Rating: 
Summary: Brother HL-1440: Don't buy unless you got $$$ to burn.
Review: I bought Brother HL-1440 about seven months ago because some people said how good it was. It turns out to be a disaster! I am not a heavy user. My toner still has 99% of its capacity. Now I am getting vertical lines every time I print. These vertical lines will gradually disappear after about 20 pages of printing, but then come back after a few hours. I tried to clean every part I can get my hands on. I contacted Brother's customer support. They told me I need to buy a new drum/toner unit, which was almost at the same price as the printer itself. They refused to send me a new drum unit because the drum unit was consider as "consumable" and therefore only had six months of warranty. So, unless you have some $$$ to burn, don't buy this printer!
Rating:
Summary: Feeling cheated
Review: I feel like I shouldn't add anymore review for this product, but I'm obligated to since this product is a waste of money and Brother should have it recalled like what they're doing with their other printers.The first few months, print quality was clear (not one hundred per cent clear since I had to constantly clean the Drum unit by sliding the little thing on it), but after about five months, quality was dirty. Printouts would have black smudges and streaks. There would be a barely readable duplicate of a document I printed on the same page, kind of acting like a background. Solutions that Brother recommended did not work. This printer costs about $165 dollars. Buying a new Drum unit and a new toner is also about that price.
Rating: 
Summary: The little printer that can
Review: Yes, it can. In so many ways. Cheap, fast, router compatible, and easy to set up. I liked the design and price of this unit but was even more impressed as soon as I opened the box. They walk you through every step with very clear animations on the CD, and also have an excellent paper quick start guide. Never a doubt about what to do. The installation also puts a nice little help file on the computer that also animates and explains the most likely maintenance issues that you have to address. Overall, very clear and very user friendly. The clarity and speed of the output is wonderful. Its start up time from rest in under 10 seconds. Can't beat it. Connecting it to my router using XP was also great. After routinely installing the printer driver, I merely went to my old printer driver that was set up for the router, changed the device on the 'advanced' tab, and I was done. Why four stars? Its only rated to take about 340 watts when printing but I notice my lights slightly flickering as it starts each page. I hsve too many peripherals plugged into the outlet so I want to see if that helps. And I'll also try customer support to see what they come up with. I'll update this review when I know more about that.
Rating: 
Summary: Replace the drum immediately
Review: This printer is great, fast, and relatively quiet. One problem exists--when it goes on sale or has a rebate it seems they do this to move the stock along because the drum unit is bad or sub-standard. You might find yourself replacing the drum unit within about three months. The symptoms are that the printer leaves black lines across the printout and, later on, covers the entire sheet with a faint gray tint.
Rating: 
Summary: Let's See, the 1440, the 5040, the 5140 Decisions, Decisions
Review: Welcome to the world of laser printing. You're talking to someone who came from a time when laser printers were a five figure investment. Sure they created print that was so smooth, that the edges were like glass, even under a microscope. Like the rest of us, we trudged through the fuzzy, dull, and off gray text of bubble jets, until they finally created one that would give you a nice edge to the naked eye. Under a microscope even todays latest results are not equal to this inexpensive 1440.
To be creating professional looking text for only two cents per page, and at the rate of up to 15 PPM, for this kind of money makes it a must have. I broke out the super magnifying glass and the edges are glass smooth. My Lexmark X83, which is touted at "laser like" doesn't pass the under the microscope test. I still like the X83 for color work, and since it is a multi-user machine, for it's scanning and copying features. If you have a bubble jet, or inkjet machine, you want a Brother laser printer too. You can hook one up to the USB port, and put the other one on your printer port, thanks to Brothers dual input, standard printer cable, or USB capacity.
Some other great features are: 250 sheet paper tray that sits under the unit, which is reminiscent of the better machines. With up to 15 PPM print speed, the first time you see it print, you think it is a printing mistake because it is coming out so fast. No sooner does the previous sheet hit the tray, one is coming out right on top of it. It comes with 2 Meg of ram built in, and is expandable with a single slot which will take up to a 128 Meg chip. (Something available very inexpensively for a generic, check it out via a google search.) The main feature of the brother line of printers is that they have a very professional look for an entry level laser.
