Customer Reviews

Brother HL-3040CN Compact Digital Color Printer with Networking

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I have owned color lasers from HP, Xerox, and Lexmark previously. All of them had issues that gave me fits. All had installation and driver issues which cost me many hours of time to resolve.

No such problems here. Plug it in, answer a few questions, and it's printing. I have Windows 7 64 bit, and I was cringing because I expected problems, but I didn't have any. I used the network setup with an Ethernet cable plugged in, and now all the computers in my house can see it and use it. I never did get networking to work right on the Xerox, though I fiddled with settings for the better part of a couple of days.

The print quality of this printer is only fair, but for business use it's more than adequate. I've printed a set of training manuals, which have quite a bit of graphics in them, and not noticed the problems noted by another reviewer. Now it's true that this is not a photo printer, and the quality of the printing is not as good as the Xerox 8560 I had, or various photo printers I've seen. But it's fine for typical reports, slide printouts, and so forth.

As to capacity, I printed about 900 pages with this printer out of the box, and it's still going. A negative reviewer reported problems in getting only a small number of pages with the starter toner, and expressed surprise at the 5% coverage guideline used to estimate pages. Well, every printer I've ever had used that same 5% to estimate page capacity and cost, so I don't see the problem here. I have almost printed the number of pages the printer is supposed to get out of the box without getting any low toner problems.

Another advantage: this printer's replacement cartridges are cheaper than any of the other printers I've owned, even the crayon-like blocks for the Xerox.

The printer also has a draft mode that saves toner, which was not available on any other printer I've owned. I don't expect to use it, but others might find it helpful.

So the bottom line is that the price, speed, quality, and ease of setup make this a very good match for home office or light departmental business color printing. As someone who has been around the block with various color lasers, this one has been a very pleasant surprise.

**Update 14 Jan 2010**

I'll subtract half a star for the marginal front feed mechanism. When I use lightweight card stock through the front feeder, every three pages or so I get no feed and a spurious paper jam. I have to exert a small amount of pressure with my hand on the sheet to ensure that it feeds correctly. If it feeds, the result is good because of the flat paper path, but the front feeder ought to work better than that, especially since it only takes one sheet at a time.

**Update 21 Mar 2010**

I just began replacing toner cartridges after getting about 1100 pages from the in-the-box set. They cyan cartridge went first and the magenta cartridge a bit later, which was no surprise since my slide theme has a lot of blue in it.

I got another pleasant surprise: the printer demanded new cyan toner after printing 60 of 75 pages for a manual. I thought I would probably have to start over (because Powerpoint is utterly stupid about numbering pages on handouts). No problem, though. The printer stays on for toner cartridge replacement, and it's easy as pie to do it. Just don't forget to slide the gizzy back and forth that cleans the corona wire. After putting the cover back down, the printer picked up where it left off and knocked out the last fifteen pages.

In other news, I found a 256M DIMM from an old laptop, and upgraded the printer's memory. Really easy, though of course you do have to turn it off for that one. There's an exposed slot on the side to put the memory in, and it came right up when the printer was turned back on. The printer is faster now, and doesn't tie up my computer as long on these 75 page print jobs.

The printer status software advised me of a firmware update, which I applied. That was easy too, and it improved the print quality somewhat.

The only bad news is that the front feed mechanism for non-standard stock is definitely sub-par. I needed to print some labels through the front feed, and had the same problem with phantom jams that I had earlier with card stock. You have to hold the stock juuuuust riiiiiight to get it feed correctly. That's the only major flaw in a printer than has been a very pleasant surprise overall.

*** Update 19 August 2011 ***

This printer is still chugging along. I'm on my fifth set of toner cartriges, and never had a serious glitch except for the front sheet feed. Not a single paper jam in two years of use, except for the spurious ones caused by inadequate front feed, and I've learned how to hold the front sheet just right to avoid that.

I don't understand why other printer manufacturers can't make it this easy to own and use their printers. But I do wish Brother would fix that front feed.

*** Update 25 Sept 2011 ***

About those one star reviews...

I browsed through the one star reviews today, and noticed what seem to be some misapprehensions on the part of some purchasers.

First, a couple seem to think they're supposed to add up the page counts for the four cartridges to get the total page count out of the box. That's incorrect; the cartridges are not additive, so don't expect 5000 pages. The starter cartridges are supposed to get 1000, and as I said above, mine got about 1100.

In general, the people claiming this thing drinks toner apparently have not used other color laser printers. It's very much in the same territory as others I've owned, perhaps a bit better. It's possible that their experience has been with monochrome printers, which typically have more generous cartridges, and they just don't realize the realities of the color laser world.

