Thank you for showing such a clear and well presented video. You spoke clearly, and took your time so I could see everything. Your recording was NOT jumping around either (so that was nice). Everything, including size and weight were covered. Because of you, I now can make an informed choice - Many Thanks.
I absolutely love the way you gave detailed information for this review! It is so refreshing! Thank you for taking the time and the guess work out of the features and its qualities!
I must say this is one of the BEST pieces of guidance/review/directions I have seen on youtube, or anywhere else for that matter. Your pace, description, and visuals are clear, concise, and beyond informative. The process was easily accomplished as a result.
Great review! You got to the point on the printer, its functionality and opinion. Such an outstanding job, I will be purchasing one this afternoon! Thank you!
thank you!! i was struggling to figure out how to connect this to internet, after following YOUR instructions I instantly figured it out. - P.S. Such a great review. I've watched this video multiple times, which also helped me decide to get this printer! and this thing is AWESOME! cheers Phil
BROTHER = best deals on the Toner. When comparing printers, always check the toner cartridge prices first, you will be buying them in the future ! Brother printers work very well at home and office... and the print direct from the Smart Phone is so very helpful.
These instructions were awesome! I have had this printer sitting in the box on my kitchen floor for two weeks and dreaded trying to set it up. I decided to search for a youtube video & found this one. I followed your clear steps one by one. I watched a video segment, stopped it, and tried it out on my printer. Then I moved on to the next segment until I had completed the task. I wish I had searched for a video two weeks ago. Thanks, Phil. You are incredible!
@@davethibeault1108 Copying a color photo works ok but could/should be better. However, now, when I make a copy of anything (other than a photo such as when copying my driver's license, whether black and white or in color, the page prints out looking like it was printed from an old mimeograph machine. There is an odd color hue on the background of the entire sheet of paper. It is hideous. Yet oddly enough if I print something straight from my computer it comes out with normal color. I have only so far replaced the black ink and have not yet had to replace the rest of the ink that came with the machine. I don't know that would make a difference.
@@YAM1878 Thanks so much for the feedback. I'm having a tough time finding a printer that, first of all, doesn't have any major drawbacks, and sells at a reasonable price. This one seems to be expensive enough to do at least "okay" but I'm glad you gave me a heads-up that it, too, fails the "okay" test. I wonder if there's a printer out there that sells under $500 and does the job satisfactorily. I'm frustrated that you got stuck with a printer that doesn't get the job done. Are you shopping for another printer?
@@davethibeault1108Thibeault Hi Dave. No, I am currently not looking for another printer. I have a 10-year-old hp monochrome printer that works well. I was just hoping to have a color laser printer for the few times that I actually want to print some things in color. I am a teacher and every now and then I want to print several copies of something in color. I have 140 students this year. I have a fairly inexpensive Brother color inkjet printer that gives good colored documents, but the ink goes a little too quickly with that number of students. It is an MFC J895DW. I think I got it on sale 2 years ago at Office Depot for under $200.
Thanks for the Video. This should be very helpful when I get ready to set up my Laser Printer. I had the Impression that you can't print photo quality prints with a Laser Printer. I am simply tired of Ink Jet Printer failures the difficulty to get cartridges that I refilled to work . with all the chips..
Solid review, mate. Thank you! I see several comments saying this printer isn't designed to print photos. For what color printing is it designed? Have you ever changed the printer's DPI settings when printing a photo? Say instead of printing at 100 or 150 dpi, you print the photo at 300 dpi or 600 dpi. What is the DPI of the sunset image from your phone? What is the size of the image? Is the image from your phone enlarged or made smaller to fit the page?
I replaced a Brother printer 10 years ago because of the color print quality and was thinking about coming back but it doesn't look like much has changed.
Do you have an opinion on cheaper compatible toner like by Arthur Imaging? They sell a four pack for about $100. Being able to use cheaper toner would seal the deal for me on buying this printer.
Nice. Just got one and hopefully this will be reliable and consistent unlike the HP Laserjet it replaced. Getting 3rd party Tn227s with IC chips after the demos get used up.
@@benevolentautore4463 It's awesome. Didn't need to install 3rd party toner yet (70 percent after 500 pages). Some of the toner specifies ic chips... I got EZ Ink. The printer itself is flawless. Duplex just works, zero jams, surprisingly quiet, works with iPhone, pc, and Linux.
I also really like your in depth review. But looking at the color pictures that was printed, wouldn't the appearance look somewhat better if they were on a good color paper? Instead of printer paper? Perhaps the paper might be absorbing some of the ink changing the looks, (vs photo paper being non absorbent) I would appreciate your answer, as your honest opinion is important to my purchase Thank you!
When printing an image from the phone, what was the resolution of the source file? The printout you show looks like the image was originally around 150kb 72ppi in size. Does it print with the same poor quality if the image is a 3mb 300ppi?
At 10:38 when you open the scanner lid, it looks as though there is an auto document reader strip to the left of the plate glass. You can also see to the left of the plate glass a plastic beveled feeder bar that is used to help direct paper via the auto doc feeder. Therefore, I wonder if there is an optional auto doc feeder head you can purchase, or, Brother uses this same printer with a different part number that does have the auto doc feed head?
That's an interesting observation, but to my knowledge there is no ADF add-on available for this printer. It's possible that in designing it as a lower cost model, they simply used parts that they already have in production from other models, rather than creating a new spec, but without the accompanying functionality.
@@ReviewedByPhil true.... I am still trying to find an inexpensive color printer (ie, with respect to toners and not necessarily the printer) with autodoc feed (scanning), and really good output that is not the size of my college dorm refrigerator.
