This printer was easy to set up and start printing right away! I have printed over 2000 pages, when the specs claimed it would only print up to 2000 pages. Inexpensive when you don't care about color, easy to print, didn't have to install a bunch of software to use it!

mikepelton

Jackson, MI

  If you're looking for a personal laser primarily for text, the brother hl 4040 may be the best value around. Graphics and photo quality are half a notch above poor, but if a laser is what you want, you might not care. The 250-sheet paper tray is easily large enough for personal printing, and the manual paper feed is a welcome convenience. Setup is quick and easy, thanks in part to the HL-2040's remarkably small size and weight. At 6.5- by 14.6- by 14.2-inches (HWD) and 14.3 pounds, the printer is as easy to move around as an ink jet, and needs less desk space. The automated installation routine is typical for a USB printer. Unfortunately, when it comes to output quality, the HL-2040 can't keep up. Text was excellent, with the majority of fonts easily readable at 4 points and none requiring more than 8 points. Graphics and photos however, leave much to be desired. Consider them acceptable for schoolwork or internal business graphs and newsletters. I also noticed a tendency for pages to curl. Brother says it is aware of this issue and is taking steps to correct it in future production runs. Assuming the problem gets fixed, the HL-2040 is an attractive choice as a personal laser, if printing texts is your primary concern.

rsam82

Tarrytown, NY

The **Brother HL-2040** laser printer is simple, affordable and reliable.  It connects to the computer's USB port.  Print quality is more than adequate and it cranks out about 20 pages per minute.  It's very good for everyday word processing - -  less so for graphics because detail is lost with a black and white laser printer.  The paper tray is adequate but could be higher capacity.  The user is limited to letter size paper in the tray but legal and other size stock can easily be manually fed through a slot in the front, along with envelopes of various sizes.  Paper jams never occur when using the paper tray.  That has been true of all of the Brother printers that I have used over the last fifteen years.  When trying to manually feed very small items such as certified mail return receipts the machine has much more difficulty.  In fact, with this model I have given up trying.  Other Brother printers that I have owned allowed such use.  The cost of toner is better than average for this type of printer and I have had success with less expensive non-Brother toner products.  The machine is so inexpensive that I will probably just replace it with another Brother model when the time comes to replace the drum.

GregHeath

Houston, TX

The Brother HL-2040 desktop printer has served me very well.  I bought it a year ago and would replace it with exactly the same type of printer if the need arises.  I have given 2 of these as gifts for my children.

dlee195

Lebanon, PA

The Brother HL-2040 is a compact and reliable black and white laser printer. It prints up to 20 ppm. The model that I have has only the LPT interface (no USB). Consequently, the desktop computer that it is connected to needs to have an LPT interface and cable to make use of this printer. Set up is easy and the print quality is high. It is relatively fast for such an inexpensive laser printer and can print up to 20 pages per minute, depending on the document that is being printed. The printer has one paper tray that can hold ~100 pages. There is also a single page feeder that allows you to print to single envelopes, special paper, transparencies, card stock or labels. This printer is low maintenance. It has never had a paper jam. All I have had to do so far is change the toner which is simple to do. The only drawback of this printer is it does not have a USB port. This is not a big problem for me because I am using a network print server that has parallel port support.

seeker1964

Watertown, NY

I bought this printer because I was so sick of spending tons of money on ink jet cartridges.  I'm so glad I did.  I have been using this printer constantly for over 3 years.  The paper always feed well - very very few paper jams ever.  It is not super fast, but certainly fast enough for nomal home use.  The printing quality is great - very clear and it has quite a bit of adjustment - up to 1200dpi - if you need very high quality prints.  I've only had to replace the toner 2 times and it is reasonably priced, even for the OEM cartridge.  I found mine on Amazon.  The paper size is adjustable for a number of different sizes on the internal paper holder.  There is also a slot in the front where you can feed individual sheets of paper manually, bypassing the main paper holder inside.  I have found that it is quite difficult to get the paper to feed straight using the front slot so I don't use it too often.  Definitely a very nice printer at a great price.

sahmcolorado

Windsor, CO

If you need a inexpensive black white laser printer for printing documents, the Brother HL2040 is the printer for you.  This printer was used in a high volume law office to print petitions, motions, financial affidavits and everything else that has to be printed. I liked it so much, I bought one for myself.  This printer prints a crisp document, and the high volume toner lasts for months of every day use.  It is a small printer and easily fits in tight spots. The printer easily prints envelopes and labels through its manual feed slot located in the front of the printer. This printer also prints on laser paper and plain copy paper-even recycled paper. No matter the type of paper used, it has always printed cleanly and crisply. The printer supports up to 2400x600dpi. Unlike other printers I've used, this particular printer does not jam as often as some other printers, which is very important when printing high volume documents.The Brother HL2040 is also very easy to install.  It comes with the installation software that can be run on a CD or DVD player in your computer.  The Brother HL2040 uses high speed USB technology, so it is very fast.  It prints up to 20 pages per minute.The paper feeder holds a generous 250 sheets of paper, so there is no need to constantly refill the paper tray.

xiffi

Valrico, FL