Brother HL

People have to keep buying new HP printers because their old ones keep breaking. Consumers are not rational or well-informed. In contrast, my Brother HL-5340D printer from 2008 is still working fine to this day. There have been been zero required firmware updates that could have, as HP said in their release notes, "improved firmware update and cartridge rejection experiences." It doesn't reject cartridges, it still takes the same TN-620 toner replacements made by Brother or a hundred other vendors. I'm unconcerned about security because the only connections are a USB type B 2.0 input that presents a PCL/CUPS compatible driver... and also a DB-25/Centronics printer port, of course, as a printer should have. I gave Brother like $250 of my limited cash as a sophomore engineering student in college, and a nominal $50 for a remanufactured toner cartridge every 3000 pages (several years) and then haven't bought a replacement printer for home since then. I don't know if I've ever replaced the drum, but I should probably do that - it's old enough to vote and deserves to be freshened up. I suppose I have bought a several of their printers for work and I've recommended Brother lasers to a bunch of family members for who I'm 'the tech guy', so that's some revenue in their direction, but probably less profit than if I'd bought a new HP inkjet and a couple HP cartridges every 2 years. Also consider that not only have I spent less money on printers than an HP buyer, I've encouraged fa…

I bought a Brother HL-2140 at least 15 years ago on sale for less than $100. Still using it. Replaced the drum, toner, etc. with all 3rd party stuff. Prints forever on a toner cartridge, cheap, almost always works. I print regularly for the business so it was not occasional use. As a bonus, I block the sensor port on the ink so that it can run the toner longer...I know it isn't great for the drum...but 3rd party drums are cheapish. USB only but oh well...it works.

I bought a very similar looking $120 Brother HL-2170W 13 years ago after moving cross country and being unable to justify schlepping my trusty Laserjet 4 Plus. I’ve apparently only printed 6500 pages and I think I’ve changed the toner two or three times but it has been surprisingly trusty for the price point.

I can second this. I got a Brother HL-2270DW about 12 years ago and I have had no major complaints with it. Works great on Linux too.

I bought a basic b&w two-sided laser printer in 2011 for this purpose, and it's served me extremely well over the years. You can then take the stack of pages to a store like Staples and they will bind it for you for a few dollars. I got the Brother HL-2270DW and I think they still make it. They even publish official Linux drivers for CUPS! Just make sure to get the extended toner cartridges, the regular ones are a ripoff.

Having done the ink jet song and dance for a while with multiple printers over the years I bought a color laser jet Brother HL-3170CDW printer 10 years ago for $170. Wireless and it just works. Economical as well with the cartridges. For photo quality I just use the local pharmacy.

I just checked my purchase history and I'm a month short of it being ten years ago. Not bad for a printer. Brother HL-3140CW. Color laser printer. If you'd have told me it'd still be working ten years later, I wouldn't have believed you. I print so sporadically, but when I do, it just works. Does AirPrint from smartphones, etc. My only complaint with this model is that it actually has no Ethernet port, so it connects only via WiFi. Seems like a strange trade-off for something like a printer.

I have a very old (more than 10 years old) Brother HL 2130 that still works like a charm. I changed the toner only twice, I added an RPi behind it to have it network-enabled. Also one of my best purchases !

> Which brother do you have / recommend? I have been quiet happy with my OKI but the phone connection is the only letdown so far and I might change for a brother in the future. I have a brother HL-2270dw that I've been using for more than 10 years that I'm happy with. I don't think they make that exact model anymore, but Wirecutter recommends the HL-2350dw (I don't know what you get for the extra $10 to get a HL-2370dw): https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-home-printer... I've got it hooked up to my wired network, and have never had an issue with it. I really like the duplex printing. I prefer my devices to do one thing, so I've avoided combo devices.

I just crossed the decade mark with my Brother HL-2240, purchased in June 2013. I put a Raspberry Pi + CUPS on it for network printing. The resolution is a little low and I wish I had color, but I did buy the printer for literally $60 new.

I bought a new Brother HL-L8360CDWT color laser printer in September 2017 for $349.99 and it still works great after 6 years of heavy use. I am extremely impressed with this printer. I used to run it with cheap 3rd party cartridges, which worked fine, but this year I finally had to break down and buy official ones. I also have a Canon MF6160dw black and white laser printer, scanner, copier, fax that is a bit older and it's had even more use. It's great, and I use it to scan to my Synology NAS all the time as well. I'm very, very happy with these two printers.

