Brother HL-2170W Laser Printer

(4.0 star rating) Written by: Justin Whitaker

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The new Brother HL-2170 Wireless Laser Printer has come in at a time when ease of use, quality and speed are the most sought after assets for any printer. People looking for a wireless printer are typically willing to pay a bit extra for a these features as they are most often used in a home office setting to share the printer between multiple computers. With the low cost, they don't have to. The new HL-2170 has been crafted for just such a user base by incorporating all of the above mentioned features; wireless connectivity, an impressive printing speed of up to 23 pages in a minute and overall fantastic quality.  Let's take a look today to see how well this wireless Brother laser printer performs.

Printer Setup

One of the HL-2170W’s biggest advantages is its simplicity to set up. The process is seamless and straightforward – whether you are setting it up via USB, Ethernet or through a wireless router. As long as the instructions provided by Brother are followed, the printer can be connected to your computer in no time. I followed the instructions to set up the HL-2170W with my Linksys WRT54G wireless router, and I was up and running in less than 5 minutes.

Once connected, Brother has tried to make things even simpler in the usage department. The front control panel of the printer has a mere 3 LED’s and one big button - unlike those complicated panels where every time you try pushing a button you land up pressing 4 instead of just one.  The button flashes as the printer is warming up and glows a soft blue once the printer is ready for document printing.

Features

• Built-in wireless (802.11b/g) and wired (Ethernet) network interfaces.
• Print technology: B/W laser technology
• Maximum print speed: 23 ppm
• Maximum print resolution: 2400 x 600 dpi
• Standard paper capacity: 250 sheets
• Multi-purpose tray capacity: Single-sheet manual bypass slot
• Interface: Wireless 802.11b/g, 10/100 Base-TX Ethernet, USB
• Printer driver compatibility: Windows, Mac OS, Linux
• Emulation: PCL6
• Maximum monthly duty cycle: Up to 10,000 pages
• First time to print: Less than 10 seconds
• Internal memory: 32 MB

Performance

Despite its basic design, Brother has not compromised on the quality of its standard black and white print outs. It offers high resolution print outs of up to 2400 x 600 dpi which can certainly make your company or personal letterhead look extremely professional. There's no need to spend hundreds of dollars on a high-end laser printer for high quality black and white print outs. The HL-2170W also includes a Toner Save mode which helps elongate the life of your toner thus making it very economical.

It also has an impressive printing speed of roughly 15-20 seconds for a simple black and white document. The machine is solid and very reliable as there hasn’t yet been an instance where it has jammed. 

However, the printer does have a few drawbacks. Personally, I feel that the 30 seconds that it takes to power on and get ready for printing is a tad too long in contrast to its formidable 8-10 second warm up time. Also, this is not exactly a compact machine and the HL-2170W seems to be slightly heavier than what one would want and expect in a home office environment, especially for a simple black and white printer. Another issue is that the HL-2170W package consists of only a “starter” toner cartridge which does not contain as much toner as a regular toner cartridge - quite a disappointment.

One additional annoyance is that the Brother HL-2170W has a paper tray which is far too small for most paper types. Another aspect which they could have improved upon is dual side printing. Despite it being a top of the line product in its class, the HL-2170W does not have auto-duplex printing (printing on both sides of a page), which may not be an issue for some people but may be an issue for others who like to be able to easily print on both sides of the paper.  

Brother HL-2170W Wireless Laser Printer

Despite its drawbacks, the Brother HL-2170W is a printer that most users will find extremely versatile and easy to use. It might not be able to do everything (no scanner, fax machine or copier) but is ideal for home office usage. It is provides great looking print outs at a nominal cost.

The few drawbacks that it has can be annoying, but they don't take away from the solid value of this laser printer. At an average online price of $125, it is inexpensive compared to many other wireless laser printers. It is adaptable to both Windows and Mac, and should be an ideal solution for those who are looking for a great low-cost monochromatic laser printer to use at home or in a home-office. 

Pros: Easy to use, excellent black&white print quality, fast print speeds, easy set up if directions are followed.

Cons: Bulky size, no auto-duplex, small manual feed paper tray.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5