First and foremost, as stated in Consumer Reports, who rated the Brother 1440 as their number one pick, the per page print cost is only 2 cents per page. Compared to a MINIMUM of 6 cents, and as much as $1.50 per page for an inkjet photograph, you can see how quickly printing costs can add up. With the Brother laser printers, you can concentrate more on how you can print your message to the world, instead of how you are going to afford to keep pumping lots of money into your inkjet cartridges.
A key advantage to a laser printer is that they use a dry powder, instead of wet ink that can and does dry out. I have a friend who bought an NEC laser in 1985, printed infrequently, and the cartridge just ran out in the last couple of years. Not a common example, but it gives you a good idea of the advantages of a laser using dry powder.
Comparing the Brother 5040, which comes with 8 meg of ram instead of 2, has more onboard fonts, and several other capacities, as described in the owners manual, to the 1440, makes you want to buy that one instead. BUT Consumer Reports rated the 1440 as their top pick, and the 5040 rated about 5th in line. They stated it was the loudest of the printers, had comparable text quality, but didn't score quite as well in printing graphics. Mate that to the reduced price of the 1440, and the fact that a ram chip upgrade is inexpensive, makes the world of quality laser printing something everyone should have.
Brother just came out with the 5140 to replace the 5040, but the only improvement is a faster print speed of 21 PPM instead of 17. The 1440 is rated at 15.
First and foremost is the top quality, textbook level of printing, for such a small amount of money. If you buy a 1440 at current prices, and then at replacement time, buy one of the generic replacement toner cartridges that produce twice the number of pages as the standard ones, you can bring the price per page cost down to a penny. That is quite a savings over the five cents per page copying cost at your local office store.
The speed, flexibility, and capacity of producing documents on demand, makes this a good investment.
Heed the warnings on the bag containing the cartridge, and DO NOT move the machine without first removing the cartridge, or you can seriously damage the printer. That is probably the reason why some people were getting streaks. When the toner gets low, and you start to get a gray background on the pages, replace it.
I haven't been this excited about a business tool in quite some time. It will make a great addition to your arsenal. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Gray background printing
Review: We purchased this printer and after just six months of light use, it told us that we needed to buy a new drum unit, which is about the same cost as buying the printer itself. Every page prints with a light gray background. It would be better to spend more money to get a better quality printer since you'll only get a few good months out of this one.
Rating:
Summary: Love this Printer
Review: I really don't know why People have had problems with this printer? I've only had mine for a while 578 Pages it's flawless. (Not 1 Smug or Paper Jam and I use the CHEAP Paper.) I have it attached to a Windows 2000 that acts as a print server. Pro's I love the way it auto starts up and shuts down, Prints Fast (I've added more memory, I recomend.) People say it's Noisey but I don't know what they are talking about? it's Much faster and quieter than ANY inkjet. I love this printer so much I've bought another one for my Ex as a Christmas Present. (Yes Sounds stupid, but I was tired of Fixing her Other Lexmark Printer again and again.) Printer Driver Works fine for XP and Win2000 (I don't know what these other people are having problems with?) It even won an award from a computer magazine. I think the people that are having problems are people that Expect a $150 Printer will Print 1,000 pages a day. (Of course it would over heat.) Con's Not for a Printing For a Large Company. (Idiots) Desktop or shared 1 or 2 people. I just picked up another one OfficeMax and after Rebates it will only be Eighty bucks. At Prining Black and White for about .03 a page Compared to a Inkjet at .12 a page it's hands down a winner in my book. For Home or small office you can't go wrong. I'm adding to my Review here! I just bought a 32MB 72Pin Ram for this printer $8.00 at pricewatch.com Try doing that on other printers for same price.
