9 ms·

My Brother printer is one of my better purchases to be honest. I sound like a complete shill, but it's connected to wifi (and it just happily connects even if i

by ansc 3y ago

My Brother printer is one of my better purchases to be honest. I sound like a complete shill, but it's connected to wifi (and it just happily connects even if it's been off for a month or two), and all devices can just connect to it and print. Never need to reconnect or do anything with it. It's a printer that prints. I love it.

philistine 3y ago
I bought a Brother printer with a scanner at the top. No drivers, just works with the scanning software that's on macOS with zero zetup. They've made the best scanner by refusing to innovate in that area as well.
PennRobotics 3y ago
printing from a smartphone over Wi-Fi with no extra drivers :)
- LeanderK 3y ago
  still feels like magic and it's 2023. I am regularly surprised it just works
- markdown 3y ago
  model # please.
  - speed_spread 3y ago
    Brother HL-L5200DW.
  - PennRobotics 3y ago
    DCP-L3550CDW
  - dv35z 3y ago
    This is the one I’ve got - pleased with it. Brother Compact Monochrome Laser Printer, HLL2390DW, Flatbed Copy & Scan, Wireless Printing, Duplex Two-Sided Printing, https://a.co/d/8vMWJCK https://a.co/d/8vMWJCK
zuhsetaqi 3y ago
Which model do you have?
- MrBuddyCasino 3y ago
  If you want a basic model that works over wifi and prints from your phone, get the HL-L2340DW. If you want one that additionally has PCL 6 support for universal compatibility, get the slightly more expensive HL-L2375DW. I have both, no regrets.
  - martin_a 3y ago
    Thanks, very valuable information as I look into buying a small printer.
  - bradfa 3y ago
    If you want color, so far I've been happy with an HLL8260CDW going on almost a year. I previously had HLL8350CDW which I very much liked even though it destroyed a fixing/fusing roller after about 5 years (repaired with ebay parts) and then at about 7 years old some small part inside a mechanism which selects between the toners broke and spares were not available. Although the part numbers are very similar between the two, sadly the toner cartridges are completely not compatible. For a long time Monoprice sold very good Brother compatible toner for reasonable prices. Sadly, that time has long passed. Brother 1st party toner is not as cheap as I'd like but it's still decently affordable compared to other major brand 1st party toner. I've had horrible luck with non-Monoprice 3rd party Brother toner.
  - losthubble 3y ago
    Have had the HL-L2340DW since 2016. Still on the original tonner. Only really use it to print my resume to bring to interviews. Still works like a charm.
    - MrBuddyCasino 3y ago
      I changed the original toner yesterday. Mainly use it to print out DHL shipping labels.
CSMastermind 3y ago
Completely agree: it's one of the best purchases I've made. Printers were a product category that were expensive for what they offered and were always kind of finicky. I can still remember never knowing if my printer was going to work when I needed it to or not. Since I purchased a Brother printer all of those concerns went away. It works well, requires minimal set up, is reliable, and represents great value for money over a period of years. I'm on my second printer from them in the last 10 years and wouldn't even consider a competitor unless there's a serious decline in their quality. Edit: Since I saw someone ask below my model is MFC-9340CDW
soco 3y ago
I have over time switched to Brother printers (lived through Epson and HP) because they are the least bad of the bunch. But Windows will still claim they are offline with no way to un-offline them, or print jobs will still get stuck from time to time - but this is probably just the Windows printer queue software staying exactly the same since two decades, with Microsoft giving zero fucks about it (or about anything requested by users, for that matter).
- gpderetta 3y ago
  there is an LTT series where they try to daily drive Linux. They complain about a lot of stuff being half-broken, unfriendly or simply not missing. But they are amazed that printing just work out of the box without all the issues they have on Windows.
  - PlutoIsAPlanet 3y ago
    Because Linux uses CUPS, which is the same print server as macOS and made by Apple, Distros often ship generic CUPs drivers for printers, that work with most printers made in the last two decades. Apple had no choice but to make CUPs support generic printing interfaces because printer companies at the time rarely made macOS drivers, and this has benefited Linux too.
    - jwells89 3y ago
