Monochrome Laser Printers

Advantages of monochrome laser printers

Monochrome laser printers are used for printing fine-quality text and printing text pages in volume. Although people often call them black-and-white printers, they only print black; however, they can print images and photos that appear to have gray gradations.

Many manufacturers are designating certain models as either "personal laser printers" or "small business printers" (each manufacturer uses its own term). Business laser printers have higher-capacity paper trays, higher duty cycles and more internal memory. Business printers can endure printing more pages per month at generally faster speeds. They can usually be networked, either out of the box or with accessories. Options include additional paper trays and more memory (useful for printing large documents or for networks). Many personal printers can't be upgraded or have limited upgrade options.

"Duty cycle" is a marketing term used by manufacturers to describe the maximum amount of pages per month the manufacturer believes the printer can endure. Exceeding the duty cycle often voids your warranty.

As home networking has become popular, many personal laser printers have an Ethernet network connector. Those printers are designated with the letter "N" at the end of a model number. Many monochrome laser printers are available in various configurations; you can buy a base version or a unit with networking and/or duplexing capability. The letter "D" at the end of a model number means that a duplexer is included for automatic two-sided printing.

Professional reviewers are spoiled by using fully-featured professional machines and often have the same expectations for personal-use monochrome laser printers. Those features are a wonderful convenience if you need them, but generally not worth the cost for a personal or family use printer. On the other hand, if you need scanning, copying and faxing capabilities in your home or office, you might consider a multifunction printer (also called an MFP or all-in-one printer). The biggest disadvantage is that MFPs don't usually perform as well as dedicated-to-one-task products. They are also less reliable and some require several always-on programs that can be a drain on computer resources. Our report on multifunction printers covers both inkjet and laser MFPs (monochrome and color). If you regularly need to print color graphics, color laser printers have dropped radically in price. See our report on color laser printers for more information. Most reviews say that neither inkjet printers nor color laser printers can print black text as well as a dedicated monochrome laser printer. Like photocopiers, laser printers use toner which consists of a very finely ground plastic. Fine dots are heat-fused to the paper to form text or images.

Recommendations from reviewers are heavily based on speed. While speed can be critical for a business printer, a low-volume personal user may never perceive the difference between ten pages per minute (ppm) and 17 ppm. The need for speed increases with volume. File size and your computer's processing power can affect speed as much as the printer does. Printers with more RAM should be able to handle large files more quickly than others do. Reviewers consistently report that they do not achieve the manufacturer's speed ratings in their tests. For this report, we looked for tested print speeds rather than manufacturer specifications.

Some reviewers conduct real-world tests to estimate cost of use. Toner cartridges will be the most regular consumables expense. Drums are consumable in some printers, which also add to long-term cost, but they don't need to be replaced as often. Several reviewers divide the cost of consumables into the number of pages that can be produced to estimate per-page costs. Experts note that toner cartridges for some cheaper printers cost more per page than those for printers that are more expensive. One common manufacturer cost-cutting strategy is to ship a new printer with "starter" toner cartridges that are typically less than half-full. It's no secret that with all printers, a manufacturer's major profit comes from accessories and consumables.

Best monochrome laser printers for small offices

For small businesses that need text printing up to about 20,000 pages per month, mid-range monochrome laser printers are inexpensive to buy and less expensive per-page than either an inkjet printer or a color laser printer. Many printers in this range come with higher-capacity input and output trays (or offer them as an option). Built-in Ethernet networking and automatic duplexing (for two-sided printing) are common features. Most small-office printers will fit on a countertop, but would be a tight squeeze on a desk.

Monochrome laser printers from Brother are earning the most favorable reviews. PC World gives the Brother HL-5250DN (*est. $240) a Best Buy rating, citing its speed, top-quality text output and built-in Ethernet connector for networking. In PC World's speed tests, the Brother laser printer spit out text pages at 21.6 pages per minute (ppm) and graphics pages at 9.6 ppm. PC Magazine says that it is "significantly faster than anything in its price class," and editors give it excellent ratings for print quality. It also earns high ratings from PCPro.co.uk and GoodGearGuide.com.

