like to spend more on electricians to rewire your house, and pay a higher electric bill, then buy this printer. This printer gave me the motivation to replace the wire nuts, a new wall socket, and copper pigtails. I returned this printer 2 hours later. My neighbor who is an electrical engineer said that it shouldn't do this. Must be a defective product line. Others are also having this problem. Having a hard time getting my Dad to buy a new laser printer again.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

fed.gov IT guy
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
3/31/2009 2:37:30 PM

Rating + 2 Don't expect it to work for more than a year


Pros: The 5250 is a great high volume office printer, while the fuser is still functional.

Cons: Once the fuser goes, you're out of luck. There is no user maintenance which can be done to these printers. Some will develop a very loud gear grinding/clacking noise after moderate use, which cannot be fixed.

Other Thoughts: We have many of these 5250 printers installed throughout my workplace in high-volume applications. They work well, until their fusers or rollers go bad, which you can expect in about 1 year or 20000 pages. When inquiring about maintenance kits, we were told that only authorized Brother service centers can order any kind of replacement parts beyond the drum/toner. Considering we service every other brand of printer we use (HP, Xerox, Lexmark) ourselves, this is a ridiculous requirement. I've already cannablized some other 5250s with various problems to create working units, so I know the replacement of the fuser is not that difficult, but still Brother refuses to sell parts to us, and there's no way we're paying a "service center" to do the work we could do ourselves. This is a throwaway printer at best.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

mech2036
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/27/2009 8:52:55 PM

Rating + 5 Great Home Office Workgroup Printer


Pros: Great print quality, Pleasantly surprised to find out it is completely auto duplexing. Easily set up after you disable Windows firewall, and you can completely configure through the BSAdministrator.

Cons: None that I have come across yet!

Other Thoughts: The price is great for a home office workgroup printer!

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jeb
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/23/2009 12:54:56 PM

Rating + 5 My brother


Pros: Easy to setup, fast printer, net-workable, loaded with options and the capabilities are amazing, we have a small network - the admin tool is amazing, firmware is upgradeable and connecting computers to the printer is a snap

Cons: doesn't make me coffee

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
3/19/2009 2:45:14 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: Very easy setup. I have this on a network with three different operating systems. 1 Windows 7 (64) bit 1 Windows XP Pro (64) bit, and 1 Windows XP Pro (32) bit. You have to download the 64 bit drivers as they aren't included on install disk. Works great is silent till you send job to printer

Cons: The setup would be a little simpler if 64 bit drivers were included with the install CD.

Other Thoughts: As long as you follow directions on the CD, and download the 64 bit drivers if needed install should go fine. They tell you to disable firewall before install and then after install to reactivate it. I did this any the install went very smoothly. If you want to add another printer to network later just disable firewall
temporarly to setup printer.

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Tobi
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
3/18/2009 10:30:03 PM

Rating + 5 Suprisingly Great Printer


Pros: Quick Double Sided Printing with toner saver, long lasting!

Cons: Sometimes I have to reinstall the network printer drivers. Usually after a power outage.

Other Thoughts: I didn't really trust Brother after a bad experience with a cheap inkjet printer many years ago, but I gave this inexpensive duplexing network printer a chance and I couldn't be happier. I've printed several reams of paper so far without replacing the toner. I do a lot of online classes and print most of my textbooks out. It still amazes me how quickly I can print an entire textbook on both sides of the paper with this printer. After several reams of paper I haven't had a single paper jam. The only problem I have had is that the printer's network address seems to change any time the power goes off, its not a big deal, I just reinstall the driver, and I'm sure there is some setting on my router to prevent this, but I never have this issue with my HP photojet on the same router.

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RP
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/18/2009 8:54:56 PM

Rating + 5 A very good Laser Printer


Pros: This is my first Laser printer, I am very pleased with it.
It arrived in 3 days in good condition, I had it printing in 1/2 hour. Good quality construction, much better than I seen in the local box store.

Cons: The duplex mode involves refeeding the paper to print the other side, I may never use it.

Other Thoughts: I was looking for a network pinter to provide low cost, fast printing. It has a DCHP server, which I thought may cause problems as I wanted to use the one in my router, however the Brother disables its own if there's already a DHCP server present. It got its address from my network and worked right out of the box. I later set it's address to static so it would always be the same. There are many option you may set, the defaults are a good start, before lots of reading.
Order the TN580-7000 toner with the printer, its hard find elseware.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
3/5/2009 4:53:24 PM

Rating + 5 Easy Network Setup


Pros: I needed a new Laser printer to replace my old one which didn't work with Vista 64 and was having paper feed issues. I have 5 computers - MacBooks, Vista 64, and Windows XP. Network setup was a breeze. For Vista 64 it came with a separate CD. Mac and Windows on the other.
Duplex Printing - - plus it comes with a full Toner already - 3500 pages. No USB cable but if you hook it to your router - no need -

Cons: None so far

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Tunesmith
Tech Level: average
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/3/2009 3:31:57 PM

Rating + 5 Been There and will keep on


Pros: Ordered this unit at about 3:30PM on 3/2/2009. Recieved it at my door at about 10:30 AM on 3/3/2009. That's the quickest shipping I ever recieved from anyone. Works perfect right out of the box. Set up and printing in about 15 minutes. Found a lock on the paper tray length adjustment (which is great). On my previous 5250DN this lock didn't exist and I believe that caused most of the rare mis-feeding problems (the tray length would change if I closed the tray a little harder than necessary. The 580 (Hi-Capacity) toner cartridge really does have an unbelievably long life and is a great bargain even if you buy the toner at full price from Brothers'. This is the simplest duplex printer that I've ever used (compared to 3 HP Inkjets of various price from $80 to $200).

Cons: After using an almost identical printer (Same model as this) for over 3 years, I started having trouble with the imprint of a gear on the right side of every page). After attempting some ill-advised cleaning of the roller, the printer finally completely failed. The "Con" is that there's not really much you can do to this printer yourself. The failure was probably my fault. The gear-marks, I believe were due to a failure of a Remanufactured Toner cartridge which I had used for the last year (leaking excessive toner onto the drum). I had already used one of the three Hi-capacity cartridges which I'd purchase together. The first one printer for over 18 months with no problems. When I replaced the second (Defective?) cartridge with the last of the 3, the printer made loud clunking (gear) noises and wouldn't print. I think the third cartridge was defective also. From now on I'll probably use only OEM cartridges. Even at twice the price, they still print 4 or 5 times as much as inkjets.

Other Thoughts: I'm sure that the negative reviews you see on this product are results of lack of understanding the unit by it's new owners, or possibly just a lemon. My first printer failed hard last week but it worked like a plow-horse for over 3 years. A a karaoke DJ with multiple songbooks of 225 pages each, I print a lot of lists (over 30,000 pages per year). Even if this printer fails in 3 years, I'm pretty certain I'll be buying another as close to this one as available. My printer stays on all the time and never takes more than 5 or 6 seconds to go from "Sleep-Mode" to printing. There is some noise but only a fraction of the racket I got from all my inkjets (including the expensive one). This printer will not shake everything on the table like all my inkjets did either. I know from experience (12 years of printing my songlists) this printer will save 70 to 90 percent of my cost compared to inkjets. Don't be afraid of the $100 mfr price of Hi-Capacity cartridge...it lasts and lasts and lasts...

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Tom H
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/2/2009 5:00:19 AM

Rating + 5 Brother HL-5250DN


Pros: Fast set-up, clear laser-quality B&W printing.

