Posted By Electronic Store on July 2, 2009
Brother HL 2170W 23ppm Laser Printer with Wireless and Wired Network Interfaces
The HL-2170W is a network, monochrome laser printer that is ideal for home or home office printer sharing. It features network connectivity via Ethernet and wireless interfaces, a fast print speed of up to 23ppm, HQ resolution (up to 2400 x 600 dpi) for high-quality output, and quick processing with 32MB memory. The HL-2170W provides flexible paper handling via an enclosed 250-sheet capacity tray and a manual by-pass slot for printing envelopes and letterhead. It also offers a Toner Save mode to extend toner life and wide compatibility with support for Windows and Mac and PCL6 emulation.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Easy Install under OS-X
This is my fourth Brother HL laser printer. My trusty old 5170DN works fine, but it needs toner soon and the price of a new cartridge isn’t much cheaper than a new WIRELESS printer. It’s great, i can put it in a closet, or in a cabinet downstairs, or anywhere and my wifi will hit it from any of my computers.
As for installation, under Mac OSX, it’s a breeze. Personally, I HATE “installation” CD’s that come with peripherals like this. I don’t want a bunch of crappy bloatware on my system that i don’t need. All i want are the proper drivers and I’ll let the operating system handle things. For OSX, i connected it to my network via ethernet, opened Safari, clicked the “bookmark” icon on the left side of the bookmark bar and selected opened the Bonjour browswer. Found the printer, double clicked on it, and boom, was using the web interface (userid = admin; password=access). From there, i configured it to my wifi network, easily (make sure you turn on DHCP if you plan on using it, it’s not on by default) re-booted the printer cut the cable and installed it using the “add printer” option in the control panel. I did need to download the latest CUPS drivers from Brother-usa.com, but once that was installed, the printer practically installed itself.
For windows users, it may be a little trickier as you don’t have the Bonjour (ZeroConfig) abilities, but if you can figure out the IP address, you should be able to hit the web interface as well.
My way is not for the rookies, but if you have a decent idea of what you’re doing, its much better than jumping through the hoops with the installation CD. Mine went straight to the trash.
5 Stars Great inexpensive laser printer
Although I’ve been using Epson inkjets large and small since they first came out (and still do for photography), didn’t realize what a difference it would make to switch to laser for day to day document printing.
I assumed from my previous big lasers at work that every laser printer was huge, expensive and took forever to warm up. This one proves all of those things wrong. Small footprint with all paper stored inside. Sharp and fast output. And ready to print much faster than waiting for the usual cleaning cycle on one of my old letter-size inkjets of comparable price (plus no clogs or finicky ink cartridges that seemed to need replacing every month).
No wonder Consumer Reports recommended this one.
5 Stars Early Adopter would get a second one
Looking at the Amazon information, I realize that I was an early adopter of this printer. It is my second Brother Laser, and the reason I added this one to my office was that it is a bit faster. I didn’t even consider putting it on my wireless router at first. But when I decided I also wanted to use it from my laptop, getting it to go wireless and wired was a breeze, easy installation and configuration. Normally it runs with no trouble. When I had a bit of trouble with small dots on my printout, the troubleshooter explained to me in detail how to correct this, and it was simple to do after reading their instructions and viewing their animated illustration of how to clean the drum.
The printer runs cooler than any Laser I’ve had from HP, and seems to use less toner. For instance, I JUST used the last of my first cartridge on this unit, and then came to Amazon for a new one.
It won’t be for everyone. My friend who is a publisher needs (and has) a much more heavy duty printer that does a lot more, but for someone like me, whose work involves research, and then writing a few copies of a report on my results, it is perfect. Great print, few problems, fast and economical. I wish all my work related appliances were this good.
5 Stars Excellent Printer at an Excellent Price
This is a wonderful laser printer (the second Brother Laser I’ve owned–both were solid performers).
Images are crisp and clean and Customer Support can help with any installation issues you might encounter (as I did) with Vista. Once you’re properly set up, it’s a snap to add all your networked computers so that EVERYONE on the network can easily print, WIRELESSLY, to this great little workhorse. I love the fact that it’s a standalone printer (i.e. you print directly to it, not through another computer connected to the printer–duh, it’s wireless!).
The paper tray holds a generous amount of paper. I love this printer!
5 Stars Easy Set Up
When I read all the reviews on this printer, I realized about 90% of the reviews were favorable. There were only 2 issues that came up consistently.
The first issue was the toner cartidge which appears to run out. This problem is easily resolved by putting non transparent tape on the cartidge so you can run the toner until it actually needs to be replaced.
The second (main) issue was the wireless set up. I followed the instruction that came with the installation CD and was set up in under 15 mins. Not sure what problem others had but I set up my desktop (windows XP) and my lap top (windows Vista) using the wired method with no problems.
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