Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)ADDENDUM TO MY REVIEW BELOW ON 09/03/04:
Based on my recent experience, I can no longer recommend this printer.
After using the HL-5140 for a couple of months, my initial favorable opinion of the printer has changed drastically. After putting about 4500-5000 pages through it I began to experience frequent paper jams using standard 8.5 x 11 multipurpose paper.
Clearing the jams proved to be rather difficult and time consuming, invariably requiring the removal of the drum/toner unit (which can be a bit of a wrestling match).
After printing about 7500 pages the printer totally locked up on me, indicating it was out of paper even though the tray was more than half full.
Perhaps the unit I purchased was a "lemon." In their defense, and their customer service is very good, Brother did offer to replace it. However, I declined their offer. After using it for awhile I was not impressed with the 5140's design or function, and I had serious doubts that any new printer they sent me would perform any better.
Being a medical transcriptionist who is paid on a production basis, I absolutely depend on a completely reliable laser printer that is fast and economical. After the Brother HL-5140 failed me, I purchased an HP LaserJet 1300 that I'm ecstatically happy with.
After 5000 pages, the HP 1300 hasn't jammed even once, the output looks great, and it's the fastest and quietest laser printer I've ever used.
MY NEW RATING:
The Brother HL-5140 gets two thumbs down after a very exhaustive practical test.
The HP LaserJet 1300 gets two thumbs up as a slightly more expensive, but much better-designed and more reliable printer.
FOLLOWING IS MY ORIGINAL REVIEW OF THE HL-5140:
>> There are a ton of people out there running home businesses like me (I'm a full-time medical transcriptionist)who need the speed and economy of a B&W laser printer, but don't want or need a $500-1,000-plus "office-type" unit.
Enter the Brother HL-5140, the perfect, affordable, reliable B&W laser printer for a small business that does a lot of printing (where the cost of ink jet cartridges and slow printing can be VERY expensive).
Several years ago, typical of my venerable HP LaserJet 6P that is still working very well, HP produced great inexpensive laser printers while Brother followed their lead and made great products too.
Unfortunately, HP decided to focus on a very profitable "niche market" a couple of years ago and started making a bunch of cheap plastic printers that would have more consumer appeal when it comes to printing photos instead of continuing to make top-quality low to moderate-cost B&W laser printers.
But Brother has continued to make reliable printers that are actually made of metal -- what a concept. My Brother 5140 weighs in at about 24 pounds, it's made of metal and there's nothing flimsy about it.
So here are the pros and cons of the Brother HL-5140:
PROS:
1. Everything that Brother purports to deliver in terms of printing speed for the 5140 would appear to be accurate. This is one VERY FAST laser printer (rated at 21 ppm).
2. The best thing about the 5140 is how easy it is to install and set up. It's all completely intuitive and the enclosed installation CD makes the process quick (15 minutes or less) and simple.
3. Most people won't care about this very obvious plus, but it's VERY important to some of us old dinosaurs who still use DOS programs. So I need to employ a printer that will accept a parallel connection instead of just USB.
I'm not really a dinosaur, and I use MS Word for everything else, but I still use WordPerfect 5.1 DOS for my work. So I need a printer that will connect on a parallel port and print out my work.
The 5140 with PCL-6 emulation supports all of the latest DOS printer drivers too. No problems printing from DOS in any application.
CONS:
As I've said, the 5140 gets my top rating and it's a definite buy. But there are a couple of things you might want to be aware of:
1. I haven't tried the feature, but other reviewers have given the printer a thumbs-down in terms of its rendition of graphics. Personally, I could care less. If I need graphics I'll use my inkjet printer instead.
2. The usual printout path up to the front output tray can tend to curl the printouts a bit more than you'd like depending on temperature and humidity.
All in all, it's a terrific printer.
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Brother HL-5140 Laser PrinterThe HL-5140 from Brother is a monochrome laser printer that features high quality print resolutions and a number of expandability options. Resolutions run as high as 2,400 x 600 dpi, thanks to Brother's HQ1200 technology, resulting in accurate and crisp images and text. Speeds of up to 21 ppm deliver documents quickly so that you're free to focus on other tasks.
With the 133 MHz Fujitsu SPARClite processor and 16 MB of internal memory (upgradeable to 144 MB), the HL-5140 is able to handle medium to large print jobs. Manual duplexing allows you to print double-sided documents. A 250-sheet standard input tray is accompanied by a single-sheet manual bypass tray and a 150-sheet output tray. An optional 250-sheet tray is also supported. The printer accepts a wide variety of paper types, including plain paper, envelopes, bond, transparencies, labels, and card stock. Supported sizes include letter, legal, executive, A4, A5, A6, and B6.
The HL-5140 connects to the host computer via either parallel or USB ports, and an automatic interface switching feature means you won't need to change any printer settings to print from either source. If you want to set up the printer on a network, optional Ethernet and wireless network interfaces are available. The 100/120 VAC 50/60 Hz power supply consumes about 460 watts of power during normal operation, about 75 watts during standby, and only 5 watts during sleep mode. Compatible with PC, Mac, and Linux operating systems, the HL-5140 also comes backed by a one-year limited express exchange warranty.
What's in the Box Printer, drum unit and toner cartridge assembly, quick setup guide, CD-ROM, AC power cord, user's manual; printer cables not included
Click here for more information about Brother HL-5140 Laser Printer
