“Recommended duty cycle” is a suggested maximum, sometimes based at least in part on how many pages per month you can conveniently print. For example, a printer limited to a 250-sheet paper tray with no additional tray options wouldn’t merit a 10,000-page recommended duty cycle no matter how rugged it is. In general, you’ll want the recommend duty cycle to at least match your typical monthly needs. The maximum duty cycle should be well above the maximum you actually expect to print in any month. Compared with inkjet AIOs, the advantages of laser AIOs include higher quality text, most noticeable at small font sizes, and smudge-proof output.
It also has just 25 percent as much onboard memory and runs a little slower. The Canon imageCLASS MF113w is limited by its flatbed scanner; we prefer models with automatic document feeders. The affordable brother hl l2395dw HP LaserJet Pro M118dw can print really fast and has positive owner reviews. Unfortunately, its cost per page is relatively high, and we saw multiple reports of iffy graphics and photo quality.
This machine feels pretty flimsy, but the upside is that it’s light and compact for its class, which makes it easier to fit into your space. When you first set it up, just be sure to check for any plastic pieces that might have jumped out of place, and run a few print and scan jobs to make sure everything is working properly. If it’s not, give Brother’s epson workforce customer support a call before returning the machine; the fix might be really simple. He interface is easy to navigate overall, if not quite as user-friendly as the one on our top pick, the HP M255dw. It comes with a number of handy built-in apps, including Dropbox and Google Drive, so you can walk up and print directly from your cloud accounts.
However, you may have problems getting the printer to complete Cloud Print registration; we certainly did. For us, the solution was to access the printer’s Web control panel, navigate to the Networking tab, and disable IPv6. With that done, the printer was able to get on Cloud Print right away and worked flawlessly for the remainder of our testing. It’s a mystery why Brother ships the HL-L2350DW with this setting enabled, considering that it’s a known fact that Cloud Print doesn’t work with IPv6. Because simply getting a job to print can be frustrating, we also tested other ways to interact wirelessly with these machines.
If youdon’tneed them, you can often find an identical or similar model for less from the same manufacturer, minus only the PCL or PostScript support. “Duty cycle” is a specification for the monthly page count a printer is rated for. Some printers don’t offer one, which is not an issue if you don’t print much. If you print enough to wonder if you might overtax the printer, however, don’t buy one that doesn’t offer the spec. Almost any printer will include a USB Type-B connector for a direct wired connection to a single PC. And even if that’s the only connector, Windows will let you share the printer on a network.
(In this situation, other printers would try, fail, and jam.) When we put exactly 250 pages in, it printed normally; same with just a single sheet in the tray. If you ever do run into a jam, however, the printer’s back has a convenient access hatch for you to remove it. If you have a home office or run a home business, you may be more conscious of printer speed than those who don’t. Our laser picks can pump out as many as 27 pages per minute; the fastest inkjets we’ve tested maxed out at 13 pages per minute. We think laser printers are best for people who need to print a lot, such as small-business owners.
In terms of resolution, most modern lasers can render graphics at up to 2400 dots per inch . However, for general text printing, resolutions of 300 to 600 dpi are perfectly adequate. Most reputable brands, such as Brother laser printers, render these resolutions. Both their laser and inkjet printers tend to yield many pages before you need to replace their ink or toner cartridges. It’s great if you’re constantly printing off several pages at a time. For our best budget pick, we chose the Brother MFC-J1205W. This color inkjet model is a great option for people who print a little more than the occasional one-off projects.
It stands out from the competition with an easy-to-use, smartphone-style touch interface and 21st-century mobile and PC software that makes daily use far less frustrating than on other printers we’ve tried. In our tests, it produced sharp black text, vibrant full-color graphics, and even photos good enough for a school report. It’s fast, topping out at around 17 pages per minute, and it can print on envelopes, labels, and other odd-size media thanks to a handy bypass slot. If you have up to five users printing less than 2,000 pages a month, consider our home or small office monochrome printers. These small black and white printers delivery top quality output along with Brother reliability, with a compact footprint. The 250-sheet paper capacity helps improve efficiency with less refills and the manual feed slot offers professional prints on a variety of papers and sizes, such as card stock, envelopes, etc.