Brother HL-2070N Review
Overview:
The Brother HL-2070N bargain priced laser printer performs well for the cost, but can operate with a very high overall cost per page. The built in network print server is a major plus, but this device is essentially a bare bones unit.
Pros:
With an advertised print speed of up to 20 pages per minute, the Brother HL-2070N is great for the personal business or even networked household. This petite little unit has one of the smallest footprints one will find in a personal printer, and its dimensions are only 14.6 in. x 14.2 in. x 6.5 in. (W x D x H) with a weight of only 14.3 pounds. This makes the unit very manageable for mobility purposes, and also helpful when desk space is at a premium.
The Brother HL-2070n's print quality is actually very good, with a resolution of up to 2400 x 600 dots per inch. Even though this unit prints exclusively in monochrome, black and white imagery will come out shining bright and looking professional. Included memory is good enough for a small printer, at 16 MBs. Unfortunately, smaller printers such as this do not offer memory expansion, but this shouldn't be a problem considering the scope of the device.
The Brother HL-2070n's maximum monthly duty cycle seems just barely acceptable, at only 10,000 sheets, and its recommended monthly duty is in the range of 2,000. But, considering the printer's expensive cost per page, heavy duty is not to be expected.
Cons:
With an estimated consumable cost of 3.4 cents per page, the Brother HL-2070N would be best suited for a very small office setup or for home use due to the high price of high volume printing. The unit is very cheap up front, but could potentially end up costing more in the long run.
Paper handling abilities are limited due to the size and nature of the printer. A 250 sheet tray is capable of holding half a ream of paper, and the device does include a single sheet bypass slot. When using the bypass slot, buyers can print to thicker media types such as envelopes and transparencies, all without having to unload the standard paper supply. The output bin holds a very decent 100 sheets.
The advertised print speed of the unit is, unfortunately, not accurate, and normal documents will average at a speed somewhere more in the neighborhood of 16 pages per minute. This can be a problem with printing large projects of up to 100 pages at a time. Power consumption is also oddly high for a device of this size, at 450 watts peak.