The Brother HL-5250DN monochrome laser printer has 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution. An automatic duplexer facilitates double-sided printing. A 250-sheet input tray is standard, supplemented by an auxiliary 50-sheet tray. You can add up to two additional 250-sheet paper trays (*est. $125 each). Unlike some cheaper monochrome laser printers, the Brother printer ships with a full-size toner cartridge. PC World calculates running costs at 2.2¢ per text page.

One downside is that Brother printers lack a straight paper path, which means envelopes and thicker paper may end up with bent corners. About 150 owners posting reviews to Amazon.com give this Brother laser printer high marks. More than 75 percent of customers who rate it for Newegg.com award this model a five-star rating.

Brother's HL-5280DW (*est. $355) is basically the same printer as the HL-5250DN, with the same key specifications. However, this monochrome laser printer adds wireless Wi-Fi networking and an LCD display. The display may seem trivial, but we note that reviewers complain about the lack of a display (or even LEDs) on other laser printers. The LCD displays printing and status information. If you don't need Wi-Fi and can get by without the LCD status display, the Brother HL-5250DN costs more than $100 less.

Personal Computer World and IT Reviews give top ratings to the Brother HL-5280DW. Personal Computer World says, "Quality is excellent on this fast, fully featured, yet affordable small-business laser." The periodical also notes, "Another big benefit with this printer is a general lack of noise." Noise is a common complaint in professional reviews of laser printers and consumers echo that complaint.

Both Brother monochrome laser printers are compatible with all major operating systems, including Windows, Mac and Linux. Reviewers recommend Brother's high-capacity toner cartridge (up to 7,000 pages) for both models (*est. $70).

The Kyocera Mita FS-1030D (*est. $300) earns a "Recommended" designation from TrustedReviews.com, one the most prolific reviewers of monochrome laser printers. Reviewer Simon Williams says the Kyocera printer costs less to use than most printers in this class do because it has a lifetime drum. He is concerned that flimsy plastic parts may not withstand office use, however. Computer Shopper‘s review adds that text quality is good overall, but testers saw some splashes of ink on the page under magnification.

After interpreting Kyocera's confusing specifications, the true horizontal resolution of the FS-1030D appears to be only 600 dpi. Kyocera calls it a workgroup printer, but network capability is only an option. The more expensive network-ready version is the Kyocera Mita FS-1030DN (*est. $400).

CNet.com awards the HP LaserJet 1320 (*est. $500) an Editor's Choice designation and an excellent overall rating. However, it earns a relatively low rating from PC Magazine, while both TrustedReviews.com and PC World thought it was a poor value back when the price was $100 cheaper. CNet reviewer Kristina Blachere rates the text quality as excellent. PC Magazine agrees, but David Stone writes that graphics and monochrome photo quality are barely acceptable. Stone feels that the LaserJet 1320's performance and quality are not commensurate with its price.

Multiple CNet.com readers express issues using the LaserJet 1320's manual feeder, but Amazon.com customers are more consistently happy with all aspects of this printer. They award it an average rating of four out of a possible five stars. The 1,200 dpi printer is capable of duplexing and is Mac-compatible. In tests, text pages print at about 17.4 ppm. Options include additional paper trays and Wi-Fi networking. This model also features a manual feed slot, but you have to feed one envelope or transparency at a time.

Samsung offers two versions of the same printer. The Samsung ML-2250 (*est. $195) doesn't come with built-in networking, while the Samsung ML-2251N (*est. $225) is Ethernet network-ready. Both monochrome laser printers ship with a 250-sheet paper tray, a 166MHz CPU and 16MB of RAM.

The Samsung ML-2250 is one of the oldest printers currently on the market, but it received an Editor's Choice designation from PC Magazine when it was reviewed three years ago. Its text quality receives PC Magazine's top rating and Stone says it is fast for a personal laser printer. XYZ Computing also chooses the ML-2251N monochrome laser printer as an Editor's Choice. CNet.com gives it good scores, as well. Most customers who bought this printer award it above average ratings at a variety of websites. With one exception, (excessive noise), criticism is too varied to find a consensus.

