Customer Reviews

Brother HL-1440 Laser Printer

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(48)

 

 

I selected this printer over the Samsung ML-1430 and the Hewlett Packard LaserJet 1000. After reviewing all three online and then "live" at an office supply store, I ordered the Brother HL-1440. While the print quality may be similar for all three printers, the Brother HL-1440's build quality, easy memory upgrade path, and cheap consummables made it the clear front runner. Further distinguishing this machine is its superb handling of thicker media. It produces excellent results on cardstock, using a convenient manual feed slot on the front of the machine. Note also that the paper handling of the Brother is, in general, more robust than its Samsung and HP counterparts. The Samsung uses the top-loaded, ink-jet style paper feed system that tends to have less precise alignment. The HP uses a non-removable paper tray that is flimsy at best. The Brother, on the otherhand, uses a standard removable paper tray that is durable and handles envelopes and legal-sized paper just as easily as letter-sized. (And don't discount the handy manual feed for the single envelope.)

Out of the box, USB setup of this unit on a Windows XP Home machine was a snap. The 1440 comes with a fully illustrated easy setup guide that will have you up and running in no time. All XP drivers are available on the disks that are shipping with these machines at the time of this review.

One last note: Don't forget to order a USB (or parallel) cable with your printer!

This printer is great for printing really long text documents such as novels and screenplays. I have it set up on two computers--my old Dell Latitude LM and my new Mac G4--via the parallel and USB ports (thank God they started making printers that were PC and Mac compatible!). My 133 megahurtz PC will print a 130 page Final Draft document in 13 minutes 40 seconds (yes, I timed it). My 500 MHz Mac will do a fifteen page Word doc. in 55 seconds. So, I think that on a faster computer, you'll get the 15 PPM that the company advertises. The 600 dpi text is outstanding for both Times New Roman and Courier Final Draft. And the paper tray holds 250 pages! This is one of the first printers I've ever bought that lives up to the hype. I just got rid of a new Epson 870 Photoprinter that was supposed to get 8 PPM but only did 2 PPM on the "draft" setting! I ordered the Brother from Amazon and it got to my house in Oregon in about a week via ground UPS. It took me ten minutes to get it set up and printing. For ... bucks (including shipping) this printer kicks .... A note for those of you who are using Final Draft: Some annoying printers, like the Epson, cut the "continued" text (at the bottom of the page) in half; and you are forced to select the "print maximum field" button every time you print which can be really annoying. No problem with the brother. It prints the entire page in FD docs.

Laser printing is a lot faster than most of the inkjets that we use. When I first installed it and printed the test page, out came a piece of paper so fast, I thought it was a printing mistake. You know the speed of an inkjet, when it is rejecting the print, or only printing the top line, then the paper exits out real fast. Well this printer prints a whole page that fast. The sheet under it is just settling down, when the one over it arrives. For high volume printing needs that is the only way to fly.
This model HL-1440 was Consumer Reports number one rated laser printer. It had the best print speed, and the lowest per page cost of all the units tested.
Since this allows you to hook it up with a USB cable (or with a standard paralell cable), it enables you to keep your existing printer hooked up. Then when you go to print, you can choose either printer.
The one thing I noticed is that the fullness of the text is not as great as the HP 950 series inkjet. It does have 1200 dpi as an option. It normally runs at 600 as the default.
Something worth mentioning. Some comment that they have had problems with the pages getting junk on the page after using it for awhile. The cartridge that comes with the machine, which is rather substantial, loudly states on the cover in bold print, that when moving the machine, the cartridge must be removed, and stored in the bag, or serious damage may result. Those who are having problems, may have moved the machine around, and didn't treat it too gently. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. I would set it up where you plan on using it, and not moving it. If I did move it, I would do so carefully.
One thing that sets this one apart, is the loading tray for the paper. It is removable, and sits in the bottom of the unit. That is reminiscent of quality copying machines.
The big advantage of laser is that the print material is dry powder, so unlike inkjets, can never dry out. I have a friend who bought an NEC laser in 1985, and is still using the original cartridge. (He is frugal, and doesn't print a lot, but it is a good example of how long a cartridge will last)
At first I considered getting the HL 1470N so I could hook it up to the wireless network. It has the print server and ethernet built in. Then I realized, since it was twice the price, it would be a better idea to get two 1440s. If I ever have any problems, I have a backup on the other machine.
One last thing, is that I like the way the Brother looks. It gives a more substantial and quality feel, than the competition in the entry level machines.
With more money you get different models with higher dpi, Post Script Level 2 or 3, more memory etc.
So far, so good, easy install, in only a few minutes. It installed in an XP machine, and a Windows ME machine without a glitch.
For this kind of money, to get laser speed, and quality, and economy, makes this unit a must have.

