| Brand: | Brother | ||
| Average Rating |
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The HL-2170W is a network, monochrome laser printer that is ideal for home or home office printer sharing. It features network connectivity via Ethernet and wireless interfaces, a fast print speed of up to 23ppm, HQ resolution (up to 2400 x 600 dpi) for high-quality output, and quick processing with 32MB memory. The HL-2170W provides flexible paper handling via an enclosed 250-sheet capacity tray and a manual by-pass slot for printing envelopes and letterhead. It also offers a Toner Save mode to extend toner life and wide compatibility with support for Windows and Mac and PCL6 emulation. more info
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Great laser printer, used amazon reviews for setup
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Firstly, thanks to all the great reviewers here on Amazon who posted detailed instructions on wireless setup. I used your instructions to setup the printer on my wireless network. That being said, the wireless setup is the only thing keeping me from giving this printer 5 stars. The directions that came with the printer were not very clear, and following them word for word, I was not successful. However, with the help of some exceptional Amazon reviews, everything worked out great; thanks again!
Although setting up the printer on my network was at first difficult, installing drivers on each of the computers in my home was extremely simple– just pop in the disk, install wireless drivers, the computer automatically finds the printer, and done. The wireless printing itself is fabulous. I can print from any laptop in the home (I often print from around 100-150 feet away), and it prints instantly (no lag due to distance).
Also, one of my concerns before buying this printer was whether or not I would be able to print from both my laptops and PCs. This is because my laptops connect wirelessly to my router, while my PCs connect via Ethernet cables. The laser printer can only be run in one mode (either wireless, or connected directly to one computer via USB cable). Nevertheless, I can print from both PCs (and all the laptops of course) because they utilize the wireless router to connect wirelessly to the printer (again, no lag). (Conclusion: even though my PCs don’t have wireless cards, they can connect to the printer while it is in wireless mode through an Ethernet connection to my router).
Print quality itself is great. There is a very noticeable difference in quality/crispness of text between this and my previous inkjet. I have my laser printer set on 600dpi and toner save is on. That being said, my starter cartridge (supposed to run around 800 pages) has put out over 1,600 pages so far and it is still going with no visible decrease in print quality. (Although the printer automatically shuts off after passing a certain number of pages, you can bypass this by covering the sensor on the toner cartridge–there are directions for how to do this in another review here on Amazon titled “Great printer, but programmed to rip you off in toner”). I print almost exclusively letter-sized pages of double-spaced size 12 font. Occasionally, I print full-page images which print as expected at 600dpi. I haven’t had the need to print anything at 1200dpi yet.
The printer is not too loud, although it would be nice if it was just a bit quieter.
Overall, this is one of the best purchases I have ever made (purchased about 8 months ago). It is an amazing value for the price; I recommend it to anyone searching for a good home printer (both parents, a high school junior, and a 4th grader use this printer almost constantly at our home).
very nice printer
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I got this printer because my HP 1100 finally died. I mainly print envelopes, though I do print regular pages too. Setup was extremely easy. I use the wired nic; just plugged it in and it got a DHCP address. It prints fairly quickly and clearly. My only complaint (small one) is the page curl after printing. All in all a good value for the price.
Hard to setup
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I tried to setup the wireless connection in this printer.It’s hard to connected to the router and the network.I’ve spent three days to connect to the wireless network to recognize the printer,but in wired Network was no problem.In the other hand ,the quality was quite good.Cause i rated it 3 stars.
Ease of setup.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I read so many reviews about what a hard time the wireless setup is. Well, I just set up two desktops and two laptops in under 30 minutes. Here is how to do it. 1. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS IN THE MANUAL STEP BY STEP FOR EACH COMPUTER. DO THE EXACT SAME THING FOR EACH COMPUTER. 2. Print a test page before going to the next computer wirelessly. If that is good then continue exactly the same. Simple. I moved the printer out of the room where the router is just to see if it would lag or something and it didn’t make any difference. This is a wonderful printer, the pages are not curled at all. It’s less noisy than an ink jet. The product is so impressive to someone who was sick and tired of the messy ink jets and the high cost. I just ordered an extra toner cartridge (the big one 360) for $47, $67 at the big box stores. WOW, I can print and print and print and print….