This is not a Laser printer, it is an LED printer, nothing wrong with it being an LED printer, i have the Brother HL-3150CDW and it is a great printer. The Brother HL-L3290CDW uses the same print system and at the price it is good value for a small home office or even home use. To expect it to print perfect photos on normal paper is asking a bit much. Even on photo paper it is not inkjet quality or the quality of laser printers with higher resolutions , but then it was not made for that purpose. I find my HL-3150CDW capable of producing good quality prints for what it was made to do and it is not bad on photo paper to be honest, you got to get pretty close up to the photo to notice any problems with it. if you want to print photos, then either get a proper Dye-sublimation thermal transfer like the canon Selphy 1300 or a decent ink jet printer and both of them comes with their own problems. Dye-sublimation thermal transfer printers are expensive to use, i have the canon 1300p and it is a great machine, but so expensive to run and inkjets have the nozzle blocking problem if not used, which is why I got my 3150CDW in the first place. If I knew that a brother with a scanner on was so cheap I would have gone for that, the HL-L3290CDW is not available in the UK by the looks of it, but they do have others like it and I did think about getting one, sticking my oler brother downstairs and the new one up here, but not sure if it is worth it. i do need to replace my old HP Scanjet 7650 as it is showing its age and jams now and again at higher scanning rates on the single sheet feeder and a all-in-one would be ideal,
Yes, you're absolutely correct. The actual mechanism illuminating the drum is not a laser but an array of LEDs, so although big box stores and, in fact, the manufacturer, Brother, tend to group them together with laser printers they would more accurately be called "light printers" collectively. However, unfortunately this term has already been co-opted for use by 3D resin printers and could cause some confusion to the consumer, so I understand the practical reason for broadly calling both laser and LED printers "laser printers" as the consumer is already familiar with that term and what it means in terms of features and capabilities. Although both technologies use a similar principle for bonding toner to paper, they do produce results of differing quality. But as you noted, the difference is slight and only noticeable upon close inspection or to the discerning user. I agree 100% that those looking for great photo print quality should look to either inkjet or dye sublimation options. The photo print quality in the video, of course, is simply demonstrative to help folks researching the printer get a sense of what to expect and not an indication of missed expectations. I think the most similar Brother model, available in the UK, would be the DCP-L3510CDW but if you want the ADF (auto-document feeder) you could look into the DCP-L3550CDW. If you're open to other options, I reviewed an all-in-one LED HP printer w/scanner and fax a little while back: ua-cam.com/video/hs_V7eN7Fmg/v-deo.html (model M479fdw).
@@ReviewedByPhil Calling them lasers when they are not I think is wrong full selling, while as you said they are more or less the same apart from the fact that lasers' printer uses a laser onto a spinning mirror and LED uses a row of LED, I think lasers are slightly faster and offer better quality, but i could be wrong in that the speed and quality. Saying that quality on my LEd printer is good. Thanks for the recommendations, while i am not in the market for one just yet, I will put them on the list, not sure about HP, while we have HP lasers at work, and they seem to go on and on and on, i have never been on good terms with HP printers, granted they are normally ink jet printers.. My scanner is a HP Scan jet 7650 and is getting on now and have been a good workhorse, so I know HP makes great scanners, the problem is I don't use it as often as I used to, but it is there for when I do and there are a few small problems with it, mainly due to age. This is why I not at ease in spending money for a new scanner, but if I got one built into a printer i may feel better doing so, but then again I already have a good printer, why would I need another one? It is all confusing. I will have a look at the video and thanks again
If you were to drop water on a printed color page, would the "ink" not bleed aka be waterproof? What about if you were to drop some isopropyl alcohol on it? (I am wanting to use the printer for printing out linework to paint/ user alcohol markers on top of.
Since laser printers bond dry toner to the paper using heat, they will not "bleed" when exposed to water. My understanding is that alcohol based inks also will not dissolve the toner (source: craftingwhilecaffeinated.com/2016/05/15/coloring-digital-stamps-with-alcohol-markers/)
I had a Brother 9970CDW. It made the same bad color prints. I had 2 Brother color printers. They are fast indeed, but de quality is not good. And both printers printed unwanted dots on the paper. When there's still 25% of toner left it stops working. You need a hidden code, to find on internet, to continue printing. My experience is that - after unlocking - it prints a few hundreds more (there are movies on YT to show this). I replaced it by an HP 475cdw, slower but the print quality is much better.
Generally I agree, I like the color quality on prints better on HP laser printers, though they still don't come anywhere close to a Canon inkjet (like the Pixma line) for photo printing. I use my Brother printers mostly for utility stuff, printing out text documents, fliers, receipts, shipping labels etc.
Great instructions. I can't seem to figure out how to print multiple copies. How would I print 10 pages at a time without doing it one by one? Thank you!
Are you making a photocopy suing the flatbed scanner on to top, as shown at 6:04? If so, after placing your page on the scanner glass, press the up (+) key on the printer's control panel to the right of the display to increase the copy count until you reach your desired number of copies. If printing a document from a computer, for example a Word document, after selecting 'Print' and bringing up the print dialog window (see 4:52), look for the section that says "Copies" or "Number of Copies" and type in the number of copies you want to print all at once.
Great video. I would add "setup" to the description as it is more than just a review. Question: Do you know if this works on the new Mac's with M1 chips? Do I still need the driver?
Hey thanks, but regarding your question, I'm not sure about compatibility with the new M1 chips. The printer does support AirPrint, which supposedly helps avoid driver issues when upgrading chipsets and OS versions but I haven't read anything concrete on the subject.
Have you even noticed dots on the page while using the printer? When I print multiple pages it has a problem. The first page is okay bit the on the next page I can lightly see the words from the previous page over laping the word on the second page. Do you know how to fix this problem?
Ghosting happens when the printer applies insufficient heat to bond the toner to the paper. There are two possible causes. The first is that the fuser could be defective. The paper could be another cause of ghosting, if your settings specific one type of paper but you are using a different type/weight paper. When printing, in the print dialog, be sure to choose the correct paper type that you have loaded into the printer (eg. plain paper, thin paper, thick paper, etc.).
Thanks for the review.. Do you still enjoy it? How much volume have you done? I have read that many complain that the toners run over much quicker than anticipated... Apparently it goes by page count instead of page coverage. Anything else? I'm Looking at getting the MFC-L3770CDW model.