      My memory may be failing me, but it feels like “rarely supported” is a bit of an exaggeration. It was mostly a handful of consumer printer companies that were hell-bent on supporting nothing but Windows… I think Lexmark might’ve been one of them? Any of the printer companies that made high end professional printers used by print designers, photographers, etc usually had Mac drivers for their entire printer lineup because Macs had a huge presence in world of desktop publishing, graphics design, and photography from most of latter half of the 80s all the way up through the 2000s.
    - gpderetta 3y ago
      Apple did not create CUPS, although they did hire the main developer (and buy the rights to the code) some years later.
katbyte 3y ago
I got a brother B+w laser printer 4 years ago, plugged it into a switch and all my macs and iPhones found it, can print to it, and it just sits there waiting for a thing to print. Still on the original toner. Couldn’t be happier with it
- PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
  But will it blend?
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
bestouff 3y ago
I have a very old (more than 10 years old) Brother HL 2130 that still works like a charm. I changed the toner only twice, I added an RPi behind it to have it network-enabled. Also one of my best purchases !
Eddy_Viscosity2 3y ago
I bought a brother printer once largely because of the praise I see in HN, but it was a color inkjet printer. It did not work out well. At first it was great, but I don't print much and ink dried on the print head and the 'cleaning' mode used up all the ink and and basically it never worked properly again after that. I ended up tossing it for a POS canon inkjet. I don't print often, but when I do I want color so a BW laserjet isn't a good fit.
- gureddio 3y ago
  Definitely consider the outlay for a colour laser printer. I've had one for around 5 years and it has been no trouble and is always ready to print, scan and copy.
  - starkparker 3y ago
    I love my color laser, but depending on what you're printing they're either not ideal (photos) or not always possible (sublimation, transfers, some adhesives, most things involving heat; laser-specialized materials might be available but won't work as well). Inkjet is also typically more viable for non-commercial borderless and supertabloid printing, like large prints and posters.
    - gureddio 3y ago
      That sounds like fairly specific usage. My color laser has served me well for document printing, both color and black and white
- KennyBlanken 3y ago
  The praise is for Brother LASER printers. It's universally coupled with a lot discussion about how much of a scam inkjet printers are from any company. > I don't print often, but when I do I want color so a BW laserjet isn't a good fit. .....then....buy....a Brother COLOR laser? The levels of arrogance in "well I can just throw out more than half the advice" is breathtaking... ...and then you have the nerve to blame the community?
kzrdude 3y ago
Mine just works and the scanner shows up in simple-scan over wifi (Linux), it's all very smooth.
- seb1204 3y ago
  Agree, same here
risfriend 3y ago
The best part I like is it provides a unique email address and hosts a server inside it. I can literally just email a pdf and get it printed on back-back pages, no commands, love it!
- pmoriarty 3y ago
  Downside is you have to email the documents you want to print to Brother (the company). Think about that before you email anything you want to keep private.
- papruapap 3y ago
  wait what? Any tutorial on how this works?
  - dubcanada 3y ago
    https://help.brother-usa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/158082/~/attach%2C-email%2C-and-print---brother-apps https://help.brother-usa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/158082/...
- seb1204 3y ago
  Where do I find this email?
  - risfriend 3y ago
    Brother provide a default unique email id with your device but you can customise it, the id has be globally unique as Brother registers it.
  - romusha 3y ago
    [flagged]
- hurtuvac78 3y ago
  Can one guess printers email addresses and start spamming random printers? I dont see any way to register the sender's expected email on the printer. Back to fax spamming...?
qwertox 3y ago
I love my MFC-490CW printer. It never gets in my way, always works when I need it, is happy about the default drivers and costs me around 20€ in ink every two to 3 years. It makes me happy to hear it once a week when it cleans itself.
kamranjon 3y ago
Mine constantly falls into some deep sleep state where it can’t be found on the network and I have to spend ~10 minutes coaxing it out of sleep using an unknown combination of random button jabs and test prints before it can be detected by my devices again and will print. If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know, I want to love my printer as well.
- adinisom 3y ago