The Samsung ML-2250 has a 250-sheet main paper tray, plus a 50-sheet auxiliary tray. It has a bypass feed for envelopes and transparencies. Although Samsung ships this model with a half-capacity toner cartridge, toner costs are reasonable. If you spring for the 10,000-sheet, high-capacity toner cartridge, per-page costs are about 1¢ each (assuming 5% coverage). This printer is also relatively compact and small enough for a desk. Monthly duty cycle is 30,000 pages.

If you need more capacity than that the 10,000 to 30,000 pages per month recommended for the models above, you'll need something faster, more durable and with more memory. The Ricoh Aficio AP410 (*est. $540) gets an Editor's Choice rating from PC Magazine, although it is not network-ready. The network-ready Ricoh Aficio AP410N (*est. $650) has a faster processor and more RAM, which puts it in a higher class of competition. PC Magazine struggles to define the market niche for the Aficio AP410, describing it as "a power user's personal printer." Performance is not an issue, according to the review. The AP410's text quality is excellent. It's also the fastest printer PC Magazine has tested in its price range -- spitting out text at about 25 ppm. The print quality of graphics and photos is above average. Both the AP410 and the AP410N have a monthly duty cycle of 150,000 pages.

With its high duty cycle and 600-sheet paper tray, (additional trays optional), the Ricoh Aficio AP410 features some of the hallmarks of a professional printer. It has 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution, a 300MHz CPU, 64MB of RAM and can output Adobe PostScript 3.

Best personal monochrome laser printers

Personal laser printers fit on a desktop (some are only ten inches high) and have duty cycles of 5,000 to 30,000 pages per month. Speeds (according to the manufacturers) range from ten to 20 pages per minute.

The Brother HL-2070N (*est. $140) gets middling review from PC Magazine, but TrustedReviews.com and PC World see it as the best in its price range and as a good value. Target PC gives the HL-2070N a top rating, citing speed as its biggest virtue. The Brother is marketed as a personal printer, but reviewers still tend to down rate it for its lack of business features. The Brother HL-2070N outputs 1200 x 1200 dpi at tested speeds of about 16 ppm for text pages. A single paper tray holds 250 sheets. A manual feeder only takes one item at a time, but it's necessary for envelopes and heavier paper. Brother doesn't offer optional paper trays or duplexing with this model. The HL-2070N monochrome laser printer is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems.

Australia's Choice magazine measures the Brother HL-2070N as the cheapest to use of any of the dozen inexpensive laser printers it tested. Brother ships the printer with a half-full starter toner cartridge. PC Magazine's M. David Stone summarizes, "The Brother HL-2070N laser printer offers fast performance for the price, excellent text quality, [and] a network connection… but graphics and photos leave much to be desired."

In older professional and consumer reviews, we read some complaints that the HL-2070N and Brother HL-2040 (*est. $120) curl paper. According to PC Magazine, "Brother says it will fix this in future production runs." Judging from newer reviews, Brother may have fixed the problem. In a blog review, Dave Markowitz says of the Brother HL-2070N, "I read a few online reviews where people complained that the paper curled on output. I haven't seen that so it may just be the paper that people were using. I suspect this may be an issue with cheap copier paper, but the HP laser printer paper that I'm using doesn't curl."

If you don't need networking, the Brother HL-2040 has similar features, except for the built-in print server. It also has just 8MB RAM -- half that of the Brother HL-2070N. However, home users shouldn't find this to be a big problem in day-to-day use unless printing many very long documents. Print quality for both Brother monochrome laser printers is good -- fine for internal documents, but possibly not nice enough to present to an important client. Choice magazine's editors call it the best value among budget laser printers. In his X-Bit Labs review, Vasily Melnik praises the printer's speed and concludes, "I can't find any serious faults."

The Samsung ML-2510 (*est. $135) has less support from reviewers or owners than the Brother printers do. PC Pro.co.uk recommends it and favors it over the Lexmark E120n (see above), another direct competitor. PC Pro's Dave Stevenson cites speed and price as the Brother ML-2510's greatest virtues, but he notes that the included cartridge is only one-third full. User reviews are average. Reliability is the biggest problem.

