Brother HL-2700CN color laser printer Review

The Brother HL-2700CN color laser printer has an incredible printing speed that not many printers can lay claim to. The printer prints text at a speed of 18.6 pages/ minute. The color graphics are printed at a reasonable speed of 3.1 pages/ minute. The machine is known for its great output performance. It’s also moderately priced at $500. It has a box like design. It weighs around 69.3 pounds.

The printer has a web interface (which is built in). This interface helps in managing the printer properly. The Brother HL-2700CN also has administration software. A big company can probably use its own SNMP applications.

This printer is not a good option for big companies. Paper handling is quite simple and thus it’s ideal for those groups where printing needs are not much. Its paper drawer can hold up to 250 sheets. There is no bypass tray. So if you want to get things printed on a legal size paper; you need to buy a tray worth $150 for the main drawer.

You can get an extra 500 sheet drawer if you want to increase the paper holding capacity. But the drawback with this is its price. The additional drawer price is expensive at $550 and it’s not even fit for legal size papers. The Brother HL-2700CN is geared toward home office and small business owners, but this heavy price means that most will not be able to afford this additional upgrade.

The printer doesn’t produce good quality print outs. The letters in the text aren’t clear. They do not clear edges and margins. The color graphics lack contrast and appear too dark. Banding is also seen in some of the graphics. That is just one of the big drawbacks with this color laser printer model.

Brother HL-2700CN has toner cartridges which are preinstalled. However the initial black cartridge produces around 5,000 pages and the rest of the toner cartridges (yellow, magenta and cyan) will produce 3,000 pages each. So you need to replace them after some time. The replacement color cartridge costs around $164.99 whereas its $169.99 for the black one.

The printer’s software supports Windows, Linux and Mac. The driver has options for manual duplex, watermark print modes and poster. You can get a duplex unit for double side printing. However this costs you a whopping $999. Tools are also available if you wish to create extra fonts or bar codes. It has many other useful features too. It has a 64MB memory which can be increased.

The biggest asset of this color laser printer is its speed. It prints texts at a very high speed. It’s also easy to manage. It is definitely a safe bet for small business. However because of simple paper handling, it can not be used on large scale.

The printer comes with a one year warranty period. Any defective parts during this time period can be replaced. The customer service for Brother HL-2700CN color laser printer is available at all times. If you need any further information on this printer, you can visit Brother’s website.

When you buy the printer, you get two user guides- regular and network user guides on CD ROM. These guides have all the details about the printer. You can get all the installation details here. You also get a Quick setup guide where the driver installation and printer setup procedures are printed in detail.

Given the pros and cons, it would be safe to say that the Brother HL-2700CN color laser printer is great for small offices because of its remarkable speed. Its cheap price also adds to its value. Its running cost is also quite low and it will definitely prove to be effective in the long run. Only its color graphics are bad. So if you are mainly interested in printing color graphics, then this printer isn’t for you. This printer could be a great option for many, but the additional upgrades are much too expensive for smaller companies.