  Mine used to have the problem. Upgrading the firmware and using Ethernet did not fix it. Observation: disconnecting the printer from the network avoided the un-wake-able "deep sleep" state. Re-connecting the network made it susceptible again. I suspect it's particular network traffic that causes the printer to wedge into a sleep it cannot leave; possibly a Debian box that I've since de-commissioned. The problem no longer occurs despite having the same firmware as before and being connected to the network.
- ourmandave 3y ago
  Seconded. The 4 button, one line display interface is hopeless. I print once a never, so the only answer I remember is to power cycle the little bastard. And then I have to reboot my pc so windows 10 will find it. There's probably a couple services I could restart instead, but reboot is fast enough I don't care.
  - vel0city 3y ago
    I used to have this issue on Windows. Enabling SNMP solved it. By default it checks SNMP to see the status of the printer, so if SNMP is off it'll eventually think the whole printer is offline.
- JamesSwift 3y ago
  Ran into the same issue. I think using ethernet instead of wifi was the solution (and maybe something with disabling ipv6? been a long time since I looked into it).
thanatos519 3y ago
This! It even gets regular firmware updates which (when I notice them) I always say yes to and it always keeps working. They even told me how to reset the low toner warning so I can replace colors when they actually run out. If anything its connectivity works too well: I first connected it via USB, installed the Brother drivers (i386 only, but whatever, I don't need a 64-bit printer driver really!), and CUPS shared it over the network to all my computers. Then I added an Ethernet connection and it shared itself over the network. So now there are multiple ways to reach it.
jwells89 3y ago
I wish that were true for my Brother printer. I bought a basic but decent black and white laser printer of theirs several years ago, and it worked great for maybe 3 years, but then it started refusing to accept print jobs from all inputs (wifi, ethernet, USB, doesn’t matter, neither does the device sending the print job) and factory resets do nothing to help it. So now, it sits in a closet while the Canon inkjet with janky print heads that it replaced is doing print duty. Apparently this can be fixed be reflashing its firmware but from what I can gather this requires some obscure utility that’s not generally available.
leokennis 3y ago
I have a similar experience. Installed and connected my Brother printer 3 years ago, pop in new ink about once per year and that's it. It works and I do not need to worry about it. Also look at the delicious Windows 2000 style settings interface: https://i.imgur.com/YtnfaAN.jpg https://i.imgur.com/YtnfaAN.jpg
HumblyTossed 3y ago
I have an older brother that only has ethernet, but I share it via my server, so I'm good that way. Every device that needs to print can print to it no matter the OS they're running. In this day, that is amazing. I don't have to have special apps or 4 different printers. I just have the one and it just works. This is as it should be.
JeremyNT 3y ago
I own a Brother DCP7065DN that I bought nearly a decade ago, and it still works just fine. I've always used third party toner (there was a setting that needed to be toggled to enable this). I can even print and scan from my phone. All the cloud nonsense is there to enrich the manufacturers, it doesn't actually make these products better. KISS!
emeril 3y ago
I have the same experience - after an initial slightly tough config to get it connected to wifi (understandable given the budget price and older model), it has worked flawlessly - I will always recommend brother printers now Further, I got mine as a refurb since I wanted it in the throes of the pandemic so I wasn't going to spend big bucks on a printer and needed something for the amazon returns labels primarily...
nobodyandproud 3y ago
I'll echo this sentiment. 3-4 years ongoing, and my Brother printer just works. The HP laser that was replaced was finicky at the best of times.
nimblegorilla 3y ago
> it's connected to wifi (and it just happily connects even if it's been off for a month or two), and all devices can just connect to it and print. Never need to reconnect or do anything with it. It's a printer that prints. I love it. Wifi is the only "innovation" that I cared about when buying a new printer. My old Brother just had USB, which was fine for 12 years. But my newer (10 years old) Brother has wifi and printing from the couch is great!
- hysan 3y ago
  WiFi is a nice feature, but instead of buying a new printer, I setup a CUPS server on old raspberry pis and turned both my and my parents’ printers into WiFi capable ones. Now our 5+ and 15+ year old printers are just as good as any new ones today.
sebazzz 3y ago
This is probably not a popular opinion but that is nothing special. My HP MFP M177fw laser printer has no issues at all, and if I must believe HN it's manufactured by Brother due to its well behaviour.