I don't actually end up printing that much, only a hand full of pages per month, so cartridges generally last me a long while. That being said, the starter cartridges that come with the printer don't have as long a life as a full replacement cartridge, but I think you may be correct that the toner level indicators are gauged via page count, not print density. I don't have any experience with the ADF, which is the main difference between the model you're looking at versus the one I reviewed, so I can't really say whether or not it performs well. The main thing I thought could be better on mine, was the accuracy/depth of the color prints.
Great view! If I were looking for a reliable color printer that would mostly be used for printing color duplex text documents in the $400 price range where ink or toner would not cost a fortune which printer would you recommend?
In general, I would say that Brother toner (and aftermarket toner) tend to be cheaper than HP toner. That said, I actually like the color print performance and results better from the newer HP printers over the current gen Brother color laser prints, so I guess the trade off in price is the quality of the print. I generally recommend the HP M479FDW that I reviewed here: ua-cam.com/video/hs_V7eN7Fmg/v-deo.html but I see that the non-WiFi version, which is otherwise identical is on sale for around your budget: geni.us/ug1eCmN [Amazon Affiliate Product Link] If you are concern about the cost of the toner and don't mind a slightly less detailed color print, the brother printer in this video isn't a bad choice.
If I was going to print a photo I would use Photocopy paper not regular paper. I don't care what printer you use if your not using Photocopy paper it is going to look grainy.
Thanks for a good review. I bought and have used this printer for 6 months. I have been quite satisfied with the documents. But I still have not sorted out how to print a different size photo. Such as - a photo is 8 by 10 and want to print it in 5 by 7 format. Was easy to do with inkjet. Have tried the website without success - any help appreciated.
Hm, in your example, are you trying to resize the photo on the page and simply print the smaller 5x7 size but on regular-sized printer paper, or is the size of the media actually smaller and you're trying to print the larger photo scaled down on 5x7 photo paper? If it's the latter case, you just have to change the paper size in the print dialog, the window that pops up after you click 'print,' to 5x7 (aka Photo 2L) and then change the scale to 'fit to page' before printing.
If you buy all 4 toner cartridges as a set from a 3rd party vendor you can get them for this printer around $60. The pricing for color ink cartridges for inkjet printers will vary based on the model but can run anywhere from $20-$100 for a set of 4 to 6 colors since some inkjets use 'light cyan' and 'light magenta' in addition to black/cyan/magenta/yellow.
Sure. First, place your original document on the scanner glass as shown at 6:00. Then press the scan button to the left of the LCD (2:54).HL-L3290CDW. Choose your scan settings on the LCD using the up/down keys. Then press Black Start or Color Start depending on what output you would like.
This is actually the printer I use at home! It's nice because although I mostly print black and white, I can print color if I need to and the toner never dries out so I don't have to worry about replacing it often if I don't use color that much. Previous to this one, I had a black and white only printer, the Brother HL-L2830DW: geni.us/bKIkQ1q [Amazon Affiliate Product Link] and that one is now our backup printer in another room because it still works great.
No. According to the Brother USA website, "Brother does not currently manufacture a color laser/LED machine capable of borderless printing, printing full bleed, or printing to the edge of the paper."
Check the weight of your business card paper. I don’t think it prints really heavy paper. I hate mine. It prints documents ok if they have a white background. But on colored backgrounds, it morphs the color on the edges or has light streaks. I’ve changed toner cartridges, cleaned everything, spent hours with Brother customer service. I’ve gotten no solutions.
I do not get why manufacturers remove ethernet in favor of wifi... They must like saving a few cents on manufacturing cost.. have they no clue the amount of customers they lost when they do that?
I think these are the steps for that. 1. Load your document. 2. Press Scan. 3. Press ⬆ or ⬇ to select the [to PC] option, and then press OK. 4. Press ⬆ or ⬇ to select the [E-mail] option, and then press OK. 5. If the machine is connected over the network, press ⬆ or ⬇ to select the destination computer. 6. Press OK.
This was never meant to be a photo printer, not sure why you spent so much time proving that. I've come to the point of using mine and the starter black cartridge is already leaving a light layer of dark toner on the paper, I tried to clear it using the Corona Wire on the cartridge, but it didn't do any good, I took a tissue and tried to wipe the roller and it didn't do any good, and the manual says to replace the cartridge and or the drum unit. So I will try a new cartridge to see if it works then, but right now, I'm not a happy camper. I had a Cannon Multi functional printer that did much better. My wife wanted a new one with a smaller footprint so I got the HL3290 CDW, my first Brother laser printer, for now, looks like my last laser printer from Brother.
I put it in there because the last time I tested a laser printer I had a good number of folks asking me in the comments why I did *not* include a test photo print, so I trust my audience to tell me what they want to see in order to be informed buyers. While I personally agree that this is not what these printers are designed for, the demonstration is there for those who need to see it. I'm sorry to hear about the streaking in your unit and believe that this is usually caused by a worn out drum or cartridge, but sounds like you're already going down that path. I hope that you're able to resolve the issue!
@@ReviewedByPhil Thanks for the reply, now I understand. I have never heard anyone recommend a laser printer for printing photos. That would be a godsend if they were able to improve that, but I fear dry ink toner will never mix like liquid ink can
@@rwhunt99 If it were more affordable, I'd choose a dye sublimation printer for digital photo prints. It combines the color mixing ability of inkjet technology with heat processing for color-fast, waterproof, and durable prints that could also be applied to other surfaces (through heat-transfer media). Some use liquid dyes suspended in solution ala ink cartridges while others use dry chromatic ribbons, with varying results. These printers run in the thousands though for large formats, like the Epson Artisan 1430: geni.us/8BVY [Amazon Affiliate Product Link] and are not really marketed toward the typical home consumer; however, there are some "pocket" dye-sub printers that aren't too expensive, like this one from Polaroid: geni.us/xprX [Amazon Affiliate Product Link]
If you need to scan multiple pages at once (including double-sided) I can recommend this printer: ua-cam.com/video/F02hcMuAVhs/v-deo.htmlsi=4nvvl9tH4e1xW89w
Depends where you get them from and which brand. If you get the OEM ones from Brother they are about $75 apiece (~$300 for all 4). If you buy aftermarket toner you can get them as low as $18 each (~$75 for all 4).
