Brother HL-2280DW Review: Basic Laser Printer With Bonus Scanner

At a Glance

Expert's Rating

Pros

Automatic duplexing for printing and copying
Has copying and scanning capabilities
Machine itself is inexpensive

Our Verdict

The included color scanning feature distinguishes this first small-office monochromous optical maser, but its toner costs are higher than average.

Brother calls its HL-2280DW a colored laser printer with "gadget copying and color scanning capabilities," though manufacturers of a handful of likewise configured models call the units multifunction printers. (All told such models, the scanner collects emblazon information but can't print in color except on a color printer.) Whatsoever information technology is, it sells for the low monetary value of $200 (as of May 24, 2020), meaning that a small office might be able to tolerate its supra-average toner costs–especially after factoring in its reusable extra features.

The HL-2280DW supports USB, ethernet, and wireless connectivity. The simple control impanel includes a two-line, 16-character monochrome Liquid crystal display and a fistful of labeled buttons. The CD-based installation is substantially documented and progresses very swimmingly.

Paper manipulation includes automatic duplexing (two-sided printing); a somewhat bendy 250-sheet input tray; and a front manual-feed slot, discreetly hidden behind a shiny logo panel. The 100-sail input tray lurks in a small, dreary kettle of fish at a lower place the scanner unit. The letter/A4-size color scanner has a telescoping lid. You can scan to your PC or re-create with the usual assortment of scaling and layout features. A Duplex button on the front control control board walks you through two-sided copying via LCD prompts.

The HL-2280DW performed adequately in our tests. Affiliated to a PC, it printed monochrome pages that consisted primarily of text at a subpar rate of 15.6 pages per minute, and a small, simple-minded photo at a middling 4.9 ppm. Mac speeds were active the same: 15.4 ppm for monochrome text, and an higher up-average 8.2 ppm for four pages of mixed text and art in PDF format. Graphics quality was slightly rough and grainy, but fit.

You flip open a front panel to reach the pressman's consumables. The toner and drum components are severable, but you must take out them together, using a handle that would be easier to find if it were a color different than black. A political party (give thanks you) lever releases the toner from the drum. As the drum lasts much yearner than the toner cartridges do, having to sweep out the drum every time you want to replace the toner is passably annoying.

Toner costs are on the expensive side. The HL-2280DW ships with a 700-page starter cartridge of black toner. The stock-size replacement costs $38 and lasts for 1200 pages, which works out to a high 3.2 cents per page. High-yield black toner cartridges cost $55 each and last for 2600 pages, for a higher-than-average 2.1 cents per page. The $81 drum unit, when replaced later on well-nig 12,000 pages of use, will minimal brain damage fewer than a penny to to each one of the next 12,000 pages.

On the other hand, the similarly priced, printer-only HP LaserJet Pro P1606dn–though faster–has an even higher monetary value per page and doesn't inject a scanner as a consolation prize. Whether you consider it an MFP or not, the Brother HL-2280DW is a better deal if its slower black and white speeds don't get to you.