After a considerable time spent testing many of the best laser printers available, we’ve found our top pick: the Brother MFC-L2710DW Mono Laser Printer. With this printer you get four products for the price of one. You can print, copy, scan and even fax with this product. It is super-fast, so your documents will be printed in no time, but also in perfect quality. It has wireless connectivity so you won’t have to worry about cables around your house either.
Laser printers have undoubtedly revolutionised the world of printing. When they were invented in the 1970s, they were primarily used in offices throughout the world, but as technology became more affordable, such printers became common in our homes, too. They soon upstaged the previously used analogue printers and photocopiers, largely due to the shorter period of time it took a laser printer to print an image or text and the improved quality of the print.
For those who are less familiar with the product, a laser printer is printer that computers connect to in order to print the documents you require. It uses laser or LED-technology to take toner from the cartridge and apply it to the paper. The ink used in laser printers is generally cheaper than that used in inkjet printers, and the printed text is much neater. In this article, we’ll go through all types of laser printers that exist and help you choose the best one for you.
Top Laser Printers
Top Laser Printers
Brother HL-3140CW Colour Laser Printer
Brother DCP-1610W Mono Laser Printer
Brother MFC-L8690CDW Colour Laser Printer
HP PageWide Pro 477dw Multifunction Printer – D3Q20B
Brother MFC-L2710DW Mono Laser Printer
Types of Laser Printers
There are different types of laser printers designed for different purposes. It’s important to consider whether you plan on using the laser printer for home or office needs and whether you need to print in colour or black and white. The main differences to look out for include print speed, print quality, printer size, paper options, the number of users allowed and the amount of paper it can store.
As if this was not already enough to make your decision complicated, there are even more features that can make a difference. Here we’re talking about laser printers that come with the option to scan and copy documents, as well as use your wireless network to start printing. Then there are those that can be used as a fax machine. These are all the extra features that should be taken into consideration before making your choice. For starters, we’ll cover the two main categories of laser printer.
Personal Laser Printer
Personal laser printers, as the name indicates, are designed for personal use. You can find them in most homes, placed comfortably next to the computer and other electronic devices. As they are produced for homes, they are usually quite small. This is possibly due to the fact that all personal laser printers are simplex, meaning that they print on one side of the paper. Usually, they are connected only to one computer or user but may be connected to the multi-user computer.
Personal laser printers are not known for being fast, but they are able to print ten to twelve pages in a minute. Since personal use does not often require a huge amount of printed pages in a single printing session, the paper tray is designed for around 100 sheets of paper. In addition, some printers offer the option to add another tray underneath the existing one to increase paper capacity. Users who print lengthy documents or require special sheets sometimes decide to install the additional tray.
Brother HL-3140CW Colour Laser Printer
Output speed and reliability are two of the most important qualities every printer should have. Luckily, the Brother HL-3140CW has both of these. Experts consider this printer to be faster than some of the higher-end laser printers on the market. It has its flaws, like any other product out there, but it certainly has a thing or two to offer for a pretty affordable price. This printer is actually an LED printer, not a laser printer. The difference here is that it uses LEDs instead of lasers for printing. This is actually an advantage: a laser printer tends to be higher maintenance, while an LED printer like this one is a lot easier to look after. The fact that it is also a lot quieter is an added bonus.
Features
Don’t worry about the lack of an Ethernet connection. The Brother HL-3140CW uses a wireless connection to link to your home computer so that you can control it via Wi-Fi. You can also connect it to your Cloud, which eliminates the need to download the necessary documents from your Cloud to on your PC or laptop in order to print them. You can even access it from multiple devices! We have mentioned that speed and paper handling are the best features of this printer – 19 ppm (pages per minute) is pretty impressive, and you can place 250 sheets of paper into its drawer. However, that amount of paper makes this printer rather bigger than most common personal printers. Its dimensions are 41cm x 46.5cm x 24cm, and it weighs around 18 kilograms. It must also be noted that the quality of the print is not that high when it comes to picture quality, but you will have no issues when it comes to printing text.