Second, someone said they replaced the drum units after only 1000 pages along with the toner cartridges. No reason was given, but the drum units are supposed to go to 10,000 pages. Now, I'll be candid - when you get to 10,000 pages, I'd suggest replacing the printer rather than replacing the drum units. I just don't see the economics of buying a drum unit and four cartridges (which together cost more than the printer) at that point. But absent defect or abuse, there's no reason a drum unit should only last 1000 pages.

Finally, I get the impression that some of the reviewers are trying to use this as a photo printer. Don't do that. The quality is not up to it. And you will absolutely go through a lot of toner if you are printing full pages. So don't pay all that toner cost for substandard photo prints. Get an inkjet for that. You'll still pay a fair amount for ink, but most of them get decent quality. I have a Canon Pixma iP4700, which has been upgraded to the Canon PIXMA iP4820 Premium Inkjet Photo Printer (4496B002), and I've been happy with it for photos.

For the second time now, this thing said it was out of ALL THREE color toner cartridges at the same exact time! The first time this happened, it seemed very suspicious. Wish I held on to the toner carts. Now that the printer has bugged me for the second time that it needs new color toner, I dug up a page that has the reset instructions for the cartridges. Apparently, the printer keeps track of the number of pages, regardless of how much toner is actually used. Pretty darn lame. Anyway, here's the trick that just made me very happy:

1. Open the front cover that gives you access to the toners.
2. Press and hold "Secure Print" and "Cancel" at the same time. You will see "K-TNR-STD" display on the screen.
3. Using the "+" and "-" buttons select the toner you want to reset.
4. Press the "Ok" button.
5. It will display "Ok?" and hit the "Ok" button again to reset the toner.
6. Close the lid.

Also, FYI, I called Brother and the support rep was a real pain. He got irritated when I wanted to skip steps in his "troubleshooting" process. He basically denied that there was any known issues with the printer that would cause this. He also gave me the number of a local Brother shop that could "repair" it (since it was still under warranty). I called the shop. They never called back.

I hope this helps someone else! I rated the "hate it" because I literally hate companies that do this to us. May as well just steal my lunch money from me.

Cheers!
-Sean

I have had this printer about two weeks, and so far it is great. Install was easy on my network,with networking built-in. The print quality on both black & white, and color is very good. The toner cartridges that come with the printer are "starter" cartridges, and yield only about 1000 copies. So far, Brother direct, or Staples seem to be the only ones that have replacement cartridges, and they are expensive ($65+) for 2500 page yield cartridges, and there are four of them total? Have been able to print both labels and card stock from the regular print tray, with minimal curling. There is a straight-thru manual feel slot. Price was right, sub$200 with discounts... and a free label printer thrown in...

My first review was eaten by Amazon for some reason, reposting.

The print quality is quite nice and it prints quickly on 8.5x11 paper. Everything else about this printer is a nightmare of poor usability. Let's list the problems:
-- toner doesn't last very long
-- low toner message on computer doesn't tell you which one is low.
-- they don't make clear that you need to buy drums in addition to toner, just not as often.
-- printing costs are very expensive when you factor in toner and drums
-- display is old technology and is hard if not impossible to read unless you are looking at it head on in direct light
-- display is limited to one slowly scrolling line
-- when one toner gets low, printing just stops. Doesn't print faded, doesn't print bxw if color toner is out, it just up and totally quits.
-- menu of paper sizes is weird and doesn't include 4x6 or 5x8. List doesn't include the sizes, you have to look at the help for that.
-- single sheet feeder is needed for most non 8.5x11 sizes
-- single sheet feeder is prone to jams
-- paper path is complex, would be tough on thick paper, I think

I got this printer at an incredible price on black friday and immediately got two of these. I was looking for a network color laser and this fits the bill very well with good text and graphics for normal document printing. I was also hoping this would be a decent photo printer, but this falls short for that purpose both in terms of quality at its highest resolution of 2400 dpi (creates very visible banding/vertical lines on both plain and high quality photo paper) and in color saturation & hue. I do print half page animal pictures for my kids and laminate them, which look really good after lamination. As long as you are not planning on printing proper photographs this would be a good buy, which stands true to the advertised use of this printer.

Other thoughts:
1. This is a LED printer and not laser, but you would be hard pressed to tell any difference.

2. I had an 512MB PC133 SODIMM from an old laptop that I was no longer using, and the printer recognized it without any issues (its tests the memory at startup, so it takes a while). Additional memory is absolutely needed to print any image based document, so add that expense to the cost of the printer unless you have old 144-pin SODIMMs lying around.

3. This printer is larger and heavier than my Brother black & white duplex 5250 DN which is continuing to work great for 3 years without issues. Plan on having plenty of room to keep the printer. The base of this printer is probably amongst the largest I have seen in stores for color lasers. The height is reasonably low.