I bought a black and white laser printer (Brother HL-L2350DW) because paying a little extra for laser up front results in much total lower cost of ownership due to the cartridges lasting much longer than ink jet. I have had it almost 5 years and I've only replaced the cartridge once.

looks under desk HL-2270DW, but that version appears to be an older model now (I've had it for about 5 years). Check out the newer version on Amazon for $80, its the version I bought for my Grandmother and it is just as reliable. https://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL-L2340DW-Monochrome-Wireles...

Hear! Hear!!!! Practical, reliable, affordable and just works technology; The amazing Brother HL-L2320D printer. I can't remember the last time I bought toner. The thing just keeps on printing. I think they make a wireless version, but I can't be bothered to change something that just works the way this printer has. We have fancy printers at work that are also Laser based and they are not as reliable the printer sitting next to me.

I have a similar story about mine, but it’s nearing seven years old and just keeps doing what it does. It doesn’t even have WiFi or AirPrint, but brother has an app that can print to it when you’re on the same network with an iPhone, which is surprisingly convenient. HL-2170W and iPrint&Scan

I bought a Brother HL 2130 in 2011. It's a cheap monochrome laser printer-only. I works well under Linux, Windows, MacOS. Toner cartridges last forever, drum lasts even more forever, I never had any problem with it, and it still works like a champ. So a big big +1 for Brother laser printers !

My Brother HL-5170DN has been my daily driver since I bought it new. I don't know how old it is, but the web page says "Copyright(C) 2000-2003". 25k pages printed, so that's about three pages a day, every day.

I’ve only have two printers in the past 13 years, a Brother MFC-7840w, which worked perfectly and I only gave away because my family wanted a color printer. The upgrade was an HL-2170CDW. I have no complaints with either. I’ve even gone through my starter toners on the color laser and bought a knockoff set for 70$ which included two black toners with all the colors, and have been quite surprised at the quality. Both have had wireless support and print from phones without issues.

I couldn't be happier with my Brother HL-L3290CDW all-in-one. I posted this response to a similar question here 3 months ago: >"I got tired of the user-hostile shenanigans, bad software, low-quality output, and high TCO (5 or 6 HP or Canon devices over the years), finally came to my senses and bought a Brother. It "Just Works", is fast and quiet and reliable, does exactly what it's supposed to, and is in such stark contrast to the typically terrible printer UX it's almost funny." Coincidentally, just yesterday it warned of low black toner (for the 1st time) and I realized I actually believe it, given all the printing my family's done this year. I've read that it supports non-OEM cartridges, will find out for myself in a day or two.

Yes, because a person doesn't only ever want to print things to their own printer on their own network. Sometimes a person wants to be able to ask their friend "Hey, can I print something?" while over at their friend's house. The problem is iOS's unwavering demand for AirPrint and fundamental disrespect for every pre-existing CUPS printer that still works perfectly with every macOS, *nix, and Windows PC. Every computing device on the planet other than iPhones and iPads prints just fine to network printers that don't support AirPrint. So, yeah, it would be best to fix that problem on the mobile device side, because the problem is the mobile device itself not the network or the printer. macOS automatically detects my Brother HL-2280DW just fine even without a custom Brother CUPS driver installed, because that printer already supports Bonjour, but iOS refuses to see it.

Yes, I've been happy with the Brother HL-L3230CDW. Seems to work fine with Linux, Android, iOS and Chromebook clients on the same network as well, which is nice.

I have the Brother HL-L2305W referenced[0] in the article. After I purchased it, I added it to the Wifi network and it showed up as a printer on my Linux machine. Stays mostly turned-off except when I need to print at which point I turn it on, it connects seamlessly, prints and I again turn it off. My wife can print to it from her iPhone and she is not a tech savvy person. All the high praise about Brother's monochrome laser printers are well deserved. [0]: https://www.theverge.com/23642073/best-printer-2023-brother-...

I have both HL-2300 (USB) and HL-2370DW (USB/Eth/WiFi). 2300 I had for what feels like a decade and went through at least 5 toner cartridges, all cheapest possible off-brand from Amazon or eBay, every single one worked perfectly. The 2370DW is still on first cartridge, quick check on Amazon shows bunch of compatible of-brand cartridges so I don't think there should be any problems. HL-2300 is often used to print from my Linux laptop, through CUPS I think. These things just... work.

Purchased a Brother HL-L2360DN laser printer many years ago for the grand total of £83. Still feels like a steal to this day. It does have network printing, but not WiFi, only an ethernet connection. I only print sporadically, but when I do I want it to be reliable. And it never disappoints. I've changed the toner maybe once or twice. I've recently purchased a Brother PT-H110 label maker which uses thermal printing. It has helped me tremendously with organising things. They make amazing gear, I honestly hope the company never changes.