A Few of Our Favorites

Everything you need to choose the right printer

A Few of Our Favorites

There is no one best printer for everyone. But there are some that seem to hit “just right” for a lot of users. A few current top models:

Brother HL-L5100DN

This is a good mid-range monochrome laser printer. Nothing fancy, but includes wired networking, duplex printing, decent speed (42 pages/minute) and a 250-page paper tray. For general usage up to a few thousand pages a month, it is hard to beat.

If you want to add WiFi, the Brother HL-L5200DW adds WiFi with everything else the same. Both printers can use the TN-820 and TN-850 toner cartridges. Based on typical pricing, the TN-820 works out to only 2.15 cents/page, but the TN-850 is a much better deal at 1.34 cents/page.

The Brother HL-L6200DW doubles the capacity, letting you load a full ream of paper at one time. It also prints even faster (48 pages/minute). The other big difference is that you can use the TN-880 which gets the toner cost down to an incredible 1.03 cents/page! So if you print more than a few hundred pages a month, toner savings will pay for the difference in the initial cost of the printer very quickly.