The reasonably drab Brother HL-L5100DN could look uninspiring, however this easy dice can maintain a whole lot of paper and a whole lot of toner and print at speeds that make another laser printers appear to be leisurely inkjet machines.

Designed for the small, however busy workplace, this comparatively compact mono printer can perch on a desk, though you’ll in all probability want to tuck it out of sight. It’s giant sufficient, nonetheless, to carry 300 sheets of A4 paper in its two in-trays and 150 sheets within the out tray. There’s no inbuilt Wi-Fi with this mannequin, however if you happen to plug into your workplace router by way of an Ethernet cable (not included), it should serve a moderate-sized work group properly and you may also join by way of smartphone utilizing the Brother iPrint&Scan app.

Conserving issues easy additionally retains the price down and the worth tag of round £182 (about US$170, AU$228) seems to be very cheap.

The field consists of Home windows drivers on a CD-ROM and a single toner cartridge that ought to offer you round three,000 mono pages. When this runs out, you might improve to the excessive yield choice, which guarantees a formidable and far more economical eight,000 pages. 

Design

The gray plastic dice design couldn’t be any extra utilitarian, however at the very least the Brother HL-L5100DN is comparatively compact and could possibly be accommodated by a small workplace. The principle paper tray holds 250 pages, whereas the folding entrance tray can maintain one other 50 sheets, or envelopes and smaller paper sizes. The printed pages merely land within the open tray on the highest.

The toner cartridge is eliminated by opening the entrance part and pulling it out from the center of the machine. That is fairly an endeavor, so be sure you observe the printed pictorial consumer information. All the plastic components really feel pretty strong if you do that and the entire unit is reassuringly heavy. Apart from the wobbly entrance multi-purpose tray, there are few transferring components to interrupt off. 

The LCD panel is a fundamental one-line affair, which is each small and fairly reflective making it tough to learn at a look. At the very least the buttons beside it are pretty logical and self-explanatory. The paper degree indicator is tough to learn too, being only a very small gray window within the drawer of the principle paper tray.  

Options

Being a mono, print-only gadget, the function checklist is a brief one. Crucially, the Brother HL-L5100DN can print on each side of the web page and along with the principle paper tray, it has a muti-purpose tray that may feed in envelopes and smaller paper sizes. Ten envelopes will be pre-loaded right here and that is the place headed letter paper goes too. 

Wi-Fi will not be included with this mannequin, for that it’s best to have a look at the in any other case similar HL-L5200DW. As a substitute you will want to attach by way of Ethernet cable to entry this printer wirelessly. There’s no entrance USB port, however there’s a sq. USB interface on the rear.

Utilizing Home windows software program, you need to use the HL-L5100DN to print posters consisting of as much as 25 sheets of A4, or print A5-sized booklets routinely, or print refined watermarks onto you paper. And utilizing the helpful companion app on an Android or iOS gadget, you may wirelessly print from cloud providers like Dropbox and Evernote. 

Setup and operation 

Organising the Brother HL-L5100DN means opening up the entrance part and lifting the toner cartridge and drum from the center of the machine as a way to take away the disposable plastic packing. You’ll must observe the printed step-by-step consumer guide for this bit. With no Wi-Fi to setup, the remainder of the set up is straightforward. You simply must plug within the Ethernet cable to hook the printer as much as your workplace community. 

The small and reflective mono show doesn’t make on a regular basis operation of the Brother HL-L5100DN any simpler, however at the very least the buttons beside it are intuitive sufficient. Filling the principle paper drawer and the multi-purpose tray is easy and you’ll command the printer from the companion app and likewise monitor the toner degree remotely too.  

Efficiency 

The Brother HL-L5100DN lives as much as expectations by churning out black and white pages at exceptional velocity. For single pages the speed is quoted at 40ppm and we discovered its duplex web page price to be quicker than all of its rivals. Swap to quiet mode and the velocity is lowered slightly and the operating noise drops noticeably.  

Textual content paperwork seem constantly crisp and legible, even in very small font sizes. Like many laser printers, it has a lightweight contact that by no means permits the toner to splash, or range in perceived weight, providing you with a really professional-looking end. Its dealing with of photos and pictures will not be so slick and also you are inclined to see banding the place the greyscale will not be broad sufficient to tell apart refined color shading, but it surely’s no worse than most laser printers at this value level.  

Closing verdict

Regardless of its small footprint, the Brother HL-L5100DN has the toner and paper capability to serve a busy small workplace and a modest-sized workgroup. You’ll be able to load 250 sheets of paper in the principle tray and stuff ten envelopes within the multi-purpose tray on the identical time and if you happen to select to improve to the excessive yield toner cartridge, you wont want to vary it once more for round eight,000 pages. Even the bundled cartridge ought to handle a good three,000 pages. You’ll be able to broaden the paper capability to 1,3000 by shopping for extra drawers too.

Print high quality is pleasingly sharp, because of a comparatively excessive decision of 1,200dpi, however the chief advantage of the Brother HL-L5100DN is the velocity at which it seems crisp dual-printed pages of textual content.  

On this drab livery, the Brother HL-L5100DN will not be a lot to have a look at and whereas it has the potential to print eight,000 pages, it solely comes with sufficient toner for three,000, which makes costlier to run than the Kyocera Ecosys P5026cdw and whereas textual content seems to be good, pictures lack distinction and seem banded. The small show, the shortage of a Wi-Fi and a entrance USB port all depend towards it too. 

In case you’re on the lookout for a compact print-only mono gadget, however you want to print a whole lot of pages and rapidly, the Brother HL-L5100DN might match very properly. It actually doesn’t take up a lot room, whereas dealing with a whole lot of paper and toner, which suggests it should work away tirelessly with out interference and will service a workgroup of a number of individuals. In case you improve to excessive yield toner, its operating value is aggressive.