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In this day of laptops, netbooks, and sophisticated phones, a network printer can simplify things greatly. With a wireless network already running in the house, we could add a wireless printer and put it where it most convenient for us rather than where there was a network connection. Enter the Brother HL-3070CW.

First a bit about printing technologies: Inkjets are cheaper to purchase, but the cost of ink cartridges is staggering over time. The HL-3070CW comes with a set of “starter” toner cartridges, rated for 1,000 pages each. Compare that to an inkjet, where ratings of 150 – 200 pages from a full set of carts are common. (Our Epson CX5800F is lucky to get 75 pages out of a set of cartridges, given the amount of ink we waste on clogged print heads.) The Brother toner cartridges cost more to replace, but you’ll be replacing them much less often. The replacement black toner cartridge is rated for 2,200 pages, and the replacement color cartridges are rated at 1,400 pages each. The printer’s drum units are also user-replaceable, and are rated for 15,000 sheets. By my calculations, assuming that we get half of the rated pages from the toner cartridges, we’ll have made up the cost difference between these technologies in less than a year. The Brother will be significantly cheaper to run over time, without the frustration of clogged printheads.

I bought the Brother HL-3070CW shortly after it was released. This was a bit of a leap of faith, given that there were no reviews available at the time. It took about 20 minutes to unbox the printer, set it up, and connect it to our (WPA-PSK secured) wireless network. It was a painless process from start to finish. The toner cartridges slot into the top of the printer easily, and the paper tray (250 sheets) slides in the bottom.

The LCD screen on the printer is very basic, but it’s easy to read, it includes a back light, and it does its job well. The menu system is very simple (one item at a time, scroll with the up and down keys), but the choices are easy to understand and the menu works exactly as expected. I’ve never had to read the operating manual that came with the printer. (Installation documentation is supplied on paper, but the operating manual is a pdf file on the included disc.)

Print quality has been excellent from the start. Characters are well-formed and easy to read, and graphic quality is very high with solid, vivid colors. Although not true photo quality, images are perfectly suitable for business purposes (brochures, presentations, etc.).

I’ve used paper from 20 to 32 pounds without incident with this printer. I have not had any paper jams, and the printer always picks up just one sheet of paper. The output tray on the top is rated to hold 100 sheets, and it looks like it could do that easily. The printer will handle legal sized sheets, although so far all of my printing has been on letter sized paper. There’s a manual feed slot for thicker media and envelopes, but I’ve not had a reason to try it yet.

The printer uses 10 watts while asleep, and wakes from sleep very quickly. It takes less than 20 seconds for the first page to print if the printer’s asleep when the document is sent. I’ve set my printer to go to sleep quickly, and have experienced no problems at all with it waking when documents are sent to it. The printer has also recovered gracefully from a power outage, including reconnecting to our wireless network automatically. It makes some noise when it feeds paper, but the noise level isn’t objectionable.

One other interesting feature: The printer includes a USB port that can be used with PictBridge cameras, or that can be used to print some document types (e.g., pdf, jpeg) directly from a thumb drive.

The Brother HL-3070CW is easy to set up, it uses little energy in standby mode, it feeds paper reliably, its consumable costs are reasonable, and it produces excellent quality output. I’m not sure what else one could ask for from a printer. I’m very happy with this unit, and have recommended it to others who have also had good experiences with it.
Rating: 5 / 5

Been thinking about replacing a Canon i560 color ink jet. Actually I think of it every time I have to buy replacement ink cartridges. Well, I was in Office Depot and getting ready to buy a $55 dollar package of cartridges (4 cartridges) and went over to look at the laser offerings. I really like lasers but wanted a color laser and REALLY wanted a wireless version. Was looking at the HP’s but they were $$ when I saw the Brother HL-3070CW. (*Technical note: the Brother is not actually a laser but uses LED technology. I came across this fact in a review site in the UK. They say that this technology might actually be more accurate than the laser technology. Hope I got that right.) It was everything I was looking for and more…it was Mac friendly! Office Depot was selling them on sale for $299 + tax. I put back my ink jet cartridges and went home and started searching the net for reviews. Well, it’s a pretty new printer so not a lot out there but places I read said that it was a good home solution. Went to Amazon and of course they had it and the reviews were good. Oh yes, Amazon’s price was $269 and free shipping ( it is free standard shipping but I took them up on their Prime trial membership so I would get it in 2 days…pretty sweet) and of course no tax. I figure I save about $50 by buying from Amazon and of course there is the $55 I saved by not buying replacement ink jet cartridges so my price came down to $219. Yeah, I know a bit of rationalization there but hey. Well, UPS came 2 days later and I was in business. First, the unit is very well packaged. Oh yeah it’s heavy too….49lbs I believe. Notes: it comes with “starter” cartridges. They get you going but don’t have as much toner as a replacement cartridge. Still I think they have a lot of life. Also, no usb cord if you are going to go that route but I bought it specifically for wireless so no biggie. It does come with an install disc that has both Windoze and Mac drivers along with the complete manual. The quick setup guide also includes directions for setting up in both environments. Hooray for Brother! I was excited about getting this thing up and running but after looking at the quick start guide reference to wireless setup I stopped and thought to myself, “eeeewwww, this may be harder than I thought”. Well, I did some “R&D” (that’s Research and Delay) but came back to it a day or so later when I had some time and the house was quiet. I followed the quick start guide and their recommended method of setting up the wireless connection…..ethernet connection (yes, you need your own ethernet cord as the unit does not come with one) from the Brother to your router and install through wireless computer (old G5 in my case). Directions were clear and was able to get up and running in very little time and the “first” time. I believe that other reviewers have said that this was not clear and/or a bit difficult. I had no problems you just have to know what kind of security you have on your router, and basically the password. If your router supports “AOSS”, “Wi-Fi Protected Setup”, or “Secure Easy Setup”, things are probably even easier. Installed the drivers on both my G5 and wife’s iBook and everything worked! This doesn’t happen to me very often so I was overjoyed. My wife is loving this printer. She’s out in the living room and hit’s “print” and the Brother wakes up and starts printing. Print speed is quite sufficient for our needs. Quality seems very good. We’ve only printed out documents with color printing and everything is very crisp. When you first install it you can print out a demo page that is just awesome! One thing you might want to remember is paper. Brother recommends laser paper that is 20-24lbs. Think I’m using some copy paper that is 20lbs and think my next purchase will be 24lbs paper. The unit holds 250 sheets in a paper tray below and has the ability to print envelopes and other stuff using a straight through path.

Lastly, everything I’ve read indicates that the cost of ownership of a laser is better than an ink jet so that’s a plus. Print quality is top notch. Wireless is the way to go…..happy happy. I’d heartily recommend this printer to friends and even family. GO FOR IT!
Rating: 5 / 5

I just purchased this printer and found the same problem that others have. I got 175 sheets on the starter toners and then around 200 on the next set ($200 per set) (that is way below Brother’s advertisement). The printouts were color presentations 8×10, but I used to get over 2500 per set with my old HP 2500L laser. Brother’s help line is a joke! I waited 45 minutes+ 3 times and never got through. I would not recommend this printer to anybody that prints alot. Also, if it breaks, you are in big trouble. As for the good: The print quality is great and it does seem well built. I don’t usually write reviews but I didn’t want anybody else to make the same mistake I did. I saw an earlier post here about the trouble with with Brother tech support and also the low number of prints out of a set of cartridges. I should have paid better attention. I wish I had my old HP 2500L working again.
Rating: 3 / 5