I am always curious about the expectations of other consumers who write reviews, so I will try to detail mine. I specifically bought this printer because I travel frequently for work and spend a lot of time working from a hotel room. The size is fairly compact for a laser printer, and having a laser printer was a must since I print a lot of documents when I am on the road (I have gone through inject cartridges within a few days). Price was an issue since things have way of breaking more frequently when you move them around a lot. The cartridges are $70 or so at Office Depot, so don't buy them there! I have found them here on amazon for around $35 which is more than reasonable. Do yourself a favor and buy a replacement immediately as the cartridge that comes with the unit will run out quicker than expected. The speed and quality of prints is decent, and quite frankly would not have even mentioned it unless other reviewers had mentioned it. For anybody who has never used a laser printer, they have cooling fans and yes the do make some noise, but mine has never run for more than 5 minutes. I have a much older brother at home (it is 10 years old and still works great) that is much noisier and runs for much longer than this model. Quite frankly, I was pleased with how much quieter this model is. One feature that I really like is the auxiliary paper feeder for envelopes or other documents that may require a different paper size than is in the main tray. Ultimately, this is a good unit for the price. I have had it a bit over a month and it has met all of my expectations. If you want and expect a more refined unit, then you may want to consider paying more. Personally, I have no complaints. Brother HL-2240 Mono Laser Printer
I purchased this printer as an additional laser printer. I also own the Brother HL-2140 which is highly rated. I ended up returning this printer and will get another HL-2140. This printer is very noisy. The fan stays on for almost 1/2 hour after the last document is printed. The fan on the HL-2140 would turn off after a minute or two after the last document is printed. The fan can be heard across the room and is too much if you sit near the printer. This printer comes with a toner starter cartridge which only prints 700 pages. The higher model HL-2270DW has a 1200 page toner cartridge. This model also lacks automatic duplex which the HL-2270DW offers. Currently there are no aftermarket companies making toner for this model since it is a newer model. The HL-2140 has several companies making toner that you can get below $20 for 2,000+ page capacity. The toner on this model will run you around $40-$50 for the same capacity. If you are considering purchasing this model, I strongly suggest that you go with the HL-2140 or HL-2170. If you prefer the looks of the HL-2240, then go with the HL-2270DW which has wireless and ethernet connections, larger capacity starter cartridge and automatic duplex.
[UPDATE: I've had the printer now for about three months and it's exactly what I wanted. Not only that, but I'm using the ink-saver setting and am still on the starter cartridge that came with the printer! As expected, there are now after-market printer ink refill options. People were just being whiney. All in all, I'm very happy with the purchase.]
I too was frustrated to see so few reviews of this product as I was deciding whether to purchase it (there was only one yesterday!). So, here's my initial review based on having used the printer for less than 24 hours. I'll adjust if my later experience changes.
First, the basics: the printer fundamentally does what it says it does. It prints laser quality copies off at a remarkable speed (at least for someone used to an inkjet printer). Nobody expects the performance listed on the box, I think, but just to give you an idea I tried printing a 19 page PDF document. It printed in about 90 seconds: 15 seconds to warm up and process, and another 68 seconds to print the document. That comes to something like 17 pgs per minute-- not the 34 ppm on the box, but really, who cares?
As per the noise issue: yes, I notice the fan, but it's not as bad as everyone makes it sound. I don't really think it makes a difference while I'm printing... afterwards, though, you do kinda wish it would shut off. It's not a half hour like someone said-- it's more like 5-10 minutes, but maybe still too much. I couldn't find a way to change the fan settings but it is something that could be fixed in software.
As for the printer refills, yes-- it seems there are not yet aftermarket refills. However this is unlikely to stay this way; one place told me to check back in a month. I can wait a month, or pay for one Brother refill.
SO FAR-- not a bad purchase for a Black Friday sale, not bad at all.
I bought this printer at staples because it was a good price and brother toner refills are more affordable than HP. I read some of the reviews on amazon before buying it and the main complaint seemed to be the noise. My printer does not run the fan for more than a second or two after the last sheet prints, so there may have been a driver update to eliminate that particular annoyance.
It prints pages quickly and with good quality.
So far it seems to be a good little printer well worth the 79.95 I paid for it. - Laser Printer - Monochrome - Inexpensive - Printer'
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