Advantages
ConClusion
The Brother HL-3140CW may have some flaws, but if you’re looking for a fast printer with good paper-handling capabilities, and you have no need for printing detailed pictures and complex graphic content, you’ll get a nice, affordable printer that will perfectly suit your needs.
Brother DCP-1610W Mono Laser Printer
Just like its big brother (pun intended), the Brother DCP-1610W is a printer with a wireless connection feature. Unlike the HL-3140CW, it does not print in colour, only in mono, which should not be an issue if you don’t require any colour printing. But do not underestimate this device, for it has a few aces up its sleeve. This printer can connect to your personal computer or laptop via a Wi-Fi connection, and the setup process is fairly simple. Once again, you’ll be able to connect not only using your PC but also on your smartphone and tablet. There is some good news for those of you who mistrust the stability of Wi-Fi connectivity as well: wired connection is also available!
Features
Much like the HL-3140CW, it proves to be a versatile laser printer, since it’s perfectly suitable both for office and for home use. Its dimensions are 34cm x 38.5cm x 25.5cm and it weighs almost 9kg, which makes it highly compact making home storage options more flexible. Bear in mind, however, that you’ll need to have a bit of space above the upper part of the printer, for this is where the scanner is located. The in-built scanner is capable of scanning coloured images, but it only prints copies of them in mono. When it comes to paper handling and overall speed, this printer is even faster than its brother! Printing speeds reaches up to 20 ppm, though you can place only 150 sheets of paper in the drawer due to its smaller size. Nevertheless, this printer is more than efficient in this regard. Its toner can print up to 1000 pages before running low, and it is very easy to replace.
Advantages
ConClusion
The Brother DCP-1610W is a well-made budget printer available at a very affordable price. If you need a printer for fast, high-quality text printing and a reliable scanner for printing in mono, look no further than this device. You won’t be disappointed.
Office Laser Printer
The situation here is quite clear, too – office laser printers are designed for office use. Sometimes, they might be a good option even for personal use if you tend to print in larger volumes at home. Office laser printers are slightly bigger than personal ones and they are designed to cope with the demands of a number of users. Office printers can be used by more people – usually a group up to 5 people. Due to its design and technology, an office laser printer can print between 25 and 35 pages in a minute, and the tray is big enough to support around 250 sheets of paper.
The additional tray could be added and placed beneath the existing one. This might be practical, as the office laser printers are capable of printing two different requests at the same time. There is even a possibility to add another terminal, which enables extra 4 to 5 people to use the same printer. In the cases where there is no need for extra users, this can be handy in terms of connecting more devices to the printer (for example a personal computer and a work one). Additional cartridge sockets are an option here too, providing users with more fonts and language possibilities. Office laser printers, similar to the personal laser printers, are simplex. However, there are some models that run duplex mechanism. Bear in mind that this kind of devices requires much more space than the simplex ones.
Brother MFC-L8690CDW Colour Laser Printer
Once again, Brother presents an ideal product, but this time it’s an office printer. Their MFC-L8690CDW is a real treat – a stable and reliable printer with great printing speed and paper handling. Although its price is not exactly low, it certainly offers a great deal of functionality for your money. Brother continues to emphasise the connectivity of their printers. The MFC-L8690CDW has options for wireless connection from multiple devices and, due to its size and capacity, it is perfect for offices with a significant workload. This model is a multifunctional marvel, and it is a perfect fit for your office ecosystem. This device can do a lot, and it does it with impressive efficiency.
Features
The MFC-L8690CDW Colour Laser Printer is rather bulkier than the Brother printers we have reviewed above. Its dimensions are 52.6cm x 53.9cm x 43.5cm, and it weighs around 28kg. This large size is to allow for its impressive capacity – it can take up to 300 sheets of paper in its inner trays, and an additional 150 sheets of paper in its main tray. Sadly, for such an impressive machine, it cannot print formats larger than A4. When it comes to speed, this printer stands its ground with an impressive 31ppm. This is quite enough for any office demands you may have. The quality of printed text is impeccable, while the quality of graphic print can vary somewhat, as colours sometimes slightly overlap with one another. The inbuilt scanner does a great job, but the scanning resolution is higher than the printing resolution, meaning print quality cannot match the original image.