I can't believe my old printer is a brother that automatically printed double sided, and I bought this one thinking it is better and I have to do double sided manually :(
This printer is capable of automatically printing double-sided. See 4:55. There is a setting in the print dialog that says "Two-sided" and I have the box next to "Print on both sides" checked off. You'll see that after I press print it prints to one side of the page, retracts it and prints to the other side. The resulting sheet has text printed on both sides. I did not have to flip the page manually to print on the back. For copying, yes, you do have to manually flip the original page as this printer does not have an ADF (auto-document feeder), so it cannot capture both sides of a source document at once on the scanner glass. Only printers that feature an ADF tray on top will be able to do dual-sided copying and scanning without manual intervention.
I absolutely hate this printer. Mine is still under warranty but Brother Customer Support cannot find solutions to the streaks and color morphing along the edges. And yes - I did use the correct paper, and I don’t expect photo quality prints. Save your money!
Yes, unfortunately I don't normally buy photo paper because I'm not in the habit of making physical prints of photographs, so it didn't make sense to buy a stack for a couple test prints and then have all this expensive paper leftover that I wasn't going to use. I get that it's a color printer and that some folks might want to use it for that purpose, though personally, I feel consumer grade laser printers still aren't the best tool for that; if you want a really good printer for creating gallery quality prints, I'd go for an inkjet like the Canon PIXMA PRO-10: geni.us/AhKOiUt [Amazon Affiliate Product Link] If you *are* going to use this printer for printing photos, make sure to get the laser printer specific specialty paper -- don't use inkjet photo paper, the toner won't bond to the paper correctly resulting in poor quality. You can get laser photo paper at Amazon, but you'll have to read the listings carefully because inkjet paper inevitably still pop up in the results: geni.us/4Z3eBg [Amazon Affiliate Product Link]
I have to say that your review of the photo color scan was of no value what's so ever- you did it on copy paper right out of the box with no attempt to adjust settings. Because you don't want to spend the money on real photo paper is not a legitmet excuse.
Thanks for your feedback. Hopefully someone out there has tested this printer out with photo paper so you can see what that's like. So, not printing on photo paper was a conscious choice I made in creating this video, as well as keeping all the default settings without optimization. I don't need an excuse to do so, because it's my content, and I have no obligation to cover any specific feature over the course of my review. Just as I also didn't test the printer out with other types of paper like card stock, heavy weight paper, letter envelopes, glossy paper, transfer paper, etc. though I suppose some folks might be looking for insight into its performance with those types of media as well. Unfortunately creators can't cover everything, and it just comes down to whether or not we feel the need to include one topic or another.
Don't buy Brother printer especially HL series. They are fraud. If you want to waste money on cartridges that cost more than the printer itself, then go for it. Good luck.
One of the rare printer reviews that clearly shows print quality 5:21. Nice job. Thanks!
Thank you for showing such a clear and well presented video. You spoke clearly, and took your time so I could see everything. Your recording was NOT jumping around either (so that was nice). Everything, including size and weight were covered. Because of you, I now can make an informed choice - Many Thanks.
I absolutely love the way you gave detailed information for this review! It is so refreshing! Thank you for taking the time and the guess work out of the features and its qualities!
Thanks for your feedback! You are so welcome, and I'm glad you found this video helpful 🙂
I must say this is one of the BEST pieces of guidance/review/directions I have seen on youtube, or anywhere else for that matter. Your pace, description, and visuals are clear, concise, and beyond informative. The process was easily accomplished as a result.
Thanks so much Phil. This was an exceptional review. Clear, precise and informative. Well done!
Great review! You got to the point on the printer, its functionality and opinion. Such an outstanding job, I will be purchasing one this afternoon! Thank you!
thank you!! i was struggling to figure out how to connect this to internet, after following YOUR instructions I instantly figured it out. - P.S. Such a great review. I've watched this video multiple times, which also helped me decide to get this printer! and this thing is AWESOME! cheers Phil
You're welcome, glad I could help, and thank you for the compliment!
10/10 Great review. Keep up the great work. Thanks so much for this video.
Clear, informative, comprehensive review. Thanks!
BROTHER = best deals on the Toner. When comparing printers, always check the toner cartridge prices first, you will be buying them in the future !
Brother printers work very well at home and office... and the print direct from the Smart Phone is so very helpful.
Excellent review.
Thanks for the review. Very useful info. Didn't realize that the printer does not have a feeder for scanning.
Really a very good and helpful review
Incredibly helpful. Thank you!
You're very welcome!
These instructions were awesome! I have had this printer sitting in the box on my kitchen floor for two weeks and dreaded trying to set it up. I decided to search for a youtube video & found this one. I followed your clear steps one by one. I watched a video segment, stopped it, and tried it out on my printer. Then I moved on to the next segment until I had completed the task. I wish I had searched for a video two weeks ago. Thanks, Phil. You are incredible!
What's your experience with printing photos? For a printer this cost, seems like photos would be a lot better?
@@davethibeault1108 Copying a color photo works ok but could/should be better. However, now, when I make a copy of anything (other than a photo such as when copying my driver's license, whether black and white or in color, the page prints out looking like it was printed from an old mimeograph machine. There is an odd color hue on the background of the entire sheet of paper. It is hideous. Yet oddly enough if I print something straight from my computer it comes out with normal color. I have only so far replaced the black ink and have not yet had to replace the rest of the ink that came with the machine. I don't know that would make a difference.
