Scott E. High on Amazon 7 years ago
05/27/2016, 13:36 PM
My Original Brother Laser Printer Is Still Pushing Paper After Eight Years Of Hard Use. Will This One Do The Same?
The first Brother printer I ever bought was the HL-5370DW, a mono laser printer with wireless networking and duplex printing. It can (and still does) print 32 ppm at a resolution up to 1200X1200 dpi. It has a 300 sheet standard paper capacity and you could increase that by purchasing other trays. I bought it on September 19, 2008, because my youngest daughter was in Medical School and my wife was doing her graduate work to become an ARNP. I do a lot of research (and printing myself) and the old color ink jet printers just weren't giving us the speed and cost effectiveness promised by the new laser printer. Smart move on my part!
The HL-5370DW cost the princely sum of $214.15 and currently has a review rating of 4.5 stars from 275 reviewers. Refurbished and Like New models are still available for between $350.00 and $500.00. There is also a new one priced at $998.00 plus shipping. Why would a six year old design still command a premium price in today's market? Brother really got it right with this model. This machine is hard-working and extremely reliable. We have printed over 50,000 pages and replaced the toner with three (LD Hi Yield) toners without so much as a hiccup. No repairs, no maintenance, no replacement parts. This machine just keeps on printing.
Even though the HL-5370DW is now six years old it made sense for me to order this newer model as a backup. The old one just has to quit sometime! So now we have two color ink jet printers and two laser mono printers. This new HL-L5200DW is able to print 42 ppm, is also wireless and ethernet capable, and has duplex printing. You can also print from several different mobile devices (think iPhone and Android, etc.) and can use six different print programs. It has a 250 sheet capacity which can be expanded up to 1,340 sheets with the optional trays.
A new feature -- if you choose to enable it -- is automatic reordering of a new toner cartridge when your current cartridge is close to running out. The toner cartridge that comes with the printer is good for about 3,000 pages. Brother also offers a Hi Yield cartridge for $106.39 which is good for about 8,000 pages. However, I have had excellent luck purchasing off-brand cartridges that perform just as well for about half the cost. You might want to rethink activating the automatic reordering function. Printer companies make most of their money off selling accessories and other companies typically jump into the market with replacement accessories at a more reasonable cost. You might want to try an off-brand cartridge and then buy another one to put in a drawer if it meets your standards.
This new Brother printer has about the same footprint as the old one, is even easier to set up (for the neophyte like me), and has a simple industrial look to it. Like it's older Brother (pun intended), it is a bit noisy while in print function, and I had to move it away from my work area so that I wasn't startled when someone else started using it from another room. Brother offers a one year limited warranty and free phone support for the life of the product. The way things have gone with our previous printer, I will probably be dead before it dies. For some reason, that thought doesn't really bother me.