Cons: None yet

Other Thoughts: There's no way a small company can work without at least 1 decent quality laser printer. The cheap $50-$100 printers that came pre-bundled with our notebooks weren't worth even half that, and after spending good money to buy replacement toner cartridges a few times and dealing with multiple paper jams and other failures, I decided to bite the bullet and look into purchasing another good quality printer (our existing lasers weren't compatible with our new computers). The relatively low price for the Brother printers, along with great reviews on this site, helped me decide to buy this printer. I have been pleasantly surprised with the quality of the print, and would suggest that anyone who needs a printer should avoid the cheap stuff and buy this model; remember the adage "buy cheap, buy twice."

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

T.A.
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
2/26/2009 7:45:21 AM

Rating + 5 Great bang for the buck.


Pros: Very solid, very cheap. I bought the 5250DN-T which includes the optional second tray and I now have a friend who runs 3 of these in their office after seeing mine run. Automatic paper selection works great and quick. Good clean prints and I do not have any curling paper problems although my friend does but they use bottom of the barrel colored paper (government budget so they get the "special" price chap-o paper at the same cost as my normal paper). Quick easy setup and good sharing over the network.

Cons: Could always be cheaper, maybe even free!

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/12/2009 11:19:47 AM

Rating + 1 Fuser issues!


Pros: Trying to think of one but can't. It's just a laser printer.

Cons: Bought 30 for branch offices. After 1 year the fusers start to go out. Brother was $180 for this part. This effectively makes this printer a throw away after a years usage. With 85 more offices to populate with 2 ea. they won't be with Brother products. A non-serviceable product is not worth buying.

Other Thoughts: I've used Brother products for years but this experience has left me looking. I believe the advertised duty cycle on this printer is grossly overstated.

3 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/4/2009 9:27:13 AM

Rating + 5 I love it


Pros: Easy to set up for XP, VISTA, OSX, MS Server 2008. Prints fast and auto duplexes. Cheap toner and nice print quality. Saved a ton going with this printer.

Cons: No lcd display. buy you can print a config sheet.

Other Thoughts: Print servers never seem to work so i decided to go with networked printers from now on. Got this from the egg for cheap with free shipping.

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Cliff
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/30/2009 10:28:42 AM

Rating + 2 Ugh. Not happy with this purchase.


Pros: Duplex, wired networking, fast pages-per-minute rating for simplex printing. What a shame that my con so heavily weighs against the pros.

Cons: After printing a bunch of pages, eventually an envelope became jammed in the printer. When it was pulled out, the printer failed. We could continue to print test pages from the printer, but resetting the thing and trying to print normal pages always fails with the lights flashing.

After some research on Brother's website, I learned that the only way to fix the error code requires the printer to be sent back to Brother at the owner's expense (of course). This is a strong deterrent against me buying another Brother product. I like things I can fix myself.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

PBSkid
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/29/2009 6:38:50 PM

Rating + 5 so glad to be done w/ inkjets


Pros: Price, Auto-duplexing, network port, compatible w/ osx, windows, and linux, which are all on my network and print to this printer. This thing is the best printer I have ever owned. I don't usually print everyday or every week even, but then some days I'll print a ton. It just sits there completely quiet until its needed then it fires up and spits out your papers faster than you can say, "I'm so glad I have a laser."

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: I have to figure out OSX because it seems that when the network DNS goes down w/ a power outage or something, osx can't find the printer and I have to go through the connection steps again. I think it will all be solved with a static IP for the printer, just have to do it.

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ploree
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/24/2009 2:23:18 PM

Rating + 5 Excellent printer for the money


Pros: Excellent printer for the money... Crisp fonts and b&w diagrams, automatic duplex, holds over half a ream of paper, warms up and prints pages very quickly, cheap toner to pages print cost, network interface built-in (a must have in my situation), works with Linux and Windows

Cons: paper tends to curl although I'm using cheap bulk multipurpose paper but for my needs this is acceptable, adjusting the paper type settings doesn't seem to effect the heat output much, if at all, so even when set to use different paper types it still curls just as much

Other Thoughts: As a grad student I need to print a lot and this has already saved me a lot more cash since I purchased it than using my OfficeJet. Last semester alone I went through 5 reams of paper and 6 ink cartridges for my OfficeJet ($25/cartridge (more than the cost I paid for this printer)) printing off papers , reports, and research work. Since this semester started (2 weeks ago) I've already used half a ream of paper which would have killed at least one inkjet cartridge using draft printing mode but with this printer I'm no where near the end of the toner's lifespan, networking capabilities was a must have since I have a multiple computers I use on my network frequently and most of the other network ready printers were much more expensive than this one

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spliff
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/24/2009 9:01:24 AM

Rating + 5 Superior value


Pros: Piece of cake network setup. The install was a pure pleasure. Our LAN is unique as hades. I was sweating the setup configuration. Had planned on spending a weekend getting it fully up and running. Load drum/toner cartridge and paper, plug in ethernet and power cords, a couple of clicks on 3 PC driver installs and we are in business - 5 minutes.

$155 + free shipping!

Includes BRAdmin Professional utility to manage/troubleshoot a networked printer. Configures network settings, loads firmware updates.

Cons: Looks like the drum is scored. Horizontal marks every couple of inches on the right side of every (portrait) page. Thanks to B. Boyed's review, I'm not sweating it.

Other Thoughts: The driver install wizard truly impressed me. Usually I wait some time to submit a review, but this printer rocks. Will try and re-review @ 1 yr. This printer and it's software makes installation/operation a breeze.

This printer is a joy to operate.

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B. Boyed
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/21/2009 7:30:46 AM

Rating + 5 Great customer service


Pros: Got the new Brother printer after reading the other reviews here on Newegg. When printing the test pages, I noticed a series of dots on the left edge of each page. Called their customer service to check if they have any clue before I must return the printer. It is a BIG surprise to me that I can get to talk to a real person without much waiting AND the nice customer service lady spent about 15 minutes on the phone walking through some steps to try to fix the problem. After we failed these checks, she offered to send me a complete new set of drum/toner. Got the set in three business days and have no problem now. Amazing customer service for a mere $200 plus printer. I have bought thousand dollar equipment but can't get anywhere closer to this level of service with other vendors.

Cons: The drum/toner produced tiny dots on the left edge of the paper. However, the replacement fixed that problem at no cost to me. I actually get a free toner cartridge after this.

Other Thoughts: My next printer and so on will be from Brother.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

jimcive
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/19/2009 10:45:11 AM

Rating + 5 Excellent performer!


Pros: Worked without a hitch out of the box. I have been running this printer for a few months. Excellent performer. No surprises or problems. I like the double-sided printing feature. It is attached to an Apple Airport and family prints from PCs and MAcs from both wireless and Ethernet connections.

Cons: None

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GTXchange
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/15/2009 10:22:23 AM

Rating + 4 Good Value


Pros: Bought this printer to make 2D barcode stickers. The resolution is relatively good and it does just fine.

Cons: Printer goes offline after about 5 minutes. Printing should wake it up, but sometimes doesn't... just gotta hit the power button. Seems simple, but training a sales person to do something like that can be like training a cat to drive race cars.

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Kyle B
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/18/2008 11:16:52 AM

Rating + 5 Working great after almost 2 years


Pros: This printer is simply amazing for the price. It is the easiest network printer I have ever configured by far and the response time is great; it takes only 6 seconds to hear your printer start hacking away at your document.

The print speed is great as well, sometimes I print large documents (~200 pages) and you really do get 30 pages/min. The quality is also very good, I've yet to see anything that is noticably better.

The toner lasts a long time, I'm not sure on the exact page count but i know for a fact that i get well over 3500 pages per toner cartridge.