I bought this printer by accident and without realizing it (long story), but I'm reasonably glad I did. I had originally chosen a competitor's unit, based on three factors: 1) cost, 2) reliability, and 3) good Linux compatibility. For the same price I ended up with the HL-1440 instead. After connecting the HL-1440 up via USB to my Linux PC, I'm mildly glad this "mistake" occurred.

Positives:

1) Super-easy installation for Linux users. Just ghostscript's "Brother" driver. Even the toner-saving modes are supported. I have had ZERO driver problems.
2) Blazing fast printer. After all these years with Canon SX engine printers (LaserJet II, LaserWriter II, etc.) this unit is a bit of a revelation to me... those pages just keep flying out!
3) Excellent print quality. I'm up to about 3,000 sheets in two-and-a-half months and the print quality is still pristine.
4) Very easy to upgrade. The first thing I did is pop the little cover on the back and put in a standard 32MB 72-pin SIMM to upgrade the memory.
5) LARGE paper tray can hold 3/4ths of a ream. For a personal-sized printer, that's not bad!
6) Very quiet, and also has an automatic power-save mode in which it appears to be entirely off... until you send it a job, at which time it wakes up in just a few seconds.

There are, however, some drawbacks to consider (and thus three-and-a-half stars, rather than four or five):

1) Separate drum that will eventually have to be replaced. One more consumable to worry about.
2) Construction is just *slightly* on the flimsy side.
3) No printed manual(s), just a CD-ROM containing .PDF files.
4) Call me old-fashioned, but I'd like more than just one button and a couple of LEDs as external controls. A control panel of some kind to choose power-saving, toner-saving, etc. would have been nice (instead of all controls being in the software/driver).
5) If you get a paper jam, watch out! The .PDF manual actually tells you to grab the jammed sheet wherever you can and... start pulling! Most of the paper path is not easily accessible, though, so if you start pulling and a sheet of paper actually tears, leaving half of it inside, you'll spend quite a while reaching into open covers, trying to extract it so that the printer will agree to print once again. (Upside: I've only had the one jam so far...)

All in all, I'm satisfied with this printer. There are two kinds of products: the ones you hope will break soon so that you can replace them in good conscience and the ones that you hope won't break because you're busy using them all the time. For me, this printer is in the latter camp.

One day while strolling through Office Max on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, I stumbled across what I thought was an exceptional deal - a 1200 DPI laser printer under $200! It almost seemed too good to be true. After some initial skepticism and subsequent analysis, I realized that it was, in fact, an excellent deal - for a niche low volume user who needs fast printing.

As a frequent author of reviews, I would typically check Amazon before buying such an item. So after returning to my office, printer in hand, my enthusiasm was somewhat dampened by the negative reviews on the HL-1440. I almost returned it before seeing the print quality and performing some basic calculations. In the end, I am glad I kept it as it serves my need for having a fast, high quality, low volume printer in my one-man office.

Currently I own a [large] microwave-sized multifunction HP inkjet (d155xi), which is at my home office. I decided that if I needed another printer in a second location, it should be a inexpensive laser printer. Initially, I thought I would purchase a $300 HP. My concern with such printers and the other sub-$500 printers was the cost of the consumables. Experience with ink-jets (such as my HP-d155xi) demonstrated that the ink expenditures are a real killer. This, of course, is a ploy by the manufacturers to recoup equipment costs via pricy consumables.