Power hungry and challenging to configure, but great B&W text quality and cost per page.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
To set up this printer for wireless use, SKIP THE PRINTED MANUAL. Go straight to the Brother Online Solutions Center Support FAQ for the HL-2170W and select the top-ranked FAQ: Wireless Setup Instructions. This will take you to a PDF version of the wireless setup instructions, which is more detailed and accurate than the printed manual. I recommend following the instructions for setting up wireless via temporary use of a network cable. Note: the PDF instructions are 36 pages long(!), and are still somewhat poorly organized. They may require some patience, and perhaps a Microsoft A+ certification for Windows.
In my case, to install the HL-2170W for wireless use in Windows XP, I had to manually reset the printer to factory defaults (two different ways), install the printer software & drivers, manually reboot my system (it doesn’t prompt to reboot automatically), manually add the TCP/IP printer port for the printer, and tell the Add/Remove Printer wizard to use separately downloaded WHQL-certified drivers. The Windows installer does almost nothing, and the process is about as far from plug-and-play as you can get. It took me many failed attempts (about 2 hours of trial and error) before I found the downloadable PDF instructions.
Once you manage to get the printer working, you should find it relatively easy to use and excellent quality. I recently purchased and configured a Brother Color Inkjet wireless printer (MFC-495CW), which was also tricky to set up for wireless use. It’s worth noting that this printer is significantly more power hungry than its inkjet sibling. My Brother MFC-495CW wireless inkjet idles at between 1 and 2 watts (according to my Kill-a-watt), and never climbs over 30W while in use. The HL-2170W idles at a steady 5 watts, and spikes to 1000+ watts (three zeroes, no joke) while starting up or printing. Consequently, I would recommend leaving the printer turned off, unless it is actively in use.
Well done Brother..Awesome printer…A+++
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
So much better than the other Dell, HP, Samsung printers out there. This one is a breeze to setup on wireless. Took me 10-15 mins tops. Followed instructions in the manual, used the cable to setup, installed using the CD and the rest is history. I now have 3 computers all connected through wireless. The speed is phenomenal. I covered one lens port as one awesome reviewer suggested so it thinks the cartridge is full. Worked great. Speed is great. Prints excellent quality in black and very economical. However, I have a small quiver about the price. Can buy it for less than hundred shipping included on the web. Other than that, its a great functional, easy to setup, well designed practical printer. Good job Brother…
Solid printer for the money
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The printer was fairly easy to install, but not trivial. My 13 year old son took about 40 minutes to get it up and running with a few mis-starts. Once we figured it out, the install went fine. Printer is fast, warms up quickly, and has great print quality. The wireless feature is really cool, print from any computer in the house with just a CD ROM install – no windows networking hassles. We have on computer that’s not working with the printer, it’s a Vista that’s having other problems. Haven’t gotten around to trying to fix that yet.
Best printer i ever have
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
i love this printer it is what i need it i am so happy the fact the i don’t need to buy a new printer every time the ink will run out because ink is so expensive i will just buy a new printer great printer
Wireless Setup not Easy
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
The wireless setup for this printer using Mac OS X 10.6 is not possible by following the on screen instructions. It asks you to write down about 8 of the advanced wireless configuration parameters for your Mac wireless config so you can restore them when the setup is completed. Some of them don’t exist on the Mac. Then it asks you to change your Mac’s wireless configuration in ways your IT dept would not be happy with. Some of the parameters it asks you to change don’t exist on the Mac. After 2 hours with 3 experienced IT techs, we gave up and returned the printer.
