Brother HL-2035 Compact Mono Laser Printer

April 2011 - printer still working perfectly. So pleased I bought it.

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I wrote this review when I had had the printer for about three months. I have now had it for over a year and I have used it almost daily, printing several pages per day on average. It has worked perfectly during that time, without a single paper jam nor any other problem. The original toner cartridge it came with was replaced after some months of use and the replacement cartridge is still going strong.

The saving of time compared with an inkjet printer is a very real bonus. You save time in both not having to wait minutes while a document is printed and in not having to mess around cleaning printing heads and changing cartridges whenever the inkjet decides to start printing streaky documents.

I am delighted that I bought this printer and I recommend it as reliable, economical and trouble-free.

12 November 2009

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Original review...

I had got very fed up with inkjet printers - drying up if not used for a while, gobbling expensive ink cartridges, frequently needing head cleaning - which takes time and gobbles up more expensive ink. I had also felt ripped off by the inkjet printer makers doing their best to make it difficult to use third party or refilled cartridges. I had thought of laser printers as something for business users - not for the individual who might print only a few pages in a week. But a friend suggested I look at laser printers.

I ordered the Brother HL-2035 from Amazon in France [where I live] and it arrived in a day or so. That was early October 2008. I also ordered a spare toner cartridge, ready for when the cartridge supplied with the printer expired. Three months later, after printing probably more than 500 pages with the original cartridge, the spare toner cartridge still remains in its box.

A very nice feature of the printer is that, after you have plugged it in for the first time, it will (on command) print a test page before you even connect it to the computer, so you can have confidence it is working. [This feature disappears once the printer has been connected to the computer, if I remember correctly.]

I followed the installation instructions and had no problems whatever installing it on my PC (windows 2000). I used a long USB cable, so it can sit where there is space at the other side of the room.

I have now been using it for over three months, probably averaging several pages daily. I think I have used more than a complete pack of 500 sheets since I have had it. It sits there silently, permanently switched on and it comes to life within a few seconds when required to print. Unlike the office laser printers of some years back, it does not make any unpleasant smells.

It prints much faster than an inkjet printer, something I now appreciate. I had not foreseen how useful its greater speed would be. There is also the benefit that you can touch its printed pages with wet fingers without having the ink run.

The prints, whether black/white pictures or text, are delightfully crisp and clear. Black is black, dark grey is dark grey, light grey is light grey, white is white and there are never any streaks or bands across the page.

Criticisms? It does not print colour - but no-one expects a B/W laser printer to do so. I miss not having colour less than I imagined I would. It prints envelopes OK, but some makes of cheap envelope come out a bit wrinkled at the edges - the handbook warns you about this. I overcame this problem by finding a make of envelope that works fine with the printer.

Overall - I am delighted with the printer. It has been completely trouble free so far and, assuming my experience is typical, I would recommend it without hesitation to anyone who prints a moderate quantity of output and for whom colour printing is not essential. Its lower operating costs and freedom from problems make it an excellent escape route from slavery to an inkjet printer.

Placed the order at 1.00PM and the printer was delivered at 9.00AM the following morning via free super saver delivery!

The printer itself - really easy to setup. I plugged the printer straight into my Mac which detected it without the need for any drivers or other software. Although the printer comes with Mac drivers on a CD, the ones supplied with Leopard (OS X 10.5) work fine so there is no need to install anything extra. The Brother website confirms this. Print quality is excellent. Text is sharp and well defined. I was worried that a cheap laser printer might give me cheap printing results, but that certainly does not appear to be the case. The printer warms up quickly when you switch it on and prints documents very fast. Certainly much faster than traditional inkjet printers.

Yes, there are even cheaper laser printers available by companies such as Samsung, but I doubt these printers will last as long as this one will. This printer seems very well constructed compared with other printers I have seen. Brother consumables are traditionally cheaper than rival brands too which was what attracted me to this model in the first place.

As other reviewers have commented, it is a little on the noisy side. A fan is located on the right hand side which blows out quite a lot of hot air. But I really don't see this as a major problem if you only plan to use it for short periods. No USB cable is supplied, but these are available for a few quid direct from Amazon in any length you want.

Probably the best Amazon purchase I've made in the last few years.

I would never have purchased this printer if it wasn't for the price and i was a little worried that it would be a bad decision. Its certainly not the quietest or the fastest I have had but the printing quality is good and the cartridges seem to last for longer than your average home use printer. No major jamming issues as yet and no other problems to note.