Rating:
Summary: 1 YR + and Still Running Strong
Review: We've had this printer for over a year. First, anyone that doesn't own one should not be commenting on this product. I saw reviews saying that after a year consumers started seeing background shading, poor print quality, etc.... Look people, they aren't lying to you - you really just need to put in a new toner. If you've been printing for a year, just maybe it's time, don't you think? Ours started doing the same things they complain about (after about a year), and I wondered what was going on. You can keep printing for probably a few hundred more pages, but you'll have crap for quality. Soon you'll get the notice from the printer that the toner is low. IT REALLY IS. There is no great conspirace here. Replace the toner and it will again work JUST FINE. Ask yourself, how is it that people know how full their toner is? Answer - I bet they don't and they are just guessing. Plus, for those commenting that this less than $200 printer isn't as fast at graphics as $300+ printers - look people, for $30 you can upgrade the memory on this printer and have no problems. You'll still end up saving cash. Plus, go out and price other printers' replacement toners - they are much more expensive per page (roughly 3x as expensive). Oh, and for the morons yelling that the drums cost as much as the printer - look, drums are always expensive. The fact that the printer is inexpensive is the only reason it seems out of wack with the cost of a drum. If it makes you feel better to pay just as much for a drum but that the drum is less than the cost of the printer, go right ahead and do what you feel is right. If you'd rather pay much more for a combo toner + drum when you only need new toner, go ahead and do that too. I'll still be spending less per print than you. Oh, and I have a bridge to sell you... The bottom line is that I can buy toner good for 6000 sheets on this machine for a 1/3 less than 3000 sheet replacements on other units. After well over 3000 prints, I have no indication I need to replace the drum. Brother says to replace the drum at 20,000, and the drum costs $100 on Amazon. Now, that comes out to you paying roughly $15 in drum wear per/3000 pages or $30/6000 pages. A 6000 print toner costs $53 on Amazon. Adding in the extra $30 in drum wear, you are at $83 for 6000 prints. Other laser printers charge just under $80 for a 3000 print toner/drum unit. What does this mean? It still costs you HALF as much to run a Brother. On drivers - I have had no problems with any application. I not only use all sorts of MS products (all office including MS WORD) and some other rather strange software (like that for my scanner and other various graphics programs) but I also use a remote web connection to my work programs. So, not only do the drivers work for me for my older home programs ('97 editions) they also work across a remote network with my work programs (newest versions). I don't doubt people are having problems, but I am not. Perhaps they should try not using USB. I work in an office environment. We have dozens of printers. My little home unit stacks up well against those thousand dollar beasts in terms of speed, loudness, clarity, and definately cost. If you think I give rosy reviews, just look at what marks I've given other products. Unlike most folks, I leave my name on the review because I mean what I say. No folks, if I give 5 stars, it means the thing works.
Rating:
Summary: problem with driver
Review: Most editorial reviews have great comments toward this printer, and that is why I purchased it. Although it is quite inexpensive (after rebates) for a 1200X600 laser printer, after a reading a few more reviews and testing for a few hours, I have decided to return it because the printer lacks a lot of common sense. Good:
1. Very affordable. This printer is one of the lowest priced 1200X600 dpi laser printer.
2. Support both parallel and USB port. This certainly saves some trouble for people who run out of USB ports. Expect notable longer initiations if you use parallel port.
3. Text is very crispy and solid, as long as the text is black.
4. Easy installation.
5. Fast, but this is nothing new for a laser printer.
6. Driver comes with a very good water mark and duplex feature.
7. Driver also comes with basic features: selecting paper size, multiple page, border line (for multiple page), orientation, number of copies, media type, paper source preference, resolution selection, toner save mode (no available to 1200 x 600 dpi), improve gray printing, scaling/rotating/mirror/reverse.
8. Power-saving mode is very quiet and power-saving because even the lights are turned off. Bad:
1. This is probably the dullest driver for a 1200 x 600 dpi laser printer. The features mentioned above are only basic features, nothing impressive.
2. The printer prints too light and too low-in-contrast for pictures (jpg, bmp, gif), and you are not able to alter the darkness/contrast of the printing. The only way to increase the darkness of the grayscale is to activate ¡°improve gray printing¡± feature, but even so, the pictures are still too light and too low-in-contrast.
3. Driver is incompatible with background-printing (for Windows 2000). If you try to print a webpage with background-printing, you will notice that background pictures will come out lighter than it is suppose to be.
4. Lighter text is not too crispy even if you turn on the ¡°improve gray printing¡± feature.
5. Oh yeah, the stupidest feature of this printer has got to be the 1200 x 600 dpi. Because the printer has only 2 MB of memory, you cannot even print the first page of MSN.com in 1200 x 600 dpi. So as far as I am concerned, this is not a 1200 x 600 dpi printer because if you are going to print only text, 1200 x 600 and 600 do not make any difference. And when it fails to print in a certain mode, it will print/waste another sheet of paper informing you about that in different languages. Also, if you include the money for the memory upgrade, you can probably purchase some other 1200 x 600 laser printers nowadays with better driver and greater memory. I really feel that this 1200 x 600 dpi feature is more of a scam!!!