@@YAM1878 Thanks so much for the feedback. I'm having a tough time finding a printer that, first of all, doesn't have any major drawbacks, and sells at a reasonable price. This one seems to be expensive enough to do at least "okay" but I'm glad you gave me a heads-up that it, too, fails the "okay" test. I wonder if there's a printer out there that sells under $500 and does the job satisfactorily. I'm frustrated that you got stuck with a printer that doesn't get the job done. Are you shopping for another printer?
@@davethibeault1108Thibeault Hi Dave. No, I am currently not looking for another printer. I have a 10-year-old hp monochrome printer that works well. I was just hoping to have a color laser printer for the few times that I actually want to print some things in color. I am a teacher and every now and then I want to print several copies of something in color. I have 140 students this year. I have a fairly inexpensive Brother color inkjet printer that gives good colored documents, but the ink goes a little too quickly with that number of students. It is an MFC J895DW. I think I got it on sale 2 years ago at Office Depot for under $200.
@@YAM1878 Yvetta, thanks for your feedback; I really appreciate it. I'll have to check out the MFC J895DW! What do you teach?
Wonderful review, thank you!
In INDIA we enjoy very much Brother Laser/LED,Keep up the great work. Thanks so much for this video.
My pleasure, glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for this in depth review!
You're welcome 👍
This review was super helpful! I think I'd either get a more basic black and white version or pay more for a printer with better color quality.
This was a fantastic tutorial thank you so much!
Thank you and you're welcome!
Fantastic review! Thank you.
My pleasure!
Looking for a quick result but ended up understanding the whole machine. Thanks phil
Cheers
The best explanation ever ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍✌️👏
Thanks! 😃
Thank you so much, sir; I was looking for a printer to buy, then your video popped up, so I bought this one.
You are welcome, hope you enjoy it!
@@ReviewedByPhil yes sir, I got the printer today, and I’m really enjoying it. Thanks again 👍🏼
12 people don't like extremely thorough and helpful reviews
🤣
Thank you so much for this video. Can you make another video that shows the scanning process if you have time?
In Brazil we enjoy very much Brother Laser/LED. I have two monocromatic and two color, home use.
L8900, expectativa da chegada e do funcionamento do ADF.
I wish I had seen this video before I bought this printer since I wanted one for making pictures. Your video though is excellent! Thanks
Nice review. I learned all I need to know.
Glad to hear it!
Great Video- Thank you!!!
You bet! Thanks!
Thanks for the Video. This should be very helpful when I get ready to set up my Laser Printer.
I had the Impression that you can't print photo quality prints with a Laser Printer. I am simply tired of Ink Jet Printer failures the difficulty to get cartridges that I refilled to work . with all the chips..
Solid review, mate. Thank you! I see several comments saying this printer isn't designed to print photos. For what color printing is it designed?
Have you ever changed the printer's DPI settings when printing a photo? Say instead of printing at 100 or 150 dpi, you print the photo at 300 dpi or 600 dpi. What is the DPI of the sunset image from your phone? What is the size of the image? Is the image from your phone enlarged or made smaller to fit the page?
Thanks. Very helpful
You're welcome!
Superb review
Thanks!
Very useful review. Thanks for taking the time. Haters can create their own review if they think they can do better.
You're welcome!
10/10 review
I replaced a Brother printer 10 years ago because of the color print quality and was thinking about coming back but it doesn't look like much has changed.
This is a great review. Do you have a recommendation for this type of printer but with the ability to scan multiple documents vs just singles?
Hi! Do you know how to change language on this? Thanks and Merry Christmas!
I need help with changing the filter in the printer
Excellent review, man. But I wonder if it's still working today? Like what are the drawbacks other than scanning page by page?
Do you have an opinion on cheaper compatible toner like by Arthur Imaging? They sell a four pack for about $100. Being able to use cheaper toner would seal the deal for me on buying this printer.
Nice. Just got one and hopefully this will be reliable and consistent unlike the HP Laserjet it replaced. Getting 3rd party Tn227s with IC chips after the demos get used up.
How is it working out for you?
@@benevolentautore4463 It's awesome. Didn't need to install 3rd party toner yet (70 percent after 500 pages). Some of the toner specifies ic chips... I got EZ Ink.
The printer itself is flawless. Duplex just works, zero jams, surprisingly quiet, works with iPhone, pc, and Linux.
Please sir, do a video on how to reset and replace the printer ink. Thanks
max width n hight flatbet for scanning?
What is this compartment for? it is on front middle, can be open and feed paper, it is above paper drawer, has all brother LOGOS.
I also really like your in depth review. But looking at the color pictures that was printed, wouldn't the appearance look somewhat better if they were on a good color paper? Instead of printer paper? Perhaps the paper might be absorbing some of the ink changing the looks, (vs photo paper being non absorbent)
I would appreciate your answer, as your honest opinion is important to my purchase Thank you!
Good review, saved me money. I mean Not to buy the printer and that color printing is very bad. Amazon reviews are correct with 1 star ratings.
When printing an image from the phone, what was the resolution of the source file? The printout you show looks like the image was originally around 150kb 72ppi in size. Does it print with the same poor quality if the image is a 3mb 300ppi?
You can adjust colours in printer driver
Hi, compare to Canon MF656CDW $310, which one is better choice? Thank you!
At 10:38 when you open the scanner lid, it looks as though there is an auto document reader strip to the left of the plate glass. You can also see to the left of the plate glass a plastic beveled feeder bar that is used to help direct paper via the auto doc feeder. Therefore, I wonder if there is an optional auto doc feeder head you can purchase, or, Brother uses this same printer with a different part number that does have the auto doc feed head?
That's an interesting observation, but to my knowledge there is no ADF add-on available for this printer. It's possible that in designing it as a lower cost model, they simply used parts that they already have in production from other models, rather than creating a new spec, but without the accompanying functionality.
@@ReviewedByPhil true.... I am still trying to find an inexpensive color printer (ie, with respect to toners and not necessarily the printer) with autodoc feed (scanning), and really good output that is not the size of my college dorm refrigerator.
Hello, forgot to say how many copies per minute to black and white prints ?
🔟
what's the print quality like compared to the HL-L3270CDW?