The sales associate at Office Max suggested that the replacement toner cartridges last 6000 sheets for around $60. After some mental calculations, I figured that it would be a good deal. Only when I returned to read the Amazon customer reviews did I learn that there was a second consumable - the drum - that lasts, at best, 20,000 sheets. This is something I did not anticipate. While I have no way of determining if this second consumable was created for purely technical reasons or merely as a financial/marketing strategy, I would guess that it is a bit of both. Moreover, at a cost of $115 w/tax, the drum costs about 65% of the cost of a HL-1440, making a second drum purchase a psychological obstacle.

To determine if the Brother HL-1440 was a good value, I opened Excel and performed some basic calculations, which you can see below.

Assumptions - Drum replaced at 15,000 sheets first time; 18,000 additional sheets second time. High capacity toner lasts stated 6000 sheets, original yields 3000 sheets. Note that it doesn't come with a USB cable ($20) but I had a surplus one.

$w_tax total$ total sheets ¢_sheet
printer $176 $176 3k 5.9
HC toner 1 $57 $232 9k 2.6
HC toner 2 $57 $289 15k 1.9

New Drum $115 $404 15k
HC toner 3 $57 $461 21k 2.2
HC toner 4 $57 $518 27k 1.9
HC toner 5 $57 $574 33k 1.7

As you can see, if you chose to toss the printer at 15,000 sheets, the average price per sheet is 1.9 cents. This is far below the cost of printing at Kinko's - excluding transportation costs and convenience value. The tricky part comes from the decision to purchase a new drum. It takes a while to recoup the cost of the drum, making it a very tough decision for some. Moreover, one has to guess how long the other components will last. Given my level of use, I would probably not purchase the drum. In the three years that it would take to wear out the first drum, another, more cost effective solution would become available.

Like expectancy issues aside, there are some nice features to this printer. Print quality is excellent (as least after the first 500 pages). While somewhat lightweight compared to workgroup printers, it is built better than most inkjets I have used. Nice touches include the paper level meter where a mechanical needle on the front indicates the height of the paper reserves in the tray.

Some strange problems include mirror printing from certain applications, such as MS Streets and Trips 2004. This is corrected by a patch. There is also a recurring "Found New Hardware" problem where it creates a new printer icon (Copy 1, 2, etc). It usually stops at copy 2. Brother suggests that this is a Windows XP problem. As I have used multiple USB printers on this and similar computers, I doubt that it is just an XP problem. In the end, it appears that a full drive uninstall may have solved this minor annoyance.

In the end, I would suggest this printer is a good choice for low volume home offices or single person companies. If you are like me, someone who prints around a 100 pages per week and needs a fast printer when on deadline, the HL-1440 is a good choice. I would not recommend this for any moderate volume or workgroup environment.

Pro's
Excellent print quality
Very inexpensive
Low total cost of ownership/price per page
Nice paper level meter

Con's
Poor front interface
Short life
Possible driver problems
Strange printing anomalies (corrected by patches)
Only 2MB memory
No USB cabled included

PROS:
-Best price/performance ratio.
-Good image quality and beautiful text output.
-Economical to use; only $ .02 per page.
-Small size and compact footprint--fits nicely under my desk.
-FAST & QUIET, No more inkjet hassels.

CONS:
-2 megabytes of memory is not enough. (However, upgrading to 10 megabytes is very easy and costs less than $10.00).
-Separate toner and drum cartridge may be cheaper, but is more annoying to change.

I have used HP Laserjets for the past 15 years and I was very leary of switching to Brother.

However, I can now say that I am glad that I made the switch. This is one of the fastest printers I have owned, and, for the price, it beats HP flat-out.

The text and image quality is great. I have not found that the 1200dpi resolution makes a big difference in print quality and it takes much longer to print than at 600dpi.

I added an additional 8 megabytes of RAM to the printer because the initial 2 was insufficient for printing large images. It was very easy to do and cost less than $10.00 on ebay.

Finally, this printer is very economical to use. If you buy the high capacity toner refill it is only .02 per page for the life of the toner cartridge and drum.