The OKI B4100 (*est. $160) is unique in its class a couple of ways. First, it uses LEDs instead of a laser. Experts say that lasers are a more exact optical source than LEDs. Yet, five reviewers agree that text quality is very good. PC Pro.co.uk's Vasily Melnik asserts, "The quality of the printouts is probably the best among the [nine] tested printers." Computer Buyer gives the OKI a maximum rating and honors it as a Best Buy. Simon Handby summarizes strengths and weaknesses, "The B4100 is loud, ugly, and beige, but it produces good results and is cheap to run." Reviewers also like its straight paper path, which minimizes paper jams when printing on heavier paper and envelopes. We did not find another sub-$400 laser printer with a straight-through path or option, except for single-sheet feeding. This feature could turn your decision if you regular print projects on heavier paper or need easier envelope printing.

Unfortunately, the OKI B4100 has been discontinued. Its replacement is the OKI B4400 (*est. $190) . Unfortunately, this monochrome laser printer gets a lukewarm assessment at PC Magazine. Editors say its print quality is fine but unexceptional. And although it costs more than similar entry-level printers, it's per-page costs are about a penny less than others. Unless you need the straight paper path, the Brother HL-2070N is a better deal, with included networking. To get networking on the OKI B4400, you have step up to the B4400n (*est. $380) , which costs significantly more.

Important Features: Monochrome laser printers

When shopping for a monochrome laser printer, consider the following:

• Check for system requirements. First and foremost, the printer must be compatible with your computer. If you are running Vista, check Microsoft’s list of compatible products. All current printers are compatible with Windows XP. If you have an older computer, check the system requirements for processor speed and RAM requirements. Most monochrome laser printers are also compatible with Mac OS X and Linux.

• Connectivity. Make sure the printer can connect to your computer. USB 2.0 or 1.1 connectors are standard. USB 2.0 is backwards compatible if your computer has USB 1.1 or 1.0 connectors, but you will lose the speed benefit. Some printers have parallel ports, but some newer computers and motherboards omit this older connectivity method.

• Consider whether you need networking. If you plan to connect to your printer via a network, make sure that the printer is network compatible. You might have to buy an Ethernet card, though experts recommend getting a network-ready printer to make the process as easy and affordable as possible. Although some printers are not labeled as "network compatible," some technically- PC users can make them accessible to the rest of the network by using Microsoft Windows' printer sharing features. For those on a Mac network, experts at Macworld recommend purchasing a Rendezvous-enabled printer for easier set up and access. A few models offer Wi-Fi printing, helpful for a network of laptops.

• Postscript and PCL compatibility. If you plan to use the computer for desktop publishing or graphic design, experts at Smart Computing recommend looking for Postscript Level 3 capability. Postscript is the format developed by Adobe for professional printing that will enable your printer to properly print Postscript fonts. You should also get a printer with PCL (printer control language) Level 5 or higher, the printer standard developed by Hewlett-Packard.

• Look for a bypass feed. If you will often print labels, card stock, envelopes or other challenging media, a printer's paper path and alternative feeding options (if any) should be a major consideration. The printer's paper path needs to be no sharper than 90 degrees to consistently handle envelopes, labels, transparencies and card stock. Many have a bypass feed for this purpose.

• Volume (duty cycle). Businesses that need a high volume of prints should consider a printer's monthly duty cycle. PC Magazine recommends that "if the number of pages you print is large enough to be a concern, a good rule of thumb is to pick a printer with a monthly duty cycle that's about four times the number of pages you expect to print each month." Many personal printers are meant for light usage and do not come with a fan. Users like quiet printers, but printers lacking fans may overheat if more than a handful of pages are printed at a time.

• Paper capacity. If you expect to do a high volume of printing, you should get a printer with high-capacity input or output trays/drawers to save yourself from constantly refilling the drawers. Some manufacturers sell these as an option for certain models.

• For two-sided printing, consider an auto or manual duplexer.

• Watch for catches like starter toner cartridges and short warranties. If you are considering a model that comes with a starter cartridge, add 50 to 75 percent of the price of a replacement cartridge to compare the printer's price with those of other models. Almost all models provide a one-year limited warranty. Very cheap printers such as the Dell Laser Printer 1110 (*est. $100) only have 90-day labor warranties, but length of warranty is less of an issue than exclusions and limitations. Exceeding the duty cycle is a typical exclusion.

