Brother HL-2040 Monochrome Laser Printer: Digital-Camera-Near.com

Brother HL-2040 Monochrome Laser Printer

Brother HL-2040 Monochrome Laser Printer
by Brother Printer

List Price: ~~$229.99~~
Our Price: $75.00
You Save: $154.99 (67%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: CE
See more product details

Customers in the UK, Buy this product at amazon.co.uk for British Pounds

Digital Photo Product Details

Manufacturer: Brother Printer
Audio: English (Original Language)
Platform: Windows
Model: HL-2040
Color: GRAY
Product features:

Compact laser printer ideal for home or small office use
Fast print speeds of up to 20 ppm; first page out in under 10 seconds
2400 x 600 dpi resolution; up to 600 dpi with Linux
Comes complete with starter toner cartridge and standard drum unit
Dimensions: 14.6 x 6.5 x 14.2 in.; weighs 14.3 pounds; 1-year warranty

Accessories:

Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Brother HL-2040 Monochrome Laser Printer

Customer Review: Excellent Printer
Summary: 5 Stars

I love this printer. Even more so since I see how much it costs on the web, and I picked it up second hand in a local thrift store for only $12.00 (twelve dollars) thinking it is likely broken but may be fixable. Much to my suprise and happiness, it worked perfectly.

It's quiet, quieter than my new HP 6500 by far. Page curl? Yeah there is some with the paper that was left in the printer (about 250 pages were left in it by the old owner), when I switched to my own 20lb paper the page curl was not noticible anylonger, or maybe it's the way that I use it, I stack paperwork on top of the printer, then print out the pages, stack more paperwork on top then print out the next document, on and on I go, so perhaps whatever curling is left is flattened out for me.

All that I really know is that I go to print a page and it's almost instantaneous, it take no more than a couple seconds to spit out my document, compared to my new HP 6500 which takes substantially longer, and even longer still if Im printing one page documents one after the next with 10 seconds breaks since the HP seems to want to re-align the printhead after each document, this Brother just keeps spitting out the documents one after the next.

It's an excellent little printer and I believe I'd be just as satisfied had I paid full retail for it too.

UPDATE: Of course I probably jinxed myself by writting up a positive review on this printer. No sooner had I written this review then I went to print out a document on the printer and the red paper light started flashing. I checked for paper jams but nothing was jammed. I looked it up on the web to see what else might be the matter with it and tried all the "solutions" I could find to no avail. As soon as I closed the front toner/drum door the printer would go to a green ready light and then go to a flashing red paper light.

It took me a while to figure it out but as it turns out there must be something wrong with the door on these, either warpage or the mechanism that detects the door being closed.

The solution to the red flashing paper light is to slide in the toner/drum into the slot but do NOT push it in until it "clicks" into place, now close the door on it and let the door push the toner/drum into place. It seems obvious to me that there is an issue with either aftermarket toner cartridges, or with the whole drum device and the way it's manufactured. In any event I've pulled the toner/drum out of this printer so many times now and each time if I push the toner/drum into place until it snaps into place, then the red flashing paper light will come on, however if I push it only in until it's slid in, and then use the door to push it into full position it will print perfectly.

Hope this helps anybody else that might have a red flashing paper light on their HL-2040 printer.

The solution to paper curl (if it affects you) is to change the printer driver settings to "thin paper" as that will minimize the paper curl, the thicker the setting (i.e. Thick Paper) in the driver, the worse the paper curl, I've always run it at thin paper so never really experienced the paper curl until I changed it to thick paper to see what all the hub bub was about and sure enough, using the thick paper setting on regular paper does produce paper curl. So change it to thin and you should be ok.

So, do I still think this printer is a good printer? Absolutely, when I can refill the toner myself for only $13.00 and get over 2,000 pages (all text) out of it for only $13.00 compared to my HP printer which gets roughly 1,000 pages (again, all text) for a $31.00 ink cartridge, then yes, this is still a great printer, even if I can't use the manual feed slot anylonger. Fortunately I do have the HP so I'll use that when I need to print envelopes since the curl on envelopes on the Brother HL-2040 is pretty bad and not worthy of sending out envelopes printed with it if you need to send out things like resumes, for regular business no problem, paying bills, no problem, sending resumes, don't use it.

