Brother HL-5340D High Speed Laser Printer with Duplex

Pros: Fast and easy installation; very speedy printing; print quality very good for text; high capacity toner cartridges available (compatible cartridges are reasonably priced).

Cons: Although Brother added a "straight through paper path" apparently for the purpose of dealing with criticisms of a previous model that envelopes and thicker media were crinkled or somewhat rolled, the straight through paper path does not solve the envelope problem. The crinkling of envelopes occurs because the intake feed roller presses the envelope too tightly, causing the envelope to billow as it passes, and the latter part of the envelope is unavoidably crinkled.

Conclusion: This is a great value for a user who does not need to print uncrinkled envelopes with this printer. This printer remains useful to me because I have another printer that handles envelopes well.

I have had other Brother laser printers, always finding them an excellent buy. The HD-5340D continues this trend with high speed printing, duplexing and excellent black/white graphics capabilities for high volume home or small business use. When these printers are available at special pricing, the 'bang-for-the-buck' is very high. You might be able to find higher quality printing or faster speeds, but for general production work this printer is a work horse and will be very hard to beat. You will not go wrong with the HD-5340D.

I have about a thousand pages through this machine now and it has done well. If you need a simple black and white printer that automatically printson both sides of the paper it is a great deal. Prints very fast on single sided and reasonably fast still on double sided printing. Sharpness is good and documents look nice. Software interface is simple to use but offers a lot of features. No intrusive software like HP which is a real pleasure. This is the second Brother printer I have in my office and I like them both.

2010 01 05 update: Still going strong! Everytime I look at this printer I am filled with joy for how well it does. Have made it through my first toner cartridge and ordered and OEM and an aftermarket toner cartridge both from amazon. The after market one works great too. I went to amazon to order HP ink today but instead I am ordering my third Brother priner today to replace the HP machine instead of buying more HP ink. I just love everything about...Read more