by ansc 3y ago

philistine 3y ago

I bought a Brother printer with a scanner at the top. No drivers, just works with the scanning software that's on macOS with zero zetup. They've made the best scanner by refusing to innovate in that area as well.

PennRobotics 3y ago

printing from a smartphone over Wi-Fi with no extra drivers :)

LeanderK 3y ago
still feels like magic and it's 2023. I am regularly surprised it just works
markdown 3y ago
model # please.
- speed_spread 3y ago
  Brother HL-L5200DW.
- PennRobotics 3y ago
  DCP-L3550CDW
- dv35z 3y ago
  This is the one I’ve got - pleased with it. Brother Compact Monochrome Laser Printer, HLL2390DW, Flatbed Copy & Scan, Wireless Printing, Duplex Two-Sided Printing, https://a.co/d/8vMWJCK https://a.co/d/8vMWJCK

zuhsetaqi 3y ago

Which model do you have?

MrBuddyCasino 3y ago
If you want a basic model that works over wifi and prints from your phone, get the HL-L2340DW. If you want one that additionally has PCL 6 support for universal compatibility, get the slightly more expensive HL-L2375DW. I have both, no regrets.
- martin_a 3y ago
  Thanks, very valuable information as I look into buying a small printer.
- bradfa 3y ago
  If you want color, so far I've been happy with an HLL8260CDW going on almost a year. I previously had HLL8350CDW which I very much liked even though it destroyed a fixing/fusing roller after about 5 years (repaired with ebay parts) and then at about 7 years old some small part inside a mechanism which selects between the toners broke and spares were not available. Although the part numbers are very similar between the two, sadly the toner cartridges are completely not compatible. For a long time Monoprice sold very good Brother compatible toner for reasonable prices. Sadly, that time has long passed. Brother 1st party toner is not as cheap as I'd like but it's still decently affordable compared to other major brand 1st party toner. I've had horrible luck with non-Monoprice 3rd party Brother toner.
- losthubble 3y ago
  Have had the HL-L2340DW since 2016. Still on the original tonner. Only really use it to print my resume to bring to interviews. Still works like a charm.
  - MrBuddyCasino 3y ago
    I changed the original toner yesterday. Mainly use it to print out DHL shipping labels.

CSMastermind 3y ago

Completely agree: it's one of the best purchases I've made. Printers were a product category that were expensive for what they offered and were always kind of finicky. I can still remember never knowing if my printer was going to work when I needed it to or not. Since I purchased a Brother printer all of those concerns went away. It works well, requires minimal set up, is reliable, and represents great value for money over a period of years. I'm on my second printer from them in the last 10 years and wouldn't even consider a competitor unless there's a serious decline in their quality. Edit: Since I saw someone ask below my model is MFC-9340CDW

soco 3y ago

I have over time switched to Brother printers (lived through Epson and HP) because they are the least bad of the bunch. But Windows will still claim they are offline with no way to un-offline them, or print jobs will still get stuck from time to time - but this is probably just the Windows printer queue software staying exactly the same since two decades, with Microsoft giving zero fucks about it (or about anything requested by users, for that matter).

gpderetta 3y ago
there is an LTT series where they try to daily drive Linux. They complain about a lot of stuff being half-broken, unfriendly or simply not missing. But they are amazed that printing just work out of the box without all the issues they have on Windows.
- PlutoIsAPlanet 3y ago
  Because Linux uses CUPS, which is the same print server as macOS and made by Apple, Distros often ship generic CUPs drivers for printers, that work with most printers made in the last two decades. Apple had no choice but to make CUPs support generic printing interfaces because printer companies at the time rarely made macOS drivers, and this has benefited Linux too.
  - jwells89 3y ago
    My memory may be failing me, but it feels like “rarely supported” is a bit of an exaggeration. It was mostly a handful of consumer printer companies that were hell-bent on supporting nothing but Windows… I think Lexmark might’ve been one of them? Any of the printer companies that made high end professional printers used by print designers, photographers, etc usually had Mac drivers for their entire printer lineup because Macs had a huge presence in world of desktop publishing, graphics design, and photography from most of latter half of the 80s all the way up through the 2000s.
  - gpderetta 3y ago
    Apple did not create CUPS, although they did hire the main developer (and buy the rights to the code) some years later.

