Brother Monochrome Laser Printer, HL-L5100DN, Duplex Two-Sided Printing, Ethernet Network Interface, Mobile Printing, Amazon Dash Replenishment Ready,Black

I just started using the Brother monochrome laser printer, and it’s been awesome! The software quality is solid, making it easy to navigate. Setup was a breeze, and I had it connected to Wi-Fi in no time. The print quality is sharp, and while it’s monochrome, the color accuracy for graphics is impressive. It offers great value for money with fast printing and reliable wireless connectivity. I’d definitely rate it 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Like their other printers (and all-in-ones), Brother has been relatively Linux friendly for some time. Brother provides driver support for rpm and deb based distributions. They even provide a script to help you install things. Naturally, the script failed in my case. I went ahead and installed the deb files, anyway, and my printer was installed. I used the ubiquitous system-config-printer program to set up the printer. It located the printer and offered various options for connecting.I purchased this printer to replace another failed Brother printer I had purchased a couple of years ago (a 5450DN). This one, the 5100DN, let me set the IP address to a fixed address from the printer console itself. I did not have to find the printer, and then log in via the printer's Web server to set the IP address. Further, when downloading the driver, I received a pop-up telling me that there was an important firmware update for the printer. Once the printer was set up, I logged into the new printer's Web server and found another new feature, the firmware update button. I clicked it. A couple of minutes later I could log in again and I had the updated firmware. So, this printer is user friendlier than the last one.The old printer didn't have the best paper handling. To be blunt, it would jam more often than I would like. This one hasn't jammed, yet. Another aspect I like: The 5100 prints better. The 5450 printed too dark at 600 and 1200 dpi. This one is somewhat dark at 1200, but 600 is fine. No insane amounts of Gamma correction applied to each image if you want to print.If you run Linux, and live within easy wire distance to your router, this is a very good printer.12 December 2016 update: The thing still hasn't jammed. I'm raising this to five stars.

I'm using this as a desktop printer in a Mac/PC/Linux corporate environment with other all-in-one printers/copiers and color laser printers on my network. Print speed is fast, but as with just about all laser printers with higher page-per-minute printing capability, you trade a bit of print quality for speed. The print quality is fine and comparable to most faster monochrome laser printers, but doesn't match the near typeset quality of a Canon Imageclass D1650 down the hall. However, the cost per page of this printer is about half of the Canon, so for most business documents, this Brother printer is a good balance of toner cost, print quality, and speed. I have had several other Brother laser printers and they all were good quality and lasted for quite a few years. But if you're looking for the best print quality, check out Canon printers. I have a Lexmark monochrome all-in-one, two HP color laser printers, an HP monochrome all-in-one, and a couple of small Brother desktop printers, and all work well, but the Brother printers are tried and true workhorses for 95% of our printing. Lexmark's interface is overly complicated, the HP all-in-one print queue gets stuck sometimes, and the printing cost of the HP color lasers is high enough to avoid printing all but color documents with them. The up front cost of the Brother HL-L5100DN is low and the long-term cost is also on the lower end for monochrome laser printers.

I looked at probably a hundred printers before landing on the Brother HLL5100DN. I needed something that could handle a high-volume output without burning a hole in my wallet. Most laser printers seem like a great value...and then you look at the cost of toner. With most printers I researched, I also looked up the cost of toner. Only a few printers stand out from the pack with toner yield and cost– the Brother HLL5100DN is one of them. There is an off-brand toner available for this printer that yields 8,000 pages that costs only $20. I could not find a better cost-to-yield ratio on any printer in this price range, so I purchased this one.A few notes about this printer are in order:1. It is not a WiFi printer. You must hook this up via a printer cord (to USB) or an ethernet cable. You MUST have one of these hooked up for the printer to work.2. It is monochrome (it prints black ink only). If you need color printing, it's not for you.3. It is not a scanner. It's only a printer.4. It works with Google CloudPrint if it is hooked up to a computer in the aforementioned way.5. It takes about 15 minutes to set up (including unboxing and driver download).6. Works on PC and Mac. I set it up on both.Overall, this product is the best monochrome printer for the price. It will give you a ton of prints for a low cost. It's pretty basic, but is awesome in certain contexts. I highly recommend this to anyone in the market for this type of printer!

I believe this model is home-office grade. The best features are: (1) accepts high yield toner cartridge, which is widely available as aftermarket product for money savings; (2) automatic double-side printing; (3) inexpensive and relatively sturdy built.This model is perfect for home-office applications if monochrome print can meet work needs.