Very fast easy to set up with Mac OS X and cheap.

I had considered purchasing a laser printer in the past but my little inkjet seemed more cost-efficient. Now that I'm into my dissertation and need to print 20+-page articles every few days - sometimes 9 or 10 at a time - the inkjet is no longer useful for my purposes. I saw this printer for very cheap at Staples and decided to go for it.



I am unsure about real-life cost-effectiveness since I've only had the printer for a few days. I am still using the starter toner that came with the printer. It has lasted through about 250 pages of full text so far. I ordered the high-yield (2500-page) toner from Staples for $61 including tax. Drum replacement looks to be about $100 every 12000 pages (every 4 toner cartridges). That says it will cost about $350 every 12000 pages or so if the printer lasts that long.



This printer is small and light and very simple. When it runs out of paper it gives the red error message. You add paper press the single button and it works again. Startup-to-print time is very quick - less than 10 seconds after flipping the power switch. I was stunned at how fast pages came out of this little thing (quicker even than the HP 2300 I have in my office). And yes the lights in my apartment dim when it prints.



I use this with a Macbook Pro over Airport Extreme (it worked! first try!)



I am confident in my purchase. (But not so confident that I waived the $15 warranty option when I purchased from Staples for $69 after rebates!)



2 caveats: this printer does not come with a USB cable (but my $3 USB 2.0 cable worked just fine.) As I said it only comes with a starter toner which is supposed to last only 250 pages (mine has lasted exactly that and no fading yet).More detail ...

Great printer but programmed to rip you off in toner

I bought the HL-2170W from Amazon at the beginning of 2008. I found it very easy to configure for both wired and wireless networks although I use mine on a wired connection out of convenience. I print mostly plain text and the quality is very good.



I have but two complaints:



First the paper comes out slightly curled but this is a fact of life for a printer this size.



Second Brother has programmed the printer such that when its thinks the toner is empty it stops working. This happened to me when I was printing some important documents. I did some internet searches and examined the toner cartridge. There is a clear plastic circle at each end of the toner cartridge. The printer shines a light through to see how full the toner is. Simply cover one of them with a piece of opaque tape and the printer will think that the toner is full. I've already gotten 1500+ pages out of the starter toner that was "empty" at 983 with no difference in printed quality.More detail ...