Brother Hl-2170w Laser Printer Plus Review

Brother has been a company that was famous even back in the 90s for its all-in-one devices that serve small and large businesses in accomplishing multitasking operations in mission critical situations. But recently, Brother has been competitive in single purpose devices as well and the HL-2170W is one of the contenders.

The Brother HL-2170W looks like an appliance that belongs in your kitchen from afar, but it is actually a laser printer with wireless and wired network interfaces for better flexibility in usage. Going back to the design, its sleek look makes it ideal for small rooms and can conveniently be placed on any office desk.

As a laser printer, it has the usual advantages: Low cost per printed page (we're seeing it at about 7 to 8 cents a page, versus 25 cents per page for an inkjet), and it's a pretty fast printer - getting 23 pages per minute on straight text, and about 7 pages per minute with graphics. It comes with 32 MB of RAM built in, which explains a good chunk of the speed.

The sheet feeder holds half a ream (250 pages), and it's got the obligatory multipurpose tray for things like printing on envelopes and letter head. Toner loads into the front, making it convenient to refresh supplies when needed. While they claim that the toner cartridge is good for 1000 pages, in practice it's about 700 with typical report printing, and much less with full coverage graphics.

Connectivity is where the HL-2170W shines. While the wireless can be a bit of a pain to set up, the online documentation will walk you through it with only a few bumps along the way. Once it's configured, it appears on your network and can be accessed by other wireless devices on your router. A saving grace is if your router supports SecureEasySetup, which will aotomatically detect and report the printer. The included drivers support Mac as well as Windows, though Linux support is currently sparse and cryptic.

What this printer isn't is quiet. It's a surprisngly noisy printer when it's running, which is unsurprising given its small size - there's less dead space to put sound deadening materials in; this is its major drawback for use in a dorm room. Because it's a laser, the cost per printed page is roughly 7 to 8 cents, which compares nicely to inkjets, which run 12-24 cents per printed page depending on coverage. This adds up fast - it only takes two toner cartridges to make up the higher price point on the laser printer.

All that said, if you work in a typical office environment, there's enough background noise to make it acceptable. Just don't expect to print and watch television at the same time if you've got it at home.

The Brother HL-2170W is not built for graphics printing and quiet areas, but it remains to be an excellent addition to any office that demands wireless freedom and speedy text printing. The documents also look great and again, the price is its main strength.