I have long experience supporting laser printer users and would like to add the following comments to the other favorable reviews-- all worth reading, by the way.
1. The toner cartridge that comes with the printer is good for about 3000 pages of normal text. A new replacement cartridge of the same size costs around $50, or about 1.7 cents per page. The larger TN-460 cartridge usually runs about $60 - $65 and prints about 6000 pages, or about 1 cent per page. Clearly, large volume printing means that you should buy the larger cartridge. Used or reconditioned cartridges significantly reduce that cost, but may well cause trouble.
2. The print drum is good for about 20,000 pages. When it goes, check the price of a new HL-1440 (or its successor). You will probably be able to buy a new printer with a new 3000-page cartridge for very little more than the cost of the drum, unless the price of a replacement drum goes down drastically before yours wears out. And you can of course use the toner cartridge that is in your discarded printer in the new printer if it your old cartridge still has toner left in it.
3. Phantom print jams/misfeeds: I help support an HL-1440 in a small shop where the workers use the printer daily, but know nothing about printers. Recently, they reported paper jams, according to the LED's on the front of the printer, but there were none. The problem turned out to be that they had failed to get the paper in the tray tight up against the front of the paper tray-- the paper stop in the back of the tray had moved and they hadn't noticed it. With the paper just a 1/4 inch or so away from the front of the tray, the printer refused to print at all, and they didn't notice to problem.
4. As other reviewers have said, the HL-1440 works fine with Mac OS X, version 10.2.1 and later. It also works as a wireless printer if you have the Apple Airport Extreme wireless network base station, which has a USB printer port in it. (You use the printer as a "Rendezvous" printer.) OS X users who don't know which version they have should got to the "Apple Menu", open it and click on "About this Mac." It will tell you plainly what version you are using. (...)
5. I am delighted with the two Brother HL-1440's I use regularly. I never expected such an inexpensive printer to behave so beautifully.

I bought this printer in December to make my job search more efficient--companies immediately trash inket resumes since it betrays a lack of quality and professionalism. Unfortunately with this printer your resumes will also get trashed unless you spend a couple hours per month cleaning it. There are a few problems:

1) The take-up mechanism gathers and collects dust from the paper and makes your first few printouts feature burn marks across the page. You need to cover the exposed rear paper handler with something to prevent the dust from building up.

2) The drum streaks easily and needs cleaning regularly. The Okidata printers actually have a cleaning mode so you can avoid this.

3) After only a month or two the entire sheet will be shaded grey. I finally discovered why--the rubber toner roller that takes up the toner gathered enough paper dust to make its own new surface. This is what was causing full-page grey shading. About 20 minutes of rubbing and turning the roller has eliminated this problem, at least for this month.

If you can get a refurbished unit you will be much happier. All the internet and catalog stores...have thousands of refurbished HL-1440 units for about 2/3 the price of a new one. You might want to wait for Brother's next unit if you don't like to clean things every month, or get ready to replace the toner cartridge if you're really adverse to getting toner and gunk all over yourself.

Kris

I've had the printer for 2 months now and the printer has performed flawlessly and fast. No paper jams. In sleep mode it's completely silent. For Mac users, features like N-up printing, watermarking, and print preview are not available because of the plain vanilla printer driver. I have an iMac, and some apps like Internet Explorer will have print preview available, but AppleWorks will not. It's a good thing print cost per page is cheap with laser printers (my other printer is the Epson 880i). The print quality is very sharp at 600 dpi and super crisp at 1200x600dpi. I plan to increase the memory to 34MB because printing scanned 8.5x11 documents (like a 1040 tax form) will force the printer to print at 300dpi, unless it has at least 10 MB of RAM then it could print at higher resolutions. But even so, the 300 dpi output (with gray scale active) was far better (i.e. sharper) than what you'd get with commercial copy machines. If you like to print Acrobat PDF documents be warned that text will look jagged, even at the highest resolution; I guess this is why Postscript compatible printers are higher-priced.

Over the past 12 months I have knowledge of three different HL-1440 printers experienceing print quality problems. After working great for several months, the pages printed begin to have a grey background of toner all over the page. Then streaks of toner develop. The problem gets worse over time. Brother claims that the toner needs to be replaced, but the toner is NOT empty on any of the printers. Cleaning the drum unit doesn't work either. In the long run, this printer is not worth the money saved.