How does the printer auto feed documents?? I can’t figure out
this printer does not have an auto document feeder. It is manual paging copy/scan only.
This is not a Laser printer, it is an LED printer, nothing wrong with it being an LED printer, i have the Brother HL-3150CDW and it is a great printer. The Brother HL-L3290CDW uses the same print system and at the price it is good value for a small home office or even home use. To expect it to print perfect photos on normal paper is asking a bit much. Even on photo paper it is not inkjet quality or the quality of laser printers with higher resolutions , but then it was not made for that purpose. I find my HL-3150CDW capable of producing good quality prints for what it was made to do and it is not bad on photo paper to be honest, you got to get pretty close up to the photo to notice any problems with it.
if you want to print photos, then either get a proper Dye-sublimation thermal transfer like the canon Selphy 1300 or a decent ink jet printer and both of them comes with their own problems. Dye-sublimation thermal transfer printers are expensive to use, i have the canon 1300p and it is a great machine, but so expensive to run and inkjets have the nozzle blocking problem if not used, which is why I got my 3150CDW in the first place.
If I knew that a brother with a scanner on was so cheap I would have gone for that, the HL-L3290CDW is not available in the UK by the looks of it, but they do have others like it and I did think about getting one, sticking my oler brother downstairs and the new one up here, but not sure if it is worth it.
i do need to replace my old HP Scanjet 7650 as it is showing its age and jams now and again at higher scanning rates on the single sheet feeder and a all-in-one would be ideal,
Yes, you're absolutely correct. The actual mechanism illuminating the drum is not a laser but an array of LEDs, so although big box stores and, in fact, the manufacturer, Brother, tend to group them together with laser printers they would more accurately be called "light printers" collectively. However, unfortunately this term has already been co-opted for use by 3D resin printers and could cause some confusion to the consumer, so I understand the practical reason for broadly calling both laser and LED printers "laser printers" as the consumer is already familiar with that term and what it means in terms of features and capabilities. Although both technologies use a similar principle for bonding toner to paper, they do produce results of differing quality. But as you noted, the difference is slight and only noticeable upon close inspection or to the discerning user.
I agree 100% that those looking for great photo print quality should look to either inkjet or dye sublimation options. The photo print quality in the video, of course, is simply demonstrative to help folks researching the printer get a sense of what to expect and not an indication of missed expectations. I think the most similar Brother model, available in the UK, would be the DCP-L3510CDW but if you want the ADF (auto-document feeder) you could look into the DCP-L3550CDW. If you're open to other options, I reviewed an all-in-one LED HP printer w/scanner and fax a little while back: ua-cam.com/video/hs_V7eN7Fmg/v-deo.html (model M479fdw).
@@ReviewedByPhil Calling them lasers when they are not I think is wrong full selling, while as you said they are more or less the same apart from the fact that lasers' printer uses a laser onto a spinning mirror and LED uses a row of LED, I think lasers are slightly faster and offer better quality, but i could be wrong in that the speed and quality. Saying that quality on my LEd printer is good.
Thanks for the recommendations, while i am not in the market for one just yet, I will put them on the list, not sure about HP, while we have HP lasers at work, and they seem to go on and on and on, i have never been on good terms with HP printers, granted they are normally ink jet printers.. My scanner is a HP Scan jet 7650 and is getting on now and have been a good workhorse, so I know HP makes great scanners, the problem is I don't use it as often as I used to, but it is there for when I do and there are a few small problems with it, mainly due to age.
This is why I not at ease in spending money for a new scanner, but if I got one built into a printer i may feel better doing so, but then again I already have a good printer, why would I need another one? It is all confusing.
I will have a look at the video and thanks again
If you were to drop water on a printed color page, would the "ink" not bleed aka be waterproof? What about if you were to drop some isopropyl alcohol on it? (I am wanting to use the printer for printing out linework to paint/ user alcohol markers on top of.
Since laser printers bond dry toner to the paper using heat, they will not "bleed" when exposed to water. My understanding is that alcohol based inks also will not dissolve the toner (source: craftingwhilecaffeinated.com/2016/05/15/coloring-digital-stamps-with-alcohol-markers/)
I had a Brother 9970CDW. It made the same bad color prints. I had 2 Brother color printers. They are fast indeed, but de quality is not good. And both printers printed unwanted dots on the paper. When there's still 25% of toner left it stops working. You need a hidden code, to find on internet, to continue printing. My experience is that - after unlocking - it prints a few hundreds more (there are movies on YT to show this). I replaced it by an HP 475cdw, slower but the print quality is much better.
Generally I agree, I like the color quality on prints better on HP laser printers, though they still don't come anywhere close to a Canon inkjet (like the Pixma line) for photo printing. I use my Brother printers mostly for utility stuff, printing out text documents, fliers, receipts, shipping labels etc.
Great instructions. I can't seem to figure out how to print multiple copies. How would I print 10 pages at a time without doing it one by one? Thank you!
Are you making a photocopy suing the flatbed scanner on to top, as shown at 6:04? If so, after placing your page on the scanner glass, press the up (+) key on the printer's control panel to the right of the display to increase the copy count until you reach your desired number of copies. If printing a document from a computer, for example a Word document, after selecting 'Print' and bringing up the print dialog window (see 4:52), look for the section that says "Copies" or "Number of Copies" and type in the number of copies you want to print all at once.
Great video. I would add "setup" to the description as it is more than just a review. Question: Do you know if this works on the new Mac's with M1 chips? Do I still need the driver?
Hey thanks, but regarding your question, I'm not sure about compatibility with the new M1 chips. The printer does support AirPrint, which supposedly helps avoid driver issues when upgrading chipsets and OS versions but I haven't read anything concrete on the subject.
@@ReviewedByPhil thanks. I think as long as it’s wireless I should be good. Just debating on the all in one or the printer only version.
Have you even noticed dots on the page while using the printer? When I print multiple pages it has a problem. The first page is okay bit the on the next page I can lightly see the words from the previous page over laping the word on the second page. Do you know how to fix this problem?
