Brother HL-4070CDW Toner Cartridges

Brother HL-4070CDW Printer Review

The Brother HL-4070CDW color laser printer is designed for the small or medium office environment who do not need multi-function capability from the printer. If you need fax and scan capabilities on top of the printer, consider the Brother MFC-9420 toner printer. Wireless networking, solid speeds, and great print quality combine to make the unit a great value for a small office. It is also sometimes referred to as the HL-4070.

Wireless networking is everywhere these days, and is starting to make its way into the office as well. Small offices especially are drawn to wireless networking as it eliminates the need to run wires across the office, saving time and cost. The Brother HL-4070CDW color laser printer features built-in 802.11b/g wireless networking, and can either be connected to an existing wireless network, or it can act as a server, allowing computers to connect directly to it for printing. Each connection option is clearly detailed in the manual for easy set up. It can also be connected via USB or ethernet.

The front-mounted USB port allows users to print directly from USB flash drives or even PictBridge cameras, a very convenient feature. Duplexing (two-sided printing) is also included. Duplexing can greatly conserve paper costs by printing on both sides of a sheet, and can be enabled as a default printing option if desired.

The Brother HL-4070CDW toner cartridges have a capacity of 2,500 pages for black and 1,500 pages for each color laser toner cartridge, but high-yield cartridges have capacities of 5,000 pages for black and 4,000 pages for each color. The high-yield printer toner cartridges are a much more economical option, and can result in significant savings over the life of the machine, despite their higher upfront prices. The unit also features a Toner Save mode, which can be enabled by default, which uses less ink per page for more savings.

Print speed is quite fast, at around 20 pages for black and 17 pages per color. Color speeds that nearly match monochrome speeds are a rarity. Print quality is excellent for both text and graphics. Color prints are above average, but still not as good as an inkjet model.

Overall, the Brother HL-4070CDW is an impressive printer for the small office. Wireless networking is the standout feature, but solid speeds and the great print quality round out the package.