katbyte 3y ago

I got a brother B+w laser printer 4 years ago, plugged it into a switch and all my macs and iPhones found it, can print to it, and it just sits there waiting for a thing to print. Still on the original toner. Couldn’t be happier with it

PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
But will it blend?

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

bestouff 3y ago

I have a very old (more than 10 years old) Brother HL 2130 that still works like a charm. I changed the toner only twice, I added an RPi behind it to have it network-enabled. Also one of my best purchases !

Eddy_Viscosity2 3y ago

I bought a brother printer once largely because of the praise I see in HN, but it was a color inkjet printer. It did not work out well. At first it was great, but I don't print much and ink dried on the print head and the 'cleaning' mode used up all the ink and and basically it never worked properly again after that. I ended up tossing it for a POS canon inkjet. I don't print often, but when I do I want color so a BW laserjet isn't a good fit.

gureddio 3y ago
Definitely consider the outlay for a colour laser printer. I've had one for around 5 years and it has been no trouble and is always ready to print, scan and copy.
- starkparker 3y ago
  I love my color laser, but depending on what you're printing they're either not ideal (photos) or not always possible (sublimation, transfers, some adhesives, most things involving heat; laser-specialized materials might be available but won't work as well). Inkjet is also typically more viable for non-commercial borderless and supertabloid printing, like large prints and posters.
  - gureddio 3y ago
    That sounds like fairly specific usage. My color laser has served me well for document printing, both color and black and white
KennyBlanken 3y ago
The praise is for Brother LASER printers. It's universally coupled with a lot discussion about how much of a scam inkjet printers are from any company. > I don't print often, but when I do I want color so a BW laserjet isn't a good fit. .....then....buy....a Brother COLOR laser? The levels of arrogance in "well I can just throw out more than half the advice" is breathtaking... ...and then you have the nerve to blame the community?

kzrdude 3y ago

Mine just works and the scanner shows up in simple-scan over wifi (Linux), it's all very smooth.

seb1204 3y ago
Agree, same here

risfriend 3y ago

The best part I like is it provides a unique email address and hosts a server inside it. I can literally just email a pdf and get it printed on back-back pages, no commands, love it!

pmoriarty 3y ago
Downside is you have to email the documents you want to print to Brother (the company). Think about that before you email anything you want to keep private.
papruapap 3y ago
wait what? Any tutorial on how this works?
- dubcanada 3y ago
  https://help.brother-usa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/158082/~/attach%2C-email%2C-and-print---brother-apps https://help.brother-usa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/158082/...
seb1204 3y ago
Where do I find this email?
- risfriend 3y ago
  Brother provide a default unique email id with your device but you can customise it, the id has be globally unique as Brother registers it.
- romusha 3y ago
  [flagged]
hurtuvac78 3y ago
Can one guess printers email addresses and start spamming random printers? I dont see any way to register the sender's expected email on the printer. Back to fax spamming...?

qwertox 3y ago

I love my MFC-490CW printer. It never gets in my way, always works when I need it, is happy about the default drivers and costs me around 20€ in ink every two to 3 years. It makes me happy to hear it once a week when it cleans itself.

kamranjon 3y ago

Mine constantly falls into some deep sleep state where it can’t be found on the network and I have to spend ~10 minutes coaxing it out of sleep using an unknown combination of random button jabs and test prints before it can be detected by my devices again and will print. If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know, I want to love my printer as well.

