Brother HL-2270DW

A fine everyday mono laser printer

The Brother HL-2270DW laser printer is well-liked by reviewers. As the successor to the popular and well-reviewed Brother HL-2170W monochrome laser printer, it has a great deal to live up to. Suitable for a micro or small office, this printer produces documents of a quality sufficient for everyday use at a fast speed. M. David Stone of PCMag.com gives the Brother HL-2270DW 4 out of 5 stars and an Editors' Choice award for its small size and reasonably high quality output. With both wired and wireless connections, the HL-2270DW is recommended by Stone as a shared printer in a small office or as a home printer for a "power-user." The 250 sheet paper tray is adequate for the speed of the machine and for light office use.

Justin Yu of CNET calls the HL-2270DW a "reliable, easy-to-use monochrome printer" that works well for a small business which needs high volume black-and-white prints. Cost-wise, he says that it's a viable alternative to an inkjet printer. More than 85 percent of the reviews at Newegg.com give this printer 4 or 5 golden eggs out of a possible 5, highlighting the HL-2270DW's small footprint and great value for money.

Great features and performance, but Wi-Fi set-up can be tricky

The HL-2270DW's auto-duplexer makes two-sided printing a snap, and it is loved by many of the users who review the printer at Amazon.com In general, the text printing is not quite desktop publishing quality, but it's adequate for an office's everyday needs, except for documents that use very small fonts. In tests at CNET, the HL-2270DW printed 18.64 pages per minute of all-black text, 19.03 ppm of graphics and 18.15 ppm of PowerPoint presentations, not quite matching the manufacturer's claims of 27 pages per minute. However, Melissa Riofrio of PC Advisor says that the results of her printing tests were below these speeds.

The matte black laser printer has a simple control panel with just one button, labeled "Go", which performs a variety of tasks, including waking up the printer from sleep mode and canceling jobs. However, Riofrio says that she found it difficult to see the handle to remove the drum and the toner, which must be removed together. She had no difficulty with the printer's setup, reporting that the CD installation process was smooth and well-documented. Most of the more than 130 customer reviewers at Newegg.com agree. Yu of CNET had no problems with the WiFi set-up, but some first-time wireless users at Newegg.com say they found it to be a little confusing.

In the more than 300 customer reviews at Amazon.com, two-thirds of the reviewers award the Brother HL-2700DW the maximum 5 stars. The printer's high quality printing, its auto-duplexing feature and its three connectivity options draw rave reviews. Some users identified problems printing large files in wireless mode. One user closely reviewed the documentation and reported that Brother recommends using a wired connection when printing these files.

Professional reviewers and customers alike complain about the starter toner cartridge that ships with this printer. They say the cartridge did not last for the advertised 700 pages, and only printed 300 or 400 pages. The professional reviewers recommend buying a high-yield toner cartridge that can print about 1,500 pages at a reasonable cost. Some customer reviewers at Amazon.com report that the printer stops printing when the toner is low, but before the cartridge is empty.