4. I plan on using the cartridges from the 2nd printer after the 1st one is exhausted. This is cheaper than buying them seperately.

I've had this printer for about 3 months now in a home network.

Things I like:

1. Very compact for a color laser
2. LED seems to use less power than the Dell 3100cn that it replaced. Light does not flicker when the printer comes on.
3. Solid build quality
5. Quick start up time ~5 seconds
6. Very high quality text and graphics. People, this is not a photo printer. It's not design as such, so don't give it less stars for this reason.
7. Network setup is totally brainless. Brother gets better and better in in this regards. No problems what so ever.
8. Doesn't have much of the ozone smell that is common of many laser printers.

Thinks I don't like:

1. Toners don't last very long. I replace the toners in my Dell once a year, I'm already buying another toner for this printer after 3 months. Brother toners are also relatively expensive.
2. Drum only last 15,000 pages.

In summary, I got this printer for $120 shipped and it's worth it at that price. There are many good virtues, but be prepared to pay dearly for commsumables.

Bought this color printer after looking for weeks in store. Very easy to set up. The first sheet takes a few extra seconds to print but thereafter sheets print quickly. My personal need is not for speed but for printing large multi sheet jobs. Quality is very good - crisp colors.

Pro: Amazon service, quick , good printing, easy network setup, great price.

Con: Does not really go to sleep when the display says it is. It is more like standby, and is noticably noisy for a long time.

More detail below.

First a "plug" for Amazon. I first ordered this printer from [...] and after three days the order was cancelled, and it took several more days for the hold on my account to clear. Buy had stated free shipping, but I combined it with a toner package, and the shipping came to $50.

The day the order was cancelled, I found this on Amazon for $30 more than the stated price at Buy, but a net $[...] cheaper. I ordered it on Wed, being told it would take a week and a half for delivery on Super Saver. On Friday (two days !!!) the printer arrived!

Setup was absolutely painless. In the setup it just asks if you are using the USB or the network port. Select the correct option, and it will do everything for you. I plugged it into the router, inserted the disk, and was done in less than 5 minutes. The software will go out, find the printer, and make all the needed connections. This worked the same on two computers.

I use a laptop, and the color of the screen changes drastically as you change your angle of view, so I really don't know what the "true" color is that I am wanting. I have had to fiddle a lot to get Publisher documents to print anywhere near what they look like on the screen.

The printer is somewhat noisy in operation, and even though it goes into "Sleep" mode pretty quickly, it really does not turn off for a long time. It is noticably noisy while in what I might call the standby mode, even though it claims to be asleep.

Prints come out quickly, and I have compared them to prints from more expensive printers, and for non-photographic printing they are quite good.

Buy the four cartridge replacement with the printer. Brother Four Drums - 1 Black, 1 Cyan, 1 Magenta, 1 Yellow (DR-210CL) It is about $110, and should be worth the money. The cartridges may not hold the same as the $70 replacements, but they are a bargain, and you can then space out your purchased of the high dollar units.

There is a memory slot that takes up to a 512mb 144 pin SODIMM. I could not find out what is compatable from any source online. No one would guaranty compatability. I called a "seasoned" computer tech and described the DIMM (32x8). He said that is from laptops of a decade ago! New memory is less than $50, that old stuff is about $120. I had an old Dell laptop, and the memory from that went right in the slot. Turned the printer on, it counted the RAM, and away we went for free.

Some people claim that you do not need to upgrade the ram in a printer that supports GDI, since all the processing is done on the computer. I do not know the answer to that, but this system works pretty darn quickly with 288mb. I have not taken the DIMM out to test through put with only 32mb.

I bought this 6 months ago to replace our utterly atrocious office HP printer. It started off very well, reliable, clean prints, color was nice and the slightly more compact size was a plus. Very easy to install and setup.

Then I realized that it prints labels / form feed documents 'whenever it pleases.' This is due to the FREQUENT 'Phantom Jams' that occur primarily when printing into the form feed mechanism. It THINKS there's a jam when there is not, asks you to remove the drums/jam, and then reprint...There will always still be a jam. Sometimes you cant fix it at all and you have to try your luck with the pull out tray and hope you orientate your documents properly.

It also drinks toner, which is common now a days... They engage in the same Printer Scam(tm) that everyone else does - Telling you the toner is low and refusing to print when the previous 50 copies came out just fine. There are work around hacks for this, but they are not endorsed by Brother.

Recap: Good for standard printing, terrible for labels and form feeds because of the phantom jams.

As a number of other people have noted, the colors are way off on this printer. Anything in your picture that is green will come out in blue on this printer. That is just unacceptable.