Good quality black and white printer
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This black and white laser printer was extremely easy to set up and puts out a quality product. I purchased it to print out my textbooks for my online classes. It does a superior job without wasting ‘ink’. However it should be noted that when printing a volume of material, the laser gets very hot. Large jobs should be broken up into several smaller ones. Also when printing on both sides of a page, cheap paper tends to to stick together on the reverse pages probably because of the heat. I used a better quality paper for two sided projects and the problem seemed to be mitigated – especially when I let the paper cool and fanned it before printing reverse pages.
After saying this, however, I would buy this printer again in a minute. The quality is great, especially for the price. The last color printer I had ate ink like a kid eating candy and had two cartridges to replace amounting to $70.00 for both. The cartridge for the Brother costs about $30.00 and lasts a very long time.
Wireless feature is hard to setup on Mac
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The enclosed software is so crappy and dated that you can’t even use the CD to install/configure wireless on OSX 10.6 without installing Rosetta. And no, an updated version is not available online.
However, setup the wireless on Windows 7, using the same disc took only 2 min.
A Brother tradition: Poor software/documentation, excellent hardware.
This printer comes with tons of un-advertised feature. Such as(cut from one of the many menus):
——–
Web Based Management
(Web Server)
Telnet
SNMP Advanced Setting
LPD
Raw Port
IPP Advanced Setting
Web Services Advanced Setting
POP3/SMTP Advanced Setting
FTP
TFTP
mDNS Advanced Setting
LLMNR
LLTD
———
That’s right, You can telnet and ftp to the printer. How cool is that!
You can have the printer email you error reports such as tray door had been opened for n times or minuets, remote printing over the internet, generate a CSV file of the maintenance record…, and whole bunch of other neat stuff.
Or you can plug in an USB cable and print, I guess.
Great Inexpensive Laser Printer
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Just bought this printer in November and was very pleased with the price and quality. I refuse to buy ink-jet printers and this one was a bargain. Installation was easy on a wireless network for both a Vista laptop and an XP Desktop. Print quality is very good.
Saw an earlier review on the short duration for the toner cartridge and appreciated the advice to cover the window on the cartridge to make it last.
For the money, its highly recommended.
Brother 2170W Review
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Very satisfactory purchase. Printer is compact and easy to use. The print is sharp and clear. I would recommend it for those who need just a monochrome laser printer. Free shipping from Amazon was expeditious.
Nice little printer
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this for grad school because I am always printing out articles and my ink jet is just too slow and pricy for heavy printing. Setup on my wireless was a breeze. I hooked it into my wireless router with a LAN Cable and followed the directions for setting up wireless. Turned on my network broadcast on my Linksys router and the printer showed up. The installation disk is compatible with Windows 7 Ultimate and Home Premium which is what my 2 laptops are running.
Printing was quick and quiet. I read some reviews about it having bad graphics quality but I did not notice anything too bad about it. I printed articles that had world maps and regional maps on it and I could read them with no problem. Overall I could not be happier. I was expecting the setup to be a bit stressful but I would say that it was up and running on my network in about a half an hour from opening the box to completion.
Garbage with archic software, and zero support
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I had this product for one year. Setup wireless took a couple of hours and I am a technical user.
After one year I changed the cartridge with a Brther manuctured product. I want to be clear that I did not use the cheap immiation products. I paid for an authorzied product becasue I don’t want hassles.
The printer stopped printing. Just stopped printing.
Tried to get support. Found a phone number and was told to take to a service vendor in my neighborhood (15 miles away).
So, support costs 35 bucks and you have to drive to an “authorized dealer”.
I bought the unit for its low cost of ownership and reliablity. Now I am stuck with a new cartrigde and a useless machine.
Bother should really update their software delivery and diagnsotics. Other manufacturers provide chat, forums and yes even phone support. I will never buy a product from Brother with thier zero support policy.
Stay with a vendor who can support you like HP.