6. The drum is separated from the toner. Sounds great at first, but the price of the drum exceeds the price of the printer itself. I really feel that the drum and toner separation is more of a scam!!!
7. The paper feed is grabbing the paper too harshly. If you ever want to pull the paper out, the paper will likely be damaged.
8. The paper tray is oversized and sticks out from the back of the printer. Over time, dust will definitely get in to the paper tray. Other laser printers also have this problem, but at least they cover the oversized part so that dust will not fall into the tray.
9. The noise and long initiations are not good attributes, but they are bearable. Conclusion:
Editorial reviews only review this printer at brand new condition. If you purchase this printer so that you can print at 1200 x 600 dpi, then you will be disappointed unless you only print text (which 12000 x 600 and 600 make no difference). I don't know how long this printer will last or continue to deliver good quality, but I don't want to find out. Once the drum wears out, it will be time to buy a new laser printer.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth to risk it at all.
Review: Most of the editorial reviews comment this printer as an affordable mid-high quality laser printer, and that is why I purchased it. After reading a few more reviews and a few hours of testing it, I find that this printer (although affordable) lacks a lot of common sense, and I will definitely return it very soon. I want to give it a 1.5 star (but Amazon have me rounded it up). Good:
1. Affordable: around $120.00 for a 1200X600 laser printer is a good deal (after a mail-in rebate from somewhere)
2. Support both parallel and USB. So if you do not have enough USB ports, this is a good feature. I am using the parallel port connection, and the initiation is delayed notably but it is still acceptable.
3. Power-save mode is very power-saving (I think) because even the lights are turned off.
4. Text is really crispy as long as the characters are black.
5. Printer speed is fast, but that is nothing new for a laser printer.
6. Good watermark feature from driver.
7. Driver has the basic features like selecting paper size, multiple pages (on one page), orientation, number of copies, media type, paper source, resolution (1200X600, 600, or 300 dpi), Toner Save Mode (only for 600 and 300 dpi), watermark, and scaling/rotating/etc. Bad:
1. Possibly the dullest driver for a 1200X600 laser printer nowadays (except for the watermark and duplex feature). But beware of the duplex feature. If the printer accidentally draws 2 sheets at one time, the rest of the papers are wasted.
2. Unable to adjust lightness/darkness for grayscale. There is an ¡°Improve gray printing¡± option which does darken grayscales, but even if you turn it on, the grayscale will still lose details and contrast. If you do not turn on this option, most of the light-gray colors will simply disappear (become white). Grayscales in pictures are printed too light. Mid-tone text printed at 1200X600 is not crispy although darkness seems right.
3. All settings are done at the driver because it lacks an LCD controller. And because it lacks an LCD controller, error messages are hard to understand.
4. The stupidest feature has got to be the 1200X600 dpi mode (How ironic). Because the printer has only 2MB memory, you can hardly print any graphics or text/graphics documents in this resolution without any memory expansion. When it fails to print at a given resolution, it will waste a piece of paper notifying you in different languages. If you are buying this printer so that you can print at 1200X600, you need to adjust your budget to include the price of the memory upgrade. As far as I am concerned, this is not a 1200X600 dpi printer. Including the money of the memory upgrade, you can probably get a better 1200X600 laser printer. I feel that this is a scam!
5. Because the drum and toner are separated, you will wish that you will never need to replace them (dream on). Just the drum itself causes more than the printer itself nowadays. I feel that this is a scam!
6. Loud and long initiation is not good but is bearable.
7. Manual paper feed grabs very harshly on the paper, and if you pull the paper out by force, the paper will likely be damaged. Conclude: Editorial reviews only review the printer at brand new condition. I do not know whether this printer will break down or decrease in quality within 6 months or not, but if it does, then it will be time to buy a new printer. If the drum is worn out or damaged, it will also be time to buy a new printer. Pictures (bmp, jpg, etc) are printed too light. This can be a good printer if you are only going to print text (in which 1200X600 or 600 make no difference).
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