Brother HL-2170W Laser Printer Plus Review

Brother is renowned for its laser printers and personal printing devices, and made a name for itself in the early '90s with its innovative multifunction devices, as well as its creative and quirky ads. Brother's single purpose devices have also found a niche in the market, including its HL-2170W laser printer.

The wireless HL-2170W printer has a distinctive look - it doesn't look like a laser printer, so much as a decorative box. It also has both USB and ethernet connection capabilities, and it's a compact design, suitable for a small home office or a dorm room.

In terms of print speed, the HL-2170W is a fairly speedy 23 pages per minute (not long ago, this would've qualified it as a blazingly fast office printer), and it's got 32 MB of onboard RAM for document storage. Its graphics speed is somewhat slower, which is typical. Its output is crisp on text, and its gray scale half tones are acceptable.

The machine's paper tray holds 250 sheets, which is a good amount - and better than the creaky 50 page sheet feeders we've grown accustomed to at this end of the market. It's got a good, but not great, multifunction bypass tray for printing on letterhead and envelopes. Toner loads from the front, and a toner catridge is good for about 700 to 800 pages, vice the 1000 they claim on the carton - this is why our estimate of cost per page is higher than Brother's official press release.

What sets the HL-2170 apart in this price point and span of the market is its wireless connectivity. It's nice to see that feature making it downmarket and into consumer grade printers, where it'll do the most good, without stringing printer cables all over the place. Setup is a little confusing, and the step by step wizard is nearly useless. The lack of a paper manual is something of a drawback, though it does interface nicely with a router that uses SecureEasySetup.

There are a few minor annoyances in addition to the lack of printed documentation and noise is one of them. If you are in an office environment that isn't very noisy, expect this laser printer to do all the noise for you.

Despite the mixed pros and cons, the one factor that really makes the Brother HL-2170W worth the purchase is its low price. You can get a Brother HL-2170W for as low as $100 if you manage to find one on sale and that is impressive for a well-performed printer with wireless capabilities.

The Brother HL-2170W is not built for graphics printing and quiet areas, but it remains to be an excellent addition to any office that demands wireless freedom and speedy text printing. The documents also look great and again, the price is its main strength.

David Jacobson is a tech buff who has had a lot of experience with printers, scanners and the like. He is now providing office equipment at a surprising low cost that are reliable as well. Visit his website today and see the new Brother HL-2170W.