The secondary paper tray is also a plus if you have to print on special invoices, receipts or envelopes as well.

Brother drivers are absolutely wonderful as well, I have Never had an issue with drivers for any brother products.

Cons: price has went down a lot since I bought it???

Other Thoughts: I have this working in a very dusty environment and it holds up great. It is this printer that has made me buy brother products ever since. I also own a MFC 5860CN and it has never failed either.

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gleng1
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
12/17/2008 11:07:02 AM

Rating + 5 Great printer for the price


Pros: Inexpensive. Great quality text. Double-sided printing standard. Manual feed tray for envelopes. No need to open rear door for envelopes. Decent tech support with reasonable hold times. Minimal paper jams. Reliable.

Cons: Some here have complained about wrinkled envelopes. It's true, but you MUST READ THE MANUAL (or call tech support). There's an easy one-time adjustment needed if this happens to you, then you'll never have the problem again.

I've owned a couple of these -- seem to last a year or two under brutal circumstances, then they die. Cheaper to buy another instead of repair.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
12/8/2008 12:19:54 AM

Rating + 3 4 out of 5 ain't bad


Pros: Fast, network connectivity, duplex, low profile and small footprint, quiet - very quiet in standby - good text, adequate graphics, very cost effective as office printers since they are happy running from a print server. The postscript emulation is true enough that the BR-Script driver will talk to current HP printers and vice versa.

Cons: Idiot lights and no display make remote troubleshooting when not at a PC difficult. Lack of physical console makes troubleshooting network connectivity pretty much impossible. But hard to argue with the price. These are great personal printers, a little wimpy for workgroups.

Other Thoughts: I was impressed enough with the first one that I got four more. Sadly, one of the four has a networking failure, I RMA'd it back, it was returned to me and still doesn't work except as a parallel or USB printer, which wasn't the point of getting these. Will make another attempt to get this resolved. The failure cost an egg, as did the returned broken printer without the problem getting resolved.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/4/2008 7:49:14 AM

Rating + 5


Pros: Easy to set up , in spite of what other reviewers have said it is quiet when feeding paper. Browser based GUI is nice and self explanatory. With settings on Tone saver and 300DPI output is still acceptable for routine letters etc. Envelope function through manual feed tray is good and it prints laser labels through the same feed flawlessly, beware thick paper and labels will jam tray 1. Warms up quickly and set up on my network through a router\switch enables all users to print without having a master system online

Cons: I had to pay for it ... no wait .. it was on sale for one sixty nine at the time so I can't even complain about that

Other Thoughts: Installed a 512 MB SODIMM and it was fine for about 2 days or so then the printer started printing multiple pages with 1 line of garbage until halted. Removal of the SODIMM cured it, reinstallation made the issue come back.. sent the SODIMM back but haven't received replacement yet to see if it was something other than a bad SODIMM. Bought this printer because after 14 years of using what are basically disposable inkjet units I wanted one I could rely on that doesn''t need to use 1/2 its ink in cleaning cycles

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EggFan
Tech Level: average
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/1/2008 7:06:36 PM

Rating + 4 Still Solid... But!


Pros: After 2 years, still nice and crisp printing. Even with our usage (2 high schoolers), still on 1st cartridge. No maintenance, other than the occasional toner cartridge shake.

Cons: For some reason, the feed malfunctions from time to time, and you have to reduce the amount of paper in the tray; THEN it will begin feeding. Might have something to do with cleaning rollers, which I haven't done. I really should read the manual for maintenance.

Other Thoughts: Paper still curls, but higher quality paper tends to reduce that. It does draw a lot of power on startup. I know this because my APC backup chirps, warning of low available current when the printer fires up. After it gets going, it settles down. Built-in print server found by Linux Kubuntu 7.10 and 8.04, as well as by PCLINUX2007.

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The engineer
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/1/2008 4:05:49 PM

Rating + 3 A lot for the buck


Pros: The printing is quick, sharp and clean. The two sided printing in a paper saver. It has all but wireless input options for a small price.

Cons: Wish the paper tray had some stops to prevent the tray from falling on the floor while filling it.
The paper comes out of the printer curled up on the sides. After about the eighth page comes out the curled paper is high enough to block all additional pages. If you are not sitting next to the printer, some of your work will be on the floor.
And last, the network input stop working. Moved on to the USB input for now.

Other Thoughts: This is my first Brother printer. All others have been HP and Xerox with no problems except old age.

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chris
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/1/2008 2:54:54 PM

Rating + 5 2 1/2 years now and still going..


Pros: It's been 2 1/2 years since I bought this printer, from newegg.. and is still running strong. I haven't yet replaced the toner, and trust me when I say it.. I've made many and many of copies on this thing. When this thing conks out.. guess what I'll be buying again?

Cons: Black ink only.. but really.. who cares?

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/25/2008 2:41:22 PM

Rating + 3 Network port problem


Pros: Quick start, fast print, auto duplex. USB and Parallel ports work fine.

Cons: Network port problem. Get network connection error after the printer idles for 2-3 minutes. Have to power off then power on to get the network interface to work - everytime.

Other Thoughts: Brother tech support does not work on weekends.

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N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/19/2008 9:51:15 AM

Rating + 4


Pros: Easy set-up, very quiet, fast warm-up, fast printing, nice duplexer option, beautiful print job, smaller sized and lighter weight printer.

Cons: *Did not work at all when we used our (brand new) parallel printer cable. It took us a few hours to discover this was the problem. We recommend a USB printer cable instead (much easier, anyway).
*Set-up instructions did not include what type of USB cable the printer needs - not good for someone with little knowledge about these things.
*Must use included CD-ROM and install driver before use. Not "plug-n-play" like my older printers.

Other Thoughts: We have not set up network printing, so we don't know how that works.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/15/2008 9:21:55 AM

Rating + 5 Great for 150


Pros: Very fast printing. Drivers for all versions of XP (inc. 64-bit). Great, sharp laser quality. Hasn't jammed in ~100-150 pages (that's all I've printed). Looks nice, too.

Cons: It does indeed pull power--when you flip it on, and when it warms to print. At first, I had it plugged into an APC power supply with back-up and when I powered on the printer, the power supply unit shut itself down. So I plugged it into the wall and for a while i cringed when I heard the printer firing up, thinking it was going to a blow a breaker. But it hasn't.

Other Thoughts: When this thing goes on sale, grab one. Well worth $150.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/8/2008 8:27:14 PM

Rating + 4 Impressive quality


Pros: Excelent print quality, fast printing. Relatively compact size, does not take too much space.

Cons: Many reviewers complaining about printing envelopes. And they actually absolutely right. Envelopes are getting completely destroyed by this printer. But if you look at troubleshooting section of the manual you can find the solution:

a) Open the back cover.

b) Press against the “1” on the blue levers on either side of the printer as shown below.

c) As the top of the lever rotates backward, lift the bottom portion of the lever from below until it stops.

d) Close the back cover.

After this procedure it prints envelopes with no problem, great quality! And I have no idea why the manufacturer does not mention it in bold letters on the box.

Other Thoughts: Yes, it's pretty inconvenient to turn the printer around, access the back side, flip the levers back and forth... But since it really solves the problem I gave it four eggs.

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snobrdrkid07
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
11/5/2008 1:30:12 PM

Rating + 5 Brother HL-5250DN


Pros: This is a great printer:
-extremely easy to network
-great prints
-minimal curling
-great auto duplex
-input tray
-toner save

Cons: none at all

Other Thoughts: Great value
-its pretty easy on toner
-toner is a fair price (7000 pages for 69.99)

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stoat
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/1/2008 9:44:47 AM

Rating + 5 yay ipv6!


