Affordable, reliable laser quality
Written: Mar 05 '07
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Pros: Excellent print quality for text, quick printing speed, trouble-free.
Cons: Causes a small brownout while in use; loud.
The Bottom Line: I recommend this printer for anyone who desires excellent text quality and speed without wanting to shell out lots of cash.
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| wvhokie55's Full Review: Brother HL-5140 Laser Printer |
I purchased the HL-5140 on eBay a little more than two years ago. At that time, I was a college student who was sick of shelling out money on ink cartridges every couple of months and having to buy a new inkjet printer every year.
Setup
The printer itself has a fairly small footprint, so it doesn't take up much room on your desk. I didn't experience any problems hooking it up and it worked right off the bat.
Quality
Most of the stuff I print is text, and the printer renders it very well. Pictures don't look too great, though I really don't use it for that. Charts, graphs, and line art look great. The printer is incredibly fast.
I've also used this printer to print envelopes and labels, and it does great with both.
Upkeep
Here's the neat thing...I haven't put one cent (other than electricity) into this printer since I purchased it. The drum life is currently at 89% or so, after printing about 2,000 pages. I've never had to put toner in it, either.
Gripes
This machine really sucks the power when you first turn it on...enough to create a small brownout for any other devices on the same circuit. The lights dim noticeably whenever it "wakes" up and starts to print. I imagine this could probably be fixed by using a UPS, since those usually include a power conditioner. Since this hasn't affected the operation of the computer, I'm not gonna worry about it too much.
The printer is somewhat loud while printing because of its fans.
I have noticed that manual duplexing can sometimes cause paper jams. This seems to happen most often when the humidity is really low.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 150 Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID: wvhokie55
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Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 0 members
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