adinisom 3y ago
Mine used to have the problem. Upgrading the firmware and using Ethernet did not fix it. Observation: disconnecting the printer from the network avoided the un-wake-able "deep sleep" state. Re-connecting the network made it susceptible again. I suspect it's particular network traffic that causes the printer to wedge into a sleep it cannot leave; possibly a Debian box that I've since de-commissioned. The problem no longer occurs despite having the same firmware as before and being connected to the network.
ourmandave 3y ago
Seconded. The 4 button, one line display interface is hopeless. I print once a never, so the only answer I remember is to power cycle the little bastard. And then I have to reboot my pc so windows 10 will find it. There's probably a couple services I could restart instead, but reboot is fast enough I don't care.
- vel0city 3y ago
  I used to have this issue on Windows. Enabling SNMP solved it. By default it checks SNMP to see the status of the printer, so if SNMP is off it'll eventually think the whole printer is offline.
JamesSwift 3y ago
Ran into the same issue. I think using ethernet instead of wifi was the solution (and maybe something with disabling ipv6? been a long time since I looked into it).

thanatos519 3y ago

This! It even gets regular firmware updates which (when I notice them) I always say yes to and it always keeps working. They even told me how to reset the low toner warning so I can replace colors when they actually run out. If anything its connectivity works too well: I first connected it via USB, installed the Brother drivers (i386 only, but whatever, I don't need a 64-bit printer driver really!), and CUPS shared it over the network to all my computers. Then I added an Ethernet connection and it shared itself over the network. So now there are multiple ways to reach it.

jwells89 3y ago

I wish that were true for my Brother printer. I bought a basic but decent black and white laser printer of theirs several years ago, and it worked great for maybe 3 years, but then it started refusing to accept print jobs from all inputs (wifi, ethernet, USB, doesn’t matter, neither does the device sending the print job) and factory resets do nothing to help it. So now, it sits in a closet while the Canon inkjet with janky print heads that it replaced is doing print duty. Apparently this can be fixed be reflashing its firmware but from what I can gather this requires some obscure utility that’s not generally available.

leokennis 3y ago

I have a similar experience. Installed and connected my Brother printer 3 years ago, pop in new ink about once per year and that's it. It works and I do not need to worry about it. Also look at the delicious Windows 2000 style settings interface: https://i.imgur.com/YtnfaAN.jpg https://i.imgur.com/YtnfaAN.jpg

HumblyTossed 3y ago

I have an older brother that only has ethernet, but I share it via my server, so I'm good that way. Every device that needs to print can print to it no matter the OS they're running. In this day, that is amazing. I don't have to have special apps or 4 different printers. I just have the one and it just works. This is as it should be.

JeremyNT 3y ago

I own a Brother DCP7065DN that I bought nearly a decade ago, and it still works just fine. I've always used third party toner (there was a setting that needed to be toggled to enable this). I can even print and scan from my phone. All the cloud nonsense is there to enrich the manufacturers, it doesn't actually make these products better. KISS!

emeril 3y ago

I have the same experience - after an initial slightly tough config to get it connected to wifi (understandable given the budget price and older model), it has worked flawlessly - I will always recommend brother printers now Further, I got mine as a refurb since I wanted it in the throes of the pandemic so I wasn't going to spend big bucks on a printer and needed something for the amazon returns labels primarily...

nobodyandproud 3y ago

I'll echo this sentiment. 3-4 years ongoing, and my Brother printer just works. The HP laser that was replaced was finicky at the best of times.

nimblegorilla 3y ago

> it's connected to wifi (and it just happily connects even if it's been off for a month or two), and all devices can just connect to it and print. Never need to reconnect or do anything with it. It's a printer that prints. I love it. Wifi is the only "innovation" that I cared about when buying a new printer. My old Brother just had USB, which was fine for 12 years. But my newer (10 years old) Brother has wifi and printing from the couch is great!

hysan 3y ago
WiFi is a nice feature, but instead of buying a new printer, I setup a CUPS server on old raspberry pis and turned both my and my parents’ printers into WiFi capable ones. Now our 5+ and 15+ year old printers are just as good as any new ones today.

sebazzz 3y ago

This is probably not a popular opinion but that is nothing special. My HP MFP M177fw laser printer has no issues at all, and if I must believe HN it's manufactured by Brother due to its well behaviour.