Pros: I bought this printer because of its network features and I have been fairly satisfied. I also liked the duplex feature but I haven't used it yet. It has good support for ipv6 which allowed me to print to it at home from a colocated server by lpr or uploading a postscript file, very simple and easy.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: It would be nice if you could view and delete individual jobs in the web interface.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/21/2008 5:58:57 AM

Rating + 4


Pros: Very fast printing. Easy setup for network printing. Works great with Vista (surprise). Amazing prize for a small business printer.

Cons: Runs a little noisy. Doors and flaps feel cheap.

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Mike
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/16/2008 7:59:39 PM

Rating + 5 The Shipping box was HUGE


Pros: Prints fast! Low settings are beyond good-enough for my college requirements. Double sided printing is quick and deliberate. Cartridges are ONLY $53 plus S&H from Newegg so look for them locally. That's cheap as (you know the rest).

Cons: Big box! (Not really a con, it wasn't broken in any way when it reached me). 9 Amps start-up power is nothing compared to my old HP (which I still love too). The old HP was 16.

Other Thoughts: I've worked with ALL kinds of printers, given 31 years of computer experience (BEFORE MS-DOS). Gives off a scent initially but I expect it to go away. Setup it easy, 1. setup the printer itself. 2. Run the software. 3. Plug in the appropriate cable to your set-up. 4. Print DUPLEX without an issue (even if it's Vista 64, IT HAD THE DRIVERS!!!!!!!!!!) I'm giving my old printer to Ma & Pa.

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phamen
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/16/2008 7:58:35 AM

Rating + 5 works great


Pros: plug and play at its best. I did have to get the name of the new printer from my router and then added the printer by name and not ip. this way if the ip changes it will still connect.

Cons: printer was an open box item. only one cd in the box. no paper work. there are scuff marks on the back and side of the printer. there are no stickers on the printer. like brother printers normally have. The box looks like it was resealed a couple of times.

Other Thoughts: other than a couple of scuff marks on it, the printer runs fine. I am not sure if this was supposed to be an open box item or if i was just lucky that way. if it was open item then it was not stated on the newegg website. All in all it runs fine so far. I gave it a 5 egg because the printer itself runs just fine. The open box thing is a newegg issue.

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BluJai
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
10/10/2008 6:25:08 AM

Rating + 5 Best printer I've ever owned


Pros: * Linux support!
* Fast print speed
* Inexpensive supplies
* Duplexing
* Built-in networking
* Fast warm-up

Cons: None!

Other Thoughts: I've owned no less than 10 printers over as many years and worked with more than double that. Multiple lasers and multiple inkjets. For black & white output this printer is the BEST purchase I've ever made. I've likely run 10,000 - 20,000 sheets through this thing and still get great output FAST.

For example, I printed 50 invitations in the highest quality 1200 DPI mode this week in under 2 minutes. That's even using the multipurpose tray, cardstock paper and custom paper size!

I cannot say enough good about this printer. Buy it now!!!

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esok
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/9/2008 6:28:01 AM

Rating + 5 Great printer


Pros: This is a great printer. It offers built-in networking, and works well with my Windows and Linux computers. Linux configuration is a little tricky but eventually I got it to work correctly. Duplexing works well on Windows and Linux. Can print wirelessly by hooking the printer into a wireless router.

Cons: none

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McCrum
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/6/2008 7:22:24 PM

Rating + 5 So easy!


Pros: My wife's a Mac, I'm a PC (Vista 64, drivers are available!) and while I'm using a desktop in the back next to the hub, she's working all over the apartment. I'm not a networking kind of guy, I don't want to put in a print server and deal with all of the addresses and IP numbers, but we just want to own one printer and have it print when we send things to it. It's not complex.

This is the solution. About 10 minutes on each machine for drivers via the enclosed CD and the staggeringly easy setup Flash program, a cable to the existing hub and we're done. No IP addresses. No extra cabling. No "Honey, try it now!" being yelled down the hall. This is the way every printer setup should be, networked or not.

Quick startup from off, great print quality. Good price and great reviews. I'm a fan.

Cons: Startup is a little noisy, but this isn't a major concern.

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Econ Teacher
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/30/2008 10:00:22 AM

Rating + 5


Pros: Fast printer. Newtwork capable. Low cost per page printing. Good graphics rendering for a laser. Easy setup. Duplex printing - 2 sided.

Cons: Clunking sounding while printing. Papers get real hot on big printing jobs.

Other Thoughts: Best bang for the buck printer I have ever owned.
I have made 1000's copies on this machine for my classroom & teaching needs. I have used Brother products for many years. (No Commercial!!) They seem to be a "good bank for the buck" product.

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kabel
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/30/2008 6:39:53 AM

Rating + 1


Pros: None

Cons: Few days after I bought this printer I reviewed it as an excellent printer. After owning it for six months I changed my opinion because drum unit quit working after 950 pages of usage. Factory warranty for the drum unit is 90 days, so it cannot be replaced by Brother and I am without printer now. The cost of new drum unit is outrageous. After having this problem I did a little research about faulty drum unit and people complain about it a lot, so I guess is my mistake that I didn’t do a good research before I decided to place the order. So, my point is that this printer cannot be considered as a cheap option, because Brother is tricking you with very low price out of door, but the maintenance costs for this printer are outrageous.

Other Thoughts: I just wanted to share my story with all of you and let you know that this printer is not cheap and reliable as I thought. After owning it for six months and after 950 pages definitely I am not recommending it and you should be aware of drum units with poor quality. Newegg has nothing to do with this problem, all complaint goes to Brother.

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Captn_starbring
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/29/2008 12:38:56 PM

Rating + 3 Amps of doom!


Pros: It was on sale and when running this is a fantastic priter with built in duplex.

Cons: HOWEVER, when it goes into sleep mode then wakes it pulls nearly 9 amps! at first it was making the UPS plugged into an outlet in the same room beep every so often when it printed, now the lights dim and both the computers in the room reboot and some of there files have corrupted as a result. Worst yet you can't turn off the sleep feature, just increase the number of min.s before it falls sleep(at least none that I could see).

Other Thoughts: I called tech support and they suggested a new outlet or giving the product its own surge protector....this was after I purchased a new UPS because I thought the older one was going bad. I know its my own fault in the end for not checking wiring and amps, but in a place less then 10 years old I didn't think I'd have to worry about tripping a breaker to print....ugh

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checkmate3001
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/28/2008 9:26:30 PM

Rating + 5 Linux Likes it. So do I! Nice job brother.


Pros: Works great with linux. I have zero complaints. Prints extremely fast and very high resolution. Goes into a sleep mode when not being used to save energy. It even turns off it's LED to save energy. Ready to print in less than 10 secs from sleep mode. Does double-sided prints really fast. Much better than my old inkjet HP. Has 3 ways to connect it to the computer: USB, LPT, CAT5. Awesome! Installed great as a network printer through SAMBA and CUPS.

Cons: Can't find one. It wasn't free.

Other Thoughts: Seriously get this one. I've never heard of Brother but decided to give them a try. I've never been happier. HP has some serious competition.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/24/2008 11:08:35 AM

Rating + 4 Nice Printer


Pros: Fast, duplexes, still has a old LPT port (parallel), seperate drum and toner units.

Cons: Somewhat flimsy build. Price is up almost 50% in one month!!! HMMM???? Toner is a little pricey, but does deliver extra pages in normal use as noted by others.