Advantages
ConClusion
Brother MFC-L8690CDW Colour Laser Printer offers some rather impressive capabilities. Its price point is rather high, especially when you factor in the additional upgrades that may be required and the cost of replacement toner cartridges. However, it may very well be worth it, especially in the longer run, so consider this one carefully.
HP PageWide Pro 477dw Multifunction Printer – D3Q20B
HP is a company with a long history of high-quality products, and their HP PageWide Pro 477dw Multifunction Printer does not deviate in the least from their established formula. It is a stable high-speed printer with a lot going on under the hood. To be clear, this printer is not a laser printer: it is an inkjet, but an inkjet with a special trick up its sleeve. Usually, when you put paper into an inkjet printer, it takes time for the print heads to cover the paper, so the process is slower. But not here: the HP PageWide Pro 477dw has a page wide print head which significantly increases this printer’s print speed to 55ppm when printing in mono. A significant bonus feature with this printer is that it can cover both pages of the paper sheet simultaneously!
Features
Like all of the printers reviewed above, this printer provides options for wireless connectivity with multiple devices, but it also allows for a wired connection. Its dimensions are 53cm x 40.7cm x 46.7cm, and it weighs in at 15kg, making it light for its size, but with durable construction. HP PageWide Pro 477dw provides an excellent quality of print and scanning of both text documents and pictures. It must be said, however, that colours can overlap from time to time, but that may depend on the quality of the paper. The large colour touchscreen is very intuitive and makes this printer very easy to use. As a result, this printer can easily deal with any workload your office has to deal with.
Advantages
ConClusion
The HP PageWide Pro 477dw Multifunction Printer is definitely the perfect office printer. It can scan and print both sides of the document, it provides a pretty good quality of colour print, and all this is done with remarkable speed and precision. Bear in mind, however, that the higher the quality, the higher the price point. Considering all of the features this printer boasts, however, it more than pays off.
Brother MFC-L2710DW Mono Laser Printer
The final entry on our list is reserved for yet another Brother product. This time, it’s the Brother MFC-L2710DW Mono Laser Printer. It’s a nice, reliable, and affordable multipurpose office printer with a lot of pros but perhaps a couple of cons as well. Like all other Brother printers on this list, this printer provides you with both wired and wireless connectivity with multiple devices, and there is also the option for connection via the USB. It is perfect both for any smaller office and for home use, which adds to its versatility. Its printing speed is not at all bad and it is fairly quiet.
Features
The dimensions of this printer are 39.8cm x 41cm x 31.8cm and it weighs around 12kg, which places it among the lightest of the office printers on the market. It can simultaneously print two pages, but its ADF, sadly, does not support the duplexing option. It can store up to 250 sheets of paper, and the ADF feeder can house around 50 more. This printer can scan, print and copy pages up to A4 format, which it does well and with great efficiency. Its printing speed is 30ppm, which is certainly good, but it’s significantly slower than the other office printers mentioned above. The quality of printed text is excellent, but there are issues with graphic content. Since it can only print in mono, the shades tend to be darker than they should be.
Advantages
ConClusion
The Brother MFC-L2710DW Mono Laser Printer has a lot of good sides, but there are some downsides as well. If you’re looking for a printer that can handle a large workload, you should probably skip this one, since refilling the cartridges and other maintenance can be pretty pricey. But if you’re looking for a good printer for moderate use, the Brother MFC-L2710DW will perfectly fit that role.
What to Look for in a Good Laser Printer
Now that you are familiar with the main types of laser printer, you have a general idea of what is available to buy. However, there are still some details you need to pay attention to in order to make a good decision. We’ll go through all of them, as all of them are really important. After you finish the reading, don’t forget to ask yourself – “What is the most important thing I’m looking for in a printer?”
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