Ghosting happens when the printer applies insufficient heat to bond the toner to the paper. There are two possible causes.
The first is that the fuser could be defective. The paper could be another cause of ghosting, if your settings specific one type of paper but you are using a different type/weight paper. When printing, in the print dialog, be sure to choose the correct paper type that you have loaded into the printer (eg. plain paper, thin paper, thick paper, etc.).
Do you know how to bypass the low toner issue? I can't print anything and I'm only out of Yellow..
Hm, sorry I'm not sure. Have you reached out to Brother for support?
Is it possible to connect with USB flash drive for printing and scanning?
No, this printer does not have an input port for USB printing or scanning capability.
Thanks for the review.. Do you still enjoy it? How much volume have you done? I have read that many complain that the toners run over much quicker than anticipated... Apparently it goes by page count instead of page coverage. Anything else? I'm Looking at getting the MFC-L3770CDW model.
I don't actually end up printing that much, only a hand full of pages per month, so cartridges generally last me a long while. That being said, the starter cartridges that come with the printer don't have as long a life as a full replacement cartridge, but I think you may be correct that the toner level indicators are gauged via page count, not print density. I don't have any experience with the ADF, which is the main difference between the model you're looking at versus the one I reviewed, so I can't really say whether or not it performs well. The main thing I thought could be better on mine, was the accuracy/depth of the color prints.
Great view! If I were looking for a reliable color printer that would mostly be used for printing color duplex text documents in the $400 price range where ink or toner would not cost a fortune which printer would you recommend?
In general, I would say that Brother toner (and aftermarket toner) tend to be cheaper than HP toner. That said, I actually like the color print performance and results better from the newer HP printers over the current gen Brother color laser prints, so I guess the trade off in price is the quality of the print. I generally recommend the HP M479FDW that I reviewed here: ua-cam.com/video/hs_V7eN7Fmg/v-deo.html but I see that the non-WiFi version, which is otherwise identical is on sale for around your budget: geni.us/ug1eCmN [Amazon Affiliate Product Link] If you are concern about the cost of the toner and don't mind a slightly less detailed color print, the brother printer in this video isn't a bad choice.
This is the one. I've seen it cheaper online especially on OfferUp. Got mine for 120. It's better now that school has started and the rush is over.
Just got this printer, but having some issues. It takes about 5 minutes to print a page at a time and the wifi button keeps blinking green.
Hm, I'm not sure what that could be. Perhaps a slow network connection? You may have to reach out to Brother for support on that.
If I was going to print a photo I would use Photocopy paper not regular paper. I don't care what printer you use if your not using Photocopy paper it is going to look grainy.
Thanks for a good review. I bought and have used this printer for 6 months. I have been quite satisfied with the documents. But I still have not sorted out how to print a different size photo. Such as - a photo is 8 by 10 and want to print it in 5 by 7 format. Was easy to do with inkjet. Have tried the website without success - any help appreciated.
Hm, in your example, are you trying to resize the photo on the page and simply print the smaller 5x7 size but on regular-sized printer paper, or is the size of the media actually smaller and you're trying to print the larger photo scaled down on 5x7 photo paper? If it's the latter case, you just have to change the paper size in the print dialog, the window that pops up after you click 'print,' to 5x7 (aka Photo 2L) and then change the scale to 'fit to page' before printing.
How much costly are replacing inj drum as compared to inj tank peinter
If you buy all 4 toner cartridges as a set from a 3rd party vendor you can get them for this printer around $60. The pricing for color ink cartridges for inkjet printers will vary based on the model but can run anywhere from $20-$100 for a set of 4 to 6 colors since some inkjets use 'light cyan' and 'light magenta' in addition to black/cyan/magenta/yellow.
Thanks so much for showing how to connect to the wireless, I have watched a dozen of videos but all in vain.
Glad it helped
Hi,
Can you please explain how to scan from the printer instead of the computer?
Thank you.
Sure. First, place your original document on the scanner glass as shown at 6:00. Then press the scan button to the left of the LCD (2:54).HL-L3290CDW. Choose your scan settings on the LCD using the up/down keys. Then press Black Start or Color Start depending on what output you would like.
@@ReviewedByPhil
When I click Scan button and the LCD screen ask me PC, Sharepoint, FTP and Network and said No profile found or No PC found.
What printer do you suggest for home use?
This is actually the printer I use at home! It's nice because although I mostly print black and white, I can print color if I need to and the toner never dries out so I don't have to worry about replacing it often if I don't use color that much. Previous to this one, I had a black and white only printer, the Brother HL-L2830DW: geni.us/bKIkQ1q [Amazon Affiliate Product Link] and that one is now our backup printer in another room because it still works great.
Hi, can I print in semi gloss paper with this printer ?
Yes, though you'll need to make sure it's made specifically for laser printers.
Does the ink get affected with warm temperatures?
No, high temperatures typically don't have any negative affect on dry laser printer toner.
Any way to print borderless in this printer?
No. According to the Brother USA website, "Brother does not currently manufacture a color laser/LED machine capable of borderless printing, printing full bleed, or printing to the edge of the paper."
Does it support CardStock?
I need to print my business cards.
Check the weight of your business card paper. I don’t think it prints really heavy paper. I hate mine. It prints documents ok if they have a white background. But on colored backgrounds, it morphs the color on the edges or has light streaks. I’ve changed toner cartridges, cleaned everything, spent hours with Brother customer service. I’ve gotten no solutions.
Been looking at replacing my crappy hp ink printer, this might be it
One tuner how much pages we print... And available in pakistan
A single black toner cartridges is good for about 2400 pages. I'm not sure where to get them in Pakistan, as I'm not familiar with your retailers.
I do not get why manufacturers remove ethernet in favor of wifi... They must like saving a few cents on manufacturing cost.. have they no clue the amount of customers they lost when they do that?
I have scan to email setup, i got the test email to my gmail account. now how in the world do i tell it to scan to email????
I think these are the steps for that.