Other Thoughts: have bought 4 so far, one came repackaged (by UPS?) but was OK. One wanted to pull multiple sheets of paper at a time, but the client had had it leaning forward on the desk. Make sure it is level.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/22/2008 5:56:27 AM

Rating + 5 Great Printer


Pros: Printer is fast; The toner that comes with it last a long time (I've yet to change it and we print alot in our home office.

Cons: It is a little flimsy. All the plastic on it is sorta cheap. The paper really need to be fanned about to get air in between the paper sheets to avoid jams.

Other Thoughts: Overall one of my best purchases this year.

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Beeker425
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/20/2008 1:46:44 PM

Rating + 3 Power interference, noise, page curl taint a great printer


Pros: Network/USB/Parallel, duplex, fast, drivers that work with Vista x64, 1200x1200 DPI. The networking just worked, didn't have to fiddle with IP addresses or do any setup beyond loading the drivers. Placement of power button (right side, rear) is convenient - not hidden in the back like some.

Cons: 1) Considerable page curl on high grade 24# paper. [the top/bottom 1.5" don't lay flat]
2) Very loud (most lasers are)
3) Gigantic problem with power. When the printer is in standby (60W according to the specs) the computer UPS constantly toggles back and forth to battery and the room lights and lamps constantly flicker. Only goes away when it goes to sleep (5W). First, I had the printer plugged into the UPS (surge only plug), then plugged it into entirely separate outlet in the room (on the same 15A house circuit) and it thrashes the power. I'm replacing a laser printer, have a TV in here, and other high draw devices on the same circuit and never had a problem. If you turn everything off and just have the printer powered up, the lights and UPS (again not where the printer is plugged in) goes bonkers. Plug your printer in another room on another circuit you'll be OK, but that's not most people's situation.

Other Thoughts: Disappointed with what otherwise would have been a 4+ or 5 star printer. It's a great price for network and duplex support. Begins printing pages very quickly and is fast. Page curl definitely worse than other lasers. Graphics printing is very good. Replacement toner cartridges far more economical than the other big printer manufacturer.

Also, you might read reviews about how you can easily add PC133 RAM to increase the memory. Don't think you're going to just reuse some old computer PC133 memory you had sitting around because it requires the small form factor SODIMM which aren't the common computer memory modules. RAM is cheap, SODIMM is considerably higher. Personally, I don't see a need for upgrading beyond the 32M built-in unless you're doing complex large jobs.

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Jeff
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/14/2008 4:12:28 PM

Rating + 5 Awesome value


Pros: Fast, quiet, reliable and stunning text quality. 1200dpi mode (not interpolated). Reliable duplexing. Memory expandable with inexpensive PC100 or PC133 SODIMMs.

Cons: We're still trying to find one.

Other Thoughts: Brother's printer driver and admin/config utility were easy to install and have been bulletproof. We can't say the same things about other printer manufacturers.

We discovered clacking noises are a result of guides being locked too tightly against paper stock in the tray. Loosened up the guides a bit and these noises disappeared.

As other reviews have mentioned, if you prefer (or need) to squeeze every last page from your toner cartridges, Brother's low-toner sensor relies on a small window on the right side of their cartridges -- it can be easily bypassed by taping a small piece of white paper (the size of a standard hole punch) over this window. This is much preferable to other manufacturers, who intentionally provide no way to circumvent their sensors, even when cartridges have lots of toner remaining.

The list of money savers on this printer is amazing, on top of the its extraordinarily low initial cost compared to other duplexing/Ethernet printers. Highly recommend!

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BizGuy
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
8/8/2008 6:04:43 AM

Rating + 5 Excellent Printer !


Pros: We have a number of these in commercial use. They are EXTREMELY reliable and in over a year of use since we switched from HP's, I have never heard of a paper jam despite moderate usage levels. The HP's that we had were good for 6-9 months and then they started jamming constantly and needed a maintenance kit to renew the paper rollers. - Printer is DUPLEX, and network ready. The network port is a snap to setup, even for a home or small network user.

Cons: I can't think of a single one.

Other Thoughts: The sale price is cheaper than the network port alone for most other printers. I have a dozen of these purchase separately over a number of months. I have never seen any type of packing issue or damage.

You can't loose with this one !

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SchoolIT
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
8/6/2008 12:14:58 PM

Rating + 5 great value for duplexing/network printer


Pros: fast, duplexes, networks, check status online, price, toner cartridges are cheap (non-Brother)

Cons: only holds 250 sheets in paper tray

Other Thoughts: We now have 5 of them in our school, they are great, and the value is high, cost per page is very low - less than $.006 per page with 7000 pg toner cartridges.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
8/2/2008 3:03:26 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: Great quality, speed, duplexing, network worked immediately with no configuration needed. Hint: use Apple Bonjour to find it, even on windows.

Cons: None so far, other than a bit of paper curling when using duplexing, because it goes through the heater twice. Got it refurbed locally and I love it.

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Jonathan Morris
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/26/2008 1:24:42 PM

Rating + 1 Arrived Broken


Pros: Cheap price when compared to a comparible HP.

Cons: Arrived broken, visibily lower build quality that an HP.

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jjc
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/21/2008 9:30:57 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: Good price for a laser printer

Cons: Not easy to set up the networking feature. I bought 2 of these printers, one I finally was able to setup as a network printer in 1 workgroup, but the other one I was not able to set up in a separate group

Other Thoughts: If I spend more time to treak the second printer, I might be able to eventually set it up, but I didn't want to bother any more

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TeckBargins
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/17/2008 1:03:30 AM

Rating + 5 Awesome


Pros: Awesome working machine. Over 2k pages printed so far with not one issue.

Cons: small curl to page

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zephxiii
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
5/13/2008 9:39:59 AM

Rating + 5 Awesome


Pros: Network ready, Brother, Thought out design, Work horse, great, great non bloated drivers (way better than HP)

Cons: some minor paper curl, when set to duplex it runs both sides of the paper even though you are only printing on one side of it.

Other Thoughts: Overall i really like this printer, its a machine ready to rock, i would definitely buy another. Got over 2600 pages on supplied toner cartridge with Toner Saver disabled.

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virgusa
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/13/2008 6:15:43 AM

Rating + 4 Input Tray


Pros: Quick warm up and print.

Cons: Would like an option to use imput tray on demand. If paper is in this tray it prints automatically. Not useful to me.

Other Thoughts: Great service as usual from Newegg.

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Philosopher
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/28/2008 9:25:12 PM

Rating + 5 Wonderful...


Pros: It is quite fast. Did some time calculations, and with double-spaced text on the whole letter-sized sheet, it really does do that full 28 ppm. It has full duplex printing, with option of manual. Big 250 sheet paper tray with option of separate add-on tray. Hidden manual feed slot for exotic paper like envelopes. Network printing works well. Also very good through printer sharing. Over 800 pages printed so far and not ONE problem - no paper jams, double feeding, print alignment problems, ink smearing, or drops in speed. Finally: price. Mine was about 200 after rebate, all while HP or other brands charge more for similar printers.

Cons: Can get noisy as it says, but I haven't seen a printer that wasn't. It also does curve the page as the heat from the printer gets to it, also common of all laser printers. Print utility can get a little annoying as it pops up a small window, but I have disabled it. Go button is useless after initial installation printout unless you've paused printing. Stop button is not fast enough since it spits out many pages before actually stopping. When I do make a mistake in the print options, it can take a while to stop it, or for smaller jobs, they may just finish by the time I notice since it prints so fast. Says Energy-Star compliant, but I still think 610W while printing is high.