Great price per print compared to newer inkjet printers by far.

Updated Update:
There may be one other issue, the printer drivers for this device on Windows Vista 64 Bit computers is built into the operating system and apparently Brother couldn't be bothered to put out new drivers that give the full printer package. Using the downloaded drivers, really only included the "interactive help" system that tells you what to check for the flashing lights. But it has a sort of built in tutorial system that demonstrates how to set certain things up like making your print smaller, however this stuff doesn't exist in the built in drivers for Vista 64 bit so no frilly accessory stuff is included with the drivers on vista 64 bit. If you need to reduce your pages to 93% like we do, you're pretty much out of luck. I make do and recycle the second page that never gets printed on for us except the top line since this is a work machine everybody ignores the top line of print as it's the "header" of the page and not used in our company and nobody could be bothered to remove the header before printing out their prints anyway.

Never the less, a full software package from Brother would be nice for the Vista 64 bit operating system, it seems they just don't care much unless you buy their newest printers.

Write your own review about Brother HL-2040 Monochrome Laser Printer

More Brother HL-2040 Monochrome Laser Printer reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Description of Brother HL-2040 Monochrome Laser Printer

Designed for home or home office use, affordable, personal laser printer is compatible for either Windows, Mac or Linux users. Features 8MB memory, 96MHz and a space-saving compact design that will fit in just about any work space. Generates 20 pages per minute with a resolution of 2400 x 600 dpi. The first page comes out in 10 seconds. Generous 250-sheet paper input capacity reduces paper refills. Offers an innovative web-based user support system and standard interface with Parallel, USB 2.0.

Sporting a compact design that easily fits into any workspace, the Brother HL-2040 laser printer is ideal for home or small office use. This dependable unit offers fast print speeds of up to 20 pages per minute (ppm) with the first page out in under 10 seconds. The 2400 x 600 dpi resolution (up to 600 dpi text using Linux) with laser print quality ensures crisp, clear text and monochrome graphics every time you print. Additionally, the generous 250-sheet paper input capacity means you can work more efficiently, while the innovative Web-based user support system helps you quickly and easily manage jobs and troubleshoot problems.

The HL-2040 also comes complete with a starter toner cartridge and standard drum that print up to 1,500 and 12,000 pages respectively, saving you and your business both time and money. Convenient and easy to use, the HL-2040 sets up in minutes, and boasts an 8 MB standard memory and the versatility to print letter- and legal-size documents as well as envelopes. It also offers USB and Parallel interfaces, is compatible with both Windows and Mac, and comes with a 1-year warranty.

What's in the Box
HL-2040 laser printer, 1 starter toner cartridge, 1 standard drum.

Digital Cameras & Photo Categories

Similar Digital Cameras & Photo Products

Brother DR-350 Brother DR350 (DR-350) / HL2040 (HL-2040) Compatible Drum Unit Image

Brother DR-350 Brother DR350 (DR-350) / HL2040 (HL-2040) Compatible Drum Unit
Brother; CE
Best price: $10.43
Price in other shops: ~~$29.99~~

Brand New Brother DR350 Compatible Drum Unit for Brother DCP-7020, HL-2030, HL-2040, HL-2070N, Intellifax 2820, 2920, MFC-7220, MFC-7225, MFC-7420, MFC-7820, 12,000 page yield
Compatible; Unknown; Compatible; Electronics; Office Product
Best price: $10.49
Price in other shops: ~~$106.00~~

Brother IntelliFax 2820 Laser Fax Machine and Copier Image

Brother IntelliFax 2820 Laser Fax Machine and Copier
Brother Printer; Windows; CE
Best price: $139.89
Price in other shops: ~~$179.99~~

Brother HL-2140 Laser Printer
BROTHER; Windows 2003 Server; CE
Best price: $189.99
Price in other shops: ~~$199.99~~

Brother TN-350 Brother Compatible TN350 Laser Toner Cartridge, 2,500 Pages - Black Image

Brother TN-350 Brother Compatible TN350 Laser Toner Cartridge, 2,500 Pages - Black
Brother; Brother; Brother; Electronics; Office Product
Best price: $8.93
Price in other shops: ~~$19.99~~