• Budget extra for a cable if you don’t already have a USB 2.0 cable. No manufacturer includes a printer cable in the box.

General notes about monochrome laser printers

Monochrome laser printers work by exposing an electrically charged, revolving drum to a laser, creating positively and negatively charged areas. Positively charged black powder (toner) is applied to the drum. The toner sticks to the negative areas and is heated, which causes it to become sticky. Paper is passed through the printer and the image is transferred from the drum to the paper. The toner cools and binds to the paper.

Because toner needs to be heated, laser printers must warm up before they are ready to print. Some printers need just a few seconds and others take longer. Users have noticed that printers with shorter warm-up times tend to have greater power demands.

Resolution is important in laser printers. Higher resolutions produce smoother gradients, cleaner graphics and sharper edges. All laser printers output at least 600 x 600 dpi. Even low-end printers can often output 1200 x 600 dpi. Some printers output 2400 dpi. Manufacturers often fudge this specification and actual (optical) resolution may not be published. Instead, they cite figures for software-interpolated resolution.

Duplex printing. This convenience feature allows printing on both sides of a sheet of paper without manual re-feeding. Some printers offer a duplex tray as an optional accessory. Some experts question whether duplexing is worth an additional investment and suggest that users do it manually (by printing odd pages first, then flipping the stack over and printing even pages). Microsoft Office programs allow printing just even or odd pages for this purpose.

Toner cartridges. Experts also recommend buying high-yield cartridges, when available, to bring down the per-page print costs. Many toner cartridges ship with a drum. Brands like Lexmark issue low-toner warnings, but experts warn that some other printers with low-toner warnings will not print when the toner gets low even though there is some toner left in the cartridge. Sometimes removing the cartridge and giving it a shake will help squeeze out a few more prints. This is also helpful for a printer that has been idle for several weeks. Idleness causes the toner to settle to the bottom of the cartridge.

Toner handling. If toner spills on a counter or in a laser printer, wipe it up with a paper towel moistened with cold water. Do not try to vacuum it, as the particles are too fine to be caught by the filters of most household vacuum cleaners. If you want to skimp on toner, some printers offer "toner saver" (lower resolution) settings that will stretch the toner out further.

Ozone. Older laser printers were notorious for producing ozone, which can irritate the lungs of people with severe allergies or asthma. Newer printers work in a slightly different way and produce fewer emissions. Some printers come with an ozone filter. If you have allergies or asthma, be sure to direct the laser printer's exhaust away from your face and look for a printer with lower emissions and an ozone filter.

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

# of Picks	Model (with retailer links)	Details from Amazon.com
10	Brother HL-5250DN (*est. $240)	details
4	Brother HL-5280DW (*est. $355)	details
4	Brother HL-2070N (*est. $140)	details
3	Samsung ML-2250 (*est. $195) / ML-2251N (*est. $225)	details
3	Kyocera Mita FS-1030D (*est. $300)	-
3	HP LaserJet 1320 (*est. $500)	details
2	OKI B4100 (discontinued)	details
2	Samsung ML-2510 (*est. $135)	details
1 each	Ricoh Aficio AP410 , Brother HL-2040 , Dell 1710, Dell 1720dn , HP LaserJet 1022 , Ricoh Aficio AP610N , Samsung ML-2571N , Samsung ML-3051N, Lexmark E120n

Brother monochrome laser printers easily earn the most favorable reviews in several price ranges. Because they have all been on the market for a long time, like most competing products, we include ratings from older reviews as well as recent ones. The Kyocera Mita FS-1030D is favored by many reviewers, but distribution is limited to specialty office supply dealers, so it’s harder to find.

Samsung, HP and Lexmark printers receive the highest ratings in some reviews, but most of those same models get mixed scores in other reviews. In general, the reviews that praise those models emphasize value.

Ricoh’s more home-oriented printers are not especially recommended in reviews, but the company’s entry-level office printers are seen as great choices for those who need to step up to a higher level of quality or functionality. Like the Kyocera Mita FS-1030, the Ricoh Aficio AP410 and AP610N are only sold by specialty dealers.

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