Other Thoughts: I am a writer, so when printing long manuscripts, especially for a workshop class or something, speed is especially important for longer print jobs. My old inkjet printer would take a good hour and a half to two hours for about 100 pages, single-sided only. This one does 100 pages, with duplex, in about 20 minutes. Tons faster too if they were one-sided.

Printing images in monochrome is decent, but inkjet is definitely better, especially since this is not for color printing.

One thing I'm watching out for is the "smart" ink sensor problem that everyone's talking about. I'll try that trick to bypass it if/when it comes up.

For the sake of foresight, it might actually be better to buy a new printer by the time that the drum's life ends since the latter is quite pricey and there will more than likely be better printers at that time.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

scojack52
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/27/2008 11:44:26 PM

Rating + 5 Meets all Expectations


Pros: Quick setup, Duplex Printing, $$/print solid, networking worked right away, prints fast.

Cons: having trouble connecting my work computer wirelessly but i think this is just me. I have one other computer connected wirelessly and one wired and they work fine

Other Thoughts: I debated a long time on a MFC All-in-one vs this and happy i made this decision. We take most pictures to costco to print or an online service so color wasn't an issue. Duplex saves trees and keeps the print outs light

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nweissma
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
4/22/2008 8:23:44 PM

Rating + 5 Provided As A Public Service


Pros: Brother provided the HL5250DN as a public service. I couldn't think of a bad thing to say about it even if i wanted to. It was Vista-compatible from the beginning (Jan. '07). Drivers have an astounding number of options. Re the "noise" that others in this forum are complaining about: I have never noticed it in 8 months of ownership. Just stay within the guidelines (use the recommended non-acidic, long-grain paper) and this machinery will treat you well.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I print 300-400 pages per month, so I do not need a heavy-duty printer. For these purposes, this machine is outstanding

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

silverthumb101
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/22/2008 7:06:25 AM

Rating + 5 Most RELIABLE printer!


Pros: What can i say, this printer beats any HP i've known!!! and i hated working around with printers! this makes my life too easy!

Cons: can't hardly find toner in local stores anymore...

Other Thoughts: The best part is that it can be connected to your network! NICE!!!

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Unkawo
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
4/4/2008 5:53:36 PM

Rating + 5 A Great Printer at a Low Price


Pros: I print a lot, most of it double-sided Government documents. This printer is a gem. It is fast, produces clean crisp copies, is reasonably quiet, and is low cost – both in purchase price and consumables.

It replaced a prior Brother laser (HL-1850) that also duplexed. The new printer is much faster, quieter, and cheaper than the old printer. The price of the printer was less than the price of a new toner cartridge and drum unit.

The built-in networking worked the first time and the set-up was easy. The copies are sharp and clear with excellent registration.

With drivers for Windows (including Vista), Mac, and Linux I can easily recommend this printer.

Cons: There are two areas where the old Brother printer (HL-1850) was superior to the new one – there is no straight through paper path so envelopes and other bulky items may now sometimes develop wrinkles when printed and there are no status messages, just flashing indicator lamps.

Other Thoughts: As more and more documents are printed on both sides these days – call it green or smart or frugal – the ability to have automatic duplexing becomes more important. The HL-5250DN offers both automatic and manual duplexing. (Why one would want to use manual duplexing is beyond me.) Most duplexing available allows for the printing as if you were reading a book bound on the left side. The 5250 also allows for duplexing where you flip the documents upward (as if in a prong folder or clipboard) as well as from the bottom or the right. It is the most versatile printer duplexing I have found.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

kabel
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/2/2008 7:00:23 AM

Rating + 5 Newegg


Pros: Perfect printer. I do not mind about paper curl, that is very minor thing. I replaced this printer with HP 1020 because i could not share it in my network. Share mode was working perfectly when HP 1020 was connected to XP Professional and XP x64 Professional but i could not make it to work with Vista 32 Ultimate and Vista x64 Ultimate in share mode. I have spent many days and nights talking to HP technicians and engineers, no joy at all. After all these troubles i have decided that this printer goes to dumpster and i replaced it with HL-5250DN (no need for share mode because it has network interface). Problems with network printing are gone, i can sleep now. I do not care how much current pulls, i can work around it, but if cannot print then becomes a problem.

Cons: Only cons here would be NEWEGG, because refuses to post mi reviews and my comments were strictly positive. What in the h??? is going on here? I do not know, do you?

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Blackbeard
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/16/2008 8:19:17 AM

Rating + 4 I'm satisfied


Pros: Cheap, fast, works.

Cons: Paper curl, like a lot of others have complained about. It's not that big of a deal for me, but if you're printing a stack, they tend to catch on each other and overflow the printed copy holder.

Other Thoughts: I've read a lot about the printer working just fine, then not working and having to be rebooted. I had the same problem and spent a couple of days trying to figure it out. My problem was a bad network cable. I wish someone had mentioned this fix before as it would have saved me a lot of time. Not Brother's problem, but it makes them look bad. PIBKAS.

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Gatorfan99
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/7/2008 8:07:40 AM

Rating + 4 Not Bad For Price


Pros: The duplex capabilities are great. Being able to conserve paper by printing on both sides is a big plus. Much faster than my previous Epson laser printer. Installation was a snap. No major driver issues like with most HP printers.

Cons: Power consumption. A number of folks have already posted it, but the lights dim every time you print. The UPS that one of my computers is connected to is constantly clicking due to the power draw on the printer. The paper curl is a nuisance, but not a big deal.

Other Thoughts: Overall, I like the printer. The only thing keeping me from giving it a 5 for overall rating is the power consumption.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

vertigo_2_20
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
2/28/2008 9:46:22 PM

Rating + 5 Recommended over the 2070N


Pros: I've owned this printer for a few months now, and so far I love it. I use it with my home computer, so it's not subjected to the abuse and excessive use of an office, so I can't attest to that, but I print a lot for a home user, and it's performed flawlessly. Fast, sharp, not too dark or too light, perfectly aligned, everything's just right. The duplex printing is great for class notes and powerpoints posted online by the teachers. It means half the paper to stick in my notebook, not to mention environmentally friendly and saves me money.

Cons: No color, but for the price and the size, I'm not complaining. Luckily, if I need color prints, I can do them on the color laser at work. The only real issue I have with it is that while configured for duplex printing, it prints the second half of the paper first, then the first half. This means that any pages that are only one-sided are spit out blank, pulled back in, then printed. The printer is fast enough that it's not a major issue, but I wish there was a way to change that, as it does slow it down some, and I imagine it's just more wear and tear on the mechanisms.

Other Thoughts: I wasn't sure if it was worth spending the extra money over the 2070N just for the duplexing and slightly faster speed. Not only do I now think it's worth it just for the duplexing, but I did the math on it when I was making my decision and realized that they are actually very close to the same price in the long run. The 2070N only comes with a starter cartridge, and if you look at the cost of another cartridge, and figure the percentage of that cartridge added to the starter one to get the same amount of prints you get with the full one that comes with the 5250, and you add that percentage of its price to the cost of the 2070, the 2070 costs almost as much as this one, and without duplexing.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
2/27/2008 5:34:18 AM

Rating + 5 Sounds broken, works perfectly


Pros: I got this printer about 2 years ago (not at newegg), and it still works as well as the day I bought it. In all this time, I think it has only jammed once.

Cons: It started making the "clacking" noise a couple months after I bought it, but despite sounding like something is broken, the problem remains limited to only noise.

Other Thoughts: Some people seem quick to dismiss the printer as bad only because of the noise. In fact, the guy at the Staples store where I bought this actually tried to convince me not to get it because people had been returning these. If the noise itself is a problem, then don't buy this. Otherwise, give it a chance. Mine had been making these noises for almost two years and hasn't broken yet.