1. Load your document.
2. Press Scan.
3. Press ⬆ or ⬇ to select the [to PC] option, and then press OK.
4. Press ⬆ or ⬇ to select the [E-mail] option, and then press OK.
5. If the machine is connected over the network, press ⬆ or ⬇ to select the destination computer.
6. Press OK.
there is a feeder for scanning .
On this model, no, there is no document feeder.
This was never meant to be a photo printer, not sure why you spent so much time proving that. I've come to the point of using mine and the starter black cartridge is already leaving a light layer of dark toner on the paper, I tried to clear it using the Corona Wire on the cartridge, but it didn't do any good, I took a tissue and tried to wipe the roller and it didn't do any good, and the manual says to replace the cartridge and or the drum unit. So I will try a new cartridge to see if it works then, but right now, I'm not a happy camper. I had a Cannon Multi functional printer that did much better. My wife wanted a new one with a smaller footprint so I got the HL3290 CDW, my first Brother laser printer, for now, looks like my last laser printer from Brother.
I put it in there because the last time I tested a laser printer I had a good number of folks asking me in the comments why I did *not* include a test photo print, so I trust my audience to tell me what they want to see in order to be informed buyers. While I personally agree that this is not what these printers are designed for, the demonstration is there for those who need to see it. I'm sorry to hear about the streaking in your unit and believe that this is usually caused by a worn out drum or cartridge, but sounds like you're already going down that path. I hope that you're able to resolve the issue!
@@ReviewedByPhil Thanks for the reply, now I understand. I have never heard anyone recommend a laser printer for printing photos. That would be a godsend if they were able to improve that, but I fear dry ink toner will never mix like liquid ink can
@@rwhunt99 If it were more affordable, I'd choose a dye sublimation printer for digital photo prints. It combines the color mixing ability of inkjet technology with heat processing for color-fast, waterproof, and durable prints that could also be applied to other surfaces (through heat-transfer media). Some use liquid dyes suspended in solution ala ink cartridges while others use dry chromatic ribbons, with varying results. These printers run in the thousands though for large formats, like the Epson Artisan 1430: geni.us/8BVY [Amazon Affiliate Product Link] and are not really marketed toward the typical home consumer; however, there are some "pocket" dye-sub printers that aren't too expensive, like this one from Polaroid: geni.us/xprX [Amazon Affiliate Product Link]
Hello Mr. the fact that there are not multiple scan it's a problem.
If you need to scan multiple pages at once (including double-sided) I can recommend this printer: ua-cam.com/video/F02hcMuAVhs/v-deo.htmlsi=4nvvl9tH4e1xW89w
How much cost all 4 cartridges?
Depends where you get them from and which brand. If you get the OEM ones from Brother they are about $75 apiece (~$300 for all 4). If you buy aftermarket toner you can get them as low as $18 each (~$75 for all 4).
Imprime A3?
Non A4, letter, legal.
Does it work with Apple?
Yes
I can't believe my old printer is a brother that automatically printed double sided, and I bought this one thinking it is better and I have to do double sided manually :(
This printer is capable of automatically printing double-sided. See 4:55. There is a setting in the print dialog that says "Two-sided" and I have the box next to "Print on both sides" checked off. You'll see that after I press print it prints to one side of the page, retracts it and prints to the other side. The resulting sheet has text printed on both sides. I did not have to flip the page manually to print on the back.
For copying, yes, you do have to manually flip the original page as this printer does not have an ADF (auto-document feeder), so it cannot capture both sides of a source document at once on the scanner glass. Only printers that feature an ADF tray on top will be able to do dual-sided copying and scanning without manual intervention.
No ethernet is a big nope for me. :( That's all I needed to hear. Thank you.
I absolutely hate this printer. Mine is still under warranty but Brother Customer Support cannot find solutions to the streaks and color morphing along the edges. And yes - I did use the correct paper, and I don’t expect photo quality prints. Save your money!
Its a LED printer that is inferior to a normal laser printer.
and again no example of how it prints photos on photo paper...
Yes, unfortunately I don't normally buy photo paper because I'm not in the habit of making physical prints of photographs, so it didn't make sense to buy a stack for a couple test prints and then have all this expensive paper leftover that I wasn't going to use. I get that it's a color printer and that some folks might want to use it for that purpose, though personally, I feel consumer grade laser printers still aren't the best tool for that; if you want a really good printer for creating gallery quality prints, I'd go for an inkjet like the Canon PIXMA PRO-10: geni.us/AhKOiUt [Amazon Affiliate Product Link]
If you *are* going to use this printer for printing photos, make sure to get the laser printer specific specialty paper -- don't use inkjet photo paper, the toner won't bond to the paper correctly resulting in poor quality. You can get laser photo paper at Amazon, but you'll have to read the listings carefully because inkjet paper inevitably still pop up in the results: geni.us/4Z3eBg [Amazon Affiliate Product Link]
I have to say that your review of the photo color scan was of no value what's so ever- you did it on copy paper right out of the box with no attempt to adjust settings. Because you don't want to spend the money on real photo paper is not a legitmet excuse.
Thanks for your feedback. Hopefully someone out there has tested this printer out with photo paper so you can see what that's like. So, not printing on photo paper was a conscious choice I made in creating this video, as well as keeping all the default settings without optimization. I don't need an excuse to do so, because it's my content, and I have no obligation to cover any specific feature over the course of my review. Just as I also didn't test the printer out with other types of paper like card stock, heavy weight paper, letter envelopes, glossy paper, transfer paper, etc. though I suppose some folks might be looking for insight into its performance with those types of media as well. Unfortunately creators can't cover everything, and it just comes down to whether or not we feel the need to include one topic or another.
@@ReviewedByPhil ignore Richard's comment. Belongs in a dustbin as it's an attempt to drive your work as opposed to a legitimate critique. Good vid.
Don't buy Brother printer especially HL series. They are fraud. If you want to waste money on cartridges that cost more than the printer itself, then go for it. Good luck.