For quite a few years the three titans in the printer arena have really been Epson, Canon as well as Hewlett Packard (with some competition from Xerox as well as Lexmark) although recently Brother seems to have started a concerted effort to confront the big boys over the range both in dedicated printers as well as all-in-one models.
Its latest 4000 series of laser printers is aimed straight at the small to medium type of business market, which always prizes quick delivery around networked systems. The HL-4050CDN's big brother, the HL-4070CDW, has the unique feature of being the sole wireless network colour laser printer in the marketplace, however, if you don't wish to pay the extra for the wireless ability, then the HL-4050CDN has everything you need for any demanding work place.
This is a really solid device; weighing around 29kg you are going to need a friend to help transport it in place in case you wouldn't like to risk back problems. Once in position, getting it prepared from the box is actually comparatively simple. The front cover lowers to uncover the drum unit, that is pulled forward and the four Brother HL4050CDN toner printer cartridges (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) can be slotted in to place. As soon as paper is fed into the paper tray, the software is installed and the link with the PC is finished, you are all set to proceed.
The installed printer driver is adapted toward your connection, which may be via USB, parallel interface cable (and we don't see many of those nowadays!) or network interface cable. Once installed and operating (the unit is also Mac-friendly), your print choices are handled from the LCD display upon the adjustable control panel on the top and also the pleasingly big control buttons beneath it.
This printer is fantastic for presentations, booklets as well as reports, as double-sided output is available as standard. Utilizing a 300MHz processor with 64MB memory (expandable to 576MB) as well as up to 2,400 x 600dpi print resolution, it is possible to churn out up to 250 pages or even double that if you buy another optionally available tray. There is also an additional multi-purpose tray at the front which can be manually given as much as 50 sheets.
When it comes to speed, you are looking at as much as 20ppm with regard to both black and white as well as colour pages which, along with the duplex functionality, is without question why you may be having to pay a little bit more as compared to similar models from Brother's competitors. Not only is it PictBridge enabled but you may also print straight from a USB flash drive, therefore dispensing with the requirement for a PC entirely; very useful when you are hurrying to get that presentation to the management in advance of the deadline.
A quick, reliable workhouse of a printer with USB flash drive, network abilities and also duplex as standard, therefore being ideal for multi-page as well as multi-faceted presentations as well as documents.
Brother toner printer cartridges can be found here.