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Wade
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
2/18/2008 6:58:52 PM

Rating + 5 High-quality, low cost


Pros: The network printing works great. Duplex printing and the low toner costs means this printer won't dent your wallet. Sure, the toner cost $60 to $70, but it last for about 10,000 sheets. That is less than 1 cent per page. The driver installation is easy, unlike most companies, especially HP and Lexmark (Dell). My last Brother last 10 years, I hope to get that many out of this one.

Cons: When on duplex mode, even 1 page prints always run through as duplex. And duplex printing tends to curl the pages.

Other Thoughts: Overall, Brother makes the best monochrome laser printers. And unlike the ink cartel, Brother doesn't try to gouge you on consumables. Even HP's laser printers have overpriced toner. If color is not required, you should only get a Brother printer.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Jim
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/23/2008 7:51:10 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: Fantastic printer so far.

Cons: It wasn't free and doesn't make waffles.

Other Thoughts: I am writing this to the people below.

lowik, "the network went out after one day" guy. It sounds like you are allocating a DHCP address daily, check your network settings. If you want static, make it static, don't blame the printer and give it a poor rating.

killerb255, look for a setting that says something "duplex no tumble" and it shouldn't print upside down on the back page.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

killerb255
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/23/2008 11:10:13 AM

Rating + 5 Price to performance ratio = consumer comes out on top!


Pros: 1) You get a lot of printer for the price: duplexing, Ethernet connection, fast printing, fast warm-up!
2) Works in Vista x64 without having to install drivers!

Cons: Duplexing is a little slower than on other models. Some printers duplex by printing the odd pages first and suck them back into the duplexer to print the even pages, speeding things up. This particular printer prints sequentially, slowing down the duplexing. In the grand scheme of things, that's not a huge issue.

Other Thoughts: If you're duplexing, remember to change the settings in the Printer Properties AND in the application you are running (i.e.: Adobe Acrobat). Otherwise, the printer will duplex upside-down.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

lowik
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/7/2008 10:05:38 AM

Rating + 3 Network defect


Pros: This printer prints fast.

Cons: The network went out after one day. Couldn't be seen from the gateway, sometimes it appeared then it changes IP address, often.

Other Thoughts: Otherwise an excellent printer, maybe just one of the few lemon's out there.

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danuitti
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
12/22/2007 8:05:31 AM

Rating + 5 AWESOME


Pros: Better price, better paper feed, USB/parallel and Network cabable. Prints double-sided. SAVES MONEY every day. This laser printer is awesome in every way.

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: use the high capacity TN580-7000 Black Toner Cartridge to save even more money

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sprockkets
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/21/2007 8:14:21 PM

Rating + 5 All good


Pros: Fast speed. Fully compatible with Linux since it supports PScript 3. PDD file on disk. Easy setup. When printing, not too noisy; does not make clunky noises like my HP 2200D.

Cons: Sets off UPS in my room, but due to electrical noise, but only when it wakes up. My HP2200D Duplexes pages 1 3 2 4, so as to print page 3 while page 1 reloads to print fast while duplexing; this one will do it all in order, thus slowing it down. Prints slower on 1200dpi. Takes about 1050 watts peak. Like another person said, will slow to half speed after 50 copies, BUT only on non 8.5x11 paper.

Other Thoughts: My old HP laserjet 6l and 2200d both will slow down on non 8.5x11 paper after awhile, so this is not a defect. The web page keeps track of pages printed and expects the tray loaders and fuser to last 100k pages. By that time you print 100k pages, you might as well buy a new printer :)

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Pete
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
11/4/2007 8:11:20 PM

Rating + 1 Terrible quality


Pros: The first month when it worked, it worked well. But then...

Cons: I purchased a HL-5250DN printer in July of 2006. It is extremely flimsy but it worked fine after installation. However, after only one month the Ethernet connection died. At the advice of Brother I brought it to a local certified service technician for repair in August. I picked it up a few weeks alter after the motherboard had been replaced. After I brought it home all prints showed significant smudging, streaks and ghost images. After significant time spent discussion this problem with Brother and trying to clean it with their service department on the phone, they reluctantly agreed to send me a replacement and take this one back. I received the replacement in October of 06. The prints from this machine were fine. However, it sounded like a broken piece of farm equipment when printing. While it did print it was obvious that any device making this kind of noises will break down.

Other Thoughts: Sure enough, on November 1st this year it stopped working unable to pick up paper and move it through the machine. We did not even use the starter toner cartridge that came with it.

I can only advice you not to buy Brother. This is the poorest piece of electronics equipment I have ever come across. It is obviously annoying to waste $200 on a printer that lasts only one year. Thinking about the thousands of devices that are made to just survive the warranty period and then turn into mountains of waste is even more depressing. Do yourself and the environment a favor and stay away from this product.

3 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/4/2007 2:17:14 PM

Rating + 5 Superior to Samsung ML-2550


Pros: Fast, Quiet, Small, Ethernet! Full duplex! Great Manual, Great Software, Great Website

Cons: Paper curl, light-duty construction.

Other Thoughts: I'm quite happy with this printer. If you need full-duplex, this is definitely the best option around. AND it has built-in ethernet and good drivers. I'm happily printing from Vista, XP and Mac.

Paper curl is very minor and sheets flatten out again in a few minutes. My only gripe is the plastic construction seems a little fragile. But it works great and seems very well designed.

I bought this printer to replace my Samsung ML-2550. The Samsung paper feed was broken so it could no longer grab paper. This problem revealed to me that Samsung's manuals and website were missing key information. And Samsung's tech support was awful. I bough the Brother rather than waste anymore time trying to get the Samsung working. I encourage buyers to compare manuals, drivers and other ancillary materials before buying any peripheral.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
10/23/2007 8:08:34 PM

Rating + 5 Powerful printer, emphasis on the power, II


Pros: The printer has held up well in the month and half we've used it.

Cons: I contacted Brother and eventually was able to reach somebody there who actually knew about this printer (no mean feat, Brother support is mediocre) to provide the real specs. Peak power usage was listed as 1200 watts, not the 600 watts they advertise, but consistent with what I measured with my own power meter.

Other Thoughts: The published power specs are wrong and Brother knows it. The real peak current draw is very high and not very compatible with other equipment being on the same circuit. Those power spikes we've been discussing are real. They won't burn your house down, as they only last a second, and the average power consumption is low. But they will blow a breaker if there's another 1000W of load on a 15AMP circuit.

It's a good printer, just be careful where you plug it in.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Matt
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
10/22/2007 7:28:07 PM

Rating + 5 Excellent networking printer!


Pros: This printer is both cheap to buy and own. Replacement toner is available for <50$ if you shop around for the tn580 (the 7000 page). I have had no problems with the unit slowing down when printing large jobs of 50-150 pages. The network setup on this printer took literally seconds, and now we can print anywhere in the house wirelessly with our laptops. No paper jams with about 1000 pages so far. Duplex printing is extremely easy to use with the supplied driver showing you exactly how the finished pages will flip.

Cons: The pages that come out of the printer are nice and toasty, so my girlfriend always puts them on her cold feet. :-D

Other Thoughts: I'm not sure why people make paper curling out to be this horrible problem. All I do is place the completed documents on a table for about 30 minutes, and they flatten right back out. I have not experienced paper curl worse than the edges of the sheets barely lifting off of the table with this unit. This printer does draw quite a bit of power. But you should not worry about putting it on the same circuit as your other equipment. The reason is simple math; this unit draws about 600 watts on average, or 5 or so amps (depending on voltage conditions) during printing. The minimum circuit ampacity in a home is 15 Amps. That leaves 10 amps of current, or 1200 watts of power for other devices. So don't let other reviewers scare you out of buying this printer because of that.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

admin
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
10/22/2007 11:39:48 AM

Rating + 2 Brother Problems


Pros: When it works, it works well. Network setup for this printer is easy.

