( 136 reviews )
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Posted: Aug 15 2009
So far I like the printer and the quality of the prints very much. It holds a good amount of paper and duplexing is manual, but easy. My problem was the setup, but hopefully that will become a distant memory. I tried to set up completely wireless because I didn't have a spare network cable and didn't want to buy one just to set up a wireless printer. I should have known better from reading the reviews here. Also, when I began the installation, I didn't understand wi-fi very well and that caused another whole set of problems. Basically, I did everything wrong and it took me days, yes days! to get the printer printing. The CD installation went well and the computer immediately recognized the printer. The problem was that the router settings didn't quite match the settings on the computer. I had changed the security settings of the router once I realized it was unsecured and I had a devil of a time getting everything to match. I made numerous calls to both Brother customer service and the router's customer service, going through the re-set process many, many times and running into one roadblock after another. After a couple days of pure madness, I broke down and bought a network cable. I was still unable to get it printing by myself, so had to call Brother again. They talked me through adding a port and finally, the wired PC could print to the printer. In the meantime, the netbook had lost connection to the router so I had to hang up with Brother, use a flash drive to copy the router settings from the PC and transfer them to the netbook. With the connection restored, I tried to duplicate the process of adding a port on the netbook. I struck out again. Back on the phone with Brother and talked through it again. It turned out to be a slightly different process on the wireless netbook, but we got the port added and I was able to print from the netbook. Finally! I had started the process on a Monday evening and wasn't up and running until Friday evening! If I hadn't wanted that printer so badly - and gotten it at a great sale at Best Buy - I would have taken pleasure in putting the printer in the driveway and maniacally running over it about ten times. A lot of this trouble was due to my own ignorance, but really, it shouldn't be so hard! I'm not a techie, but I'm not stupid, either. And even Brother couldn't get me hooked up without the network cable. So unless you really know what you are doing, get the cable and use it for the initial setup. You can then remove it and be wireless. In fact, I think Brother should just add a couple bucks to the price and include the cable with the purchase. I lost track of how many times I called Brother over those few days, but it was a lot. The customer service was excellent and they helped me each time until we figured out the current roadblock I had to resolve. I'm glad I have this printer, but I'll be keeping the network cable and the Brother phone number on standby just in case...
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 10 2009
After purchasing three all-in-one printers in the past five from various companies, I got sick of replacing the toner after a month or two. So after looking into laser printers prices and toner prices I came to the conclusion that not only would the printer be comparable in price, but the toner would last many times that of a normal toner cartridge. The Brother HL-2170W ended up being at the top of the list. Advantages -Holds many pages of paper, around 200 -Toner lasts an exorbitant length of time (my starter one lasted 6-8 months and printed 1000 pages before it ran out of toner) -Prices are now comparable to normal printers -Wireless connection built-in -Prints very quickly, about one page every couple of seconds -Very rarely have I had errors, normally just paper jams -Able to print stats about the printer entailing: page count, toner life, drum life, errors recorded, IP settings, et cetera -Toner cartridge price is comparable to inkjet printers -Even at medium quality prints incredibly sharp lines with no inkblots Disadvantages -Wireless is extremely difficult to setup on certain computers -Printer is quite large in every dimension -Drum must be replaced at a certain point -Paper jams seem to occur more frequently than on normal printers -You'll use much more paper because more pages in general are printed -Maintenance must be done at regular intervals
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Posted: Aug 3 2009
I have had my Brother HL-2170W for a week now. I am really impressed. I researched for several days reading reviews. I decided to purchase since the price on Amazon was $109.00 compared to $149 + at local stores. For this price range, this laser printer is just about the best thing ever. Pros: Nice quality feel, small, light weight, super fast, 32MB Memory, easy set up, cheaper toner replacements compared to other brands, wireless Cons: The only issue I can think of, but only if I were completley knit-picking would be that there is a slight crinkle at the top of the page, but this is common on lasers and is very minimal. I feel I got more printer than I paid for. Seriously, I can not believe this little tiny entry level printer has such sharp print and is so fast and quiet. From sleep mode, it literally warms up in less than 10 seconds and prints. You can't go wrong with this little printer for you home office. I love it. Everyone should have one of these.