Cons: I have returned this printer 2 times now. It wrinkles pages as it prints randomly.

Other Thoughts: Refurbished toner for this model has give us noting but head aches.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

El Booty
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
10/17/2007 12:05:44 PM

Rating + 2 Loved it while it worked...


Pros: Affordable, fast enough for me, duplex feature, built-in ethernet port.

Cons: No LCD panel display makes configuration and troubleshooting a bit more difficult. The http admin page leaves something to be desired. Service documentation is MIA from what I can tell.

Other Thoughts: I bought this printer, owned it for about 2-3 months and things were great. I don't like messing with the typical install CDs, so I plugged it into my router, checked to see which DHCP address it pulled, then used the web admin page to give it a static IP. All that went reasonably well for 2-3 months, as I said. Then, one day out of the blue, all 3 lights on the printer started blinking, and the thing wouldn't print. I checked the web admin interface, which has a fake LCD-type display that read 'Error 50 - Service Call'. Google got me no where. I've attempted multiple calls and e-mail to Brother for support, but no luck... some guesses at a bad fuser or circuit board, but I can't find a service manual available for download anywhere. So the thing's been a giant paperweight for the last few months. Every now and then I turn it back on, hoping somehow I'll magically find a way to make it work, only to give up an hour later with no luck. :(

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/16/2007 1:53:47 PM

Rating + 5 Great choice for Vista-compatible networked printer


Pros: Brother has a winner. The print quality is flawless, especially at 1200 dpi. The printer is very speedy, and also has very quick warmup time. We had to leave our old printer off due to its fan, but the brother can stay on indefinitely in stand-by, it only wakes once a print job is sent to it. And the first page comes out in less than 10 seconds. Brother has up-to-date drivers and management tools for download on their website, and the printer is completely Vista compatible for all features.

Cons: It does pull quite a bit of power when it warms up to kick out the first page; it actually triggers our UPS's on the same circuit to go to battery power for a second or two when the voltage drops. But I have the UPS's set quite sensitive, and no harm done.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

DShizzel
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/8/2007 12:22:55 PM

Rating + 5 Decent Printer


Pros: Speedy, easy setup, good networking, duplex capability, cost effective for casual home office use.

Cons: None observed.

Other Thoughts: This replaced a 12 year old LaserJet4 that had finally given up the ghost. We don't have to print a lot, but when we do, we want it fast and clean. This printer seems to be doing the job for us.

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enigmuh0
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/28/2007 9:16:03 PM

Rating + 5 Incredible value!


Pros: auto duplexing, network/workgroup printer, 28 ppm. ink won't smear (laser printer), network printing works with MS Windows, Macintosh OS X, and Linux (CUPS). Fast! Good print quality. A great value at $200! No paper jams yet.

Cons: none that I can find, save perhaps that in humid environments it will curl paper, but I expect any drum laserjet that uses heat to bake toner onto the page might do that.

Other Thoughts: about the envelope wrinkling issue cited by some reviewers: if you open the back panel and change the spacing levers from "1" position to "2" position, this printer will print envelopes without wrinkling them.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
9/15/2007 5:48:26 PM

Rating + 5 Powerful printer, empahsis on the power


Pros: Inexpensive, prints quickly (both time to initial page and time per page), duplexes, excellent print quality. Noise level is acceptable (mine does not "clack" as some do, but it is brand new.)

Cons: The drum unit is only good for 25000 pages and a replacement drum costs almost as much as a refurbed 5250DN.

I plugged mine into a Kill-A-Watt meter, since there were many comments about dimming lights and the like. This printer spikes to very high power usage when starting or warming up. It tends to fluctuate rapidly from very high to very low before settling down. The Kill-A-Watt measured over 900 watts several times, and once just above 1000 watts. The highest I've seen a B/W laser printer go previously was around 600 watts (various other brands). The Brother manual says it draws 600 watts average when printing. Well, that may well be right if averaged over a longer time period, but on the 1 second time scale the printer can be a real current hog.

I'm a bit concerned about how much current it might be drawing on time scales below what I could measure. That 900W may be a 15A or 20A spike. Think twice before putting this printer on the same circuit with other equipment.

Other Thoughts: Only had it a day. We'll see how well it holds up.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Al
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
9/7/2007 12:35:58 PM

Rating + 5 Bang for the buck


Pros: Great print quality. Very compact, sits in the corner. Does what is told, without a mind of its own. Hardly ever had paper jams. Highly recommended.

Cons: -none-

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rootchick
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/5/2007 2:00:05 PM

Rating + 3 Cheap paper tray


Pros: Works with linux, great when it actually works. I have this on a network of about 20 thin clients.

Cons: The paper tray is really cheaply made--the part that sets the paper size is really touchy. If it accidentally gets moved to a position that holds the paper too tightly--and that will happen on a printer tray being refilled by numerous people--it will make nasty noises, flash error lights, etc. In other words, the thing is too flimsy for a fairly high-volume printer, which is too bad, because otherwise it's a nice printer.

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anoir
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/16/2007 8:23:18 PM

Rating + 5 Recommended for Linux


Pros: This printer by Brother is one of the best printer with a good speed, network interface, and duplex printing for its price.

As outlined in OpenPrinting, it works flawlessly with Linux. Just add a printer with a driver in the driver CD for best quality.

Cons: No USB cable. Buy one if you don't have.

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KBentley57
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/16/2007 6:14:42 PM

Rating + 5 Great printer


Pros: Great printer right out of the box. Newegg delivered quickly as well. Setup on a network is a breeze, and the pages print rather quickly. It also does not take up alot of room on the desk, only about 14" x 10" x 16".

Cons: causes some very minor page curl, not enough to make a noticable difference.

Other Thoughts: Seems to be a great printer for the money. I am using it for a small business, and it should do the trick, (1-10 computers)

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
8/13/2007 11:57:26 AM

Rating + 3 OK Printer


Pros: I purchased 2 of these printers as workgroup printers. Reasonable purchase price and operating cost. Quiet. Prints duplex. Good print and print speed.

Cons: Both printers jamb frequently even though they are only printing to letter size paper (no envelopes, etc) and almost always at the rear of the printer. Both have 2 paper trays and I found one of the printers jambs less with the 2nd tray removed. This had no affect on the other one. Jambing happens more frequently as the paper tray empties. The jamb is easy to remove but is very annoying.

Other Thoughts: These replaced 2 old HP Laserjet 4's. They print much faster but the Laserjet's never jambed. If not for the jambing I'd rate them a 5 star.

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Donnie
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/23/2007 3:17:50 PM

Rating + 5 Great printer


Pros: EASY to setup. Out of the box, on my network and printing in less than 10 minutes. Duplex printing, and sets up just as easily on Vista as on XP (be sure to get the official Brother drivers for extra functionality over Vista's default drivers)

Cons: Sometimes causes the lights to dim when starting up for printing, but it's not bad

Other Thoughts: Bought this for a client for his everyday printing. Now I want to get one of my own.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/18/2007 10:27:05 AM

Rating + 5 Fast


Pros: extremely fast, duplex and booklet printing, and hooks easily up to your LAN router so every comp in your place can have access to it.

Cons: no color printing, but if you really want to print good looking photos or graphics, you should probably go to a print shop anyway.

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