Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 16-20 of 73
 Best printer I've seen March 15, 2008
J. Luu (Colorado Springs, CO)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Bought this printer for work. Main needs: broad compatibility. We have portable Macs, portable pcs, networked pc and macs on 2 different networks.
Hardware: very well built and reasonably compact for a color laser. Weighs a good 50-60lbs. Very solid, impressive build quality. Hardware setup could not be any simpler. Changing/installing cartridge takes about 30 seconds....pull out the tray, pop in the cartridge, that's it. Compared to my Dell 3100cn, this is a much better built, faster, quieter, simpler to use.
Software: First step is to associate this printer with your wireless access point. Once done, everything else is straight forward. I used windows vista and wireless network to do the initial setup. Follow direction exactly, and it should go great. I tried to skip some steps by accessing the printers ip, then installing the driver as a shortcut.....didn't work. Follow the directions. Once initial set up is done, subsequent set up is super easy. On Macs, search the network for the printer, latest Leopard has driver built in. You don't need to use the install disk. Works perfectly.
Performance: in a word....excellent. Text quality is as sharp as any laser. Color quality is very close to the source. This is not to say that it is photo quality. No color laser does that. So for what it is, it meets my expectations. It does seem a bit subdued compared to my Dell. However, color is adjustable in the software.
Overall: best printer I've owned in terms of performance and flexibility.
Update: we just went through the first set of toners. As previously reported, I think that the toner sensor is based on the amount of pages printed rather than the actual available toner in the cartridge. My toner cartridge clearly has plenty color powder left, but the printer keeps asking for a replacement. Let's see, a set of toners $380. New printer today $359.
 Big RIP-OFF With the Toner! July 25, 2008
PC Gamer (USA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I know this review is going to be buried, but I hope that you see it. What nobody tells you about this printer is that the three color toner cartridges ALWAYS all go empty at the same time, no matter what you've actually used. So expect a sudden three hundred plus dollar expense every once in a while. And it's apparently by some page count or something rather than actual usage, because you can't get it to accept the ones that you know aren't empty. I barely use any color at all, but they're constantly empty and this printer ends up being extremely expensive because of it - a real rip off by Brother.
 Brother HL-4070cdw January 12, 2008
Jamey
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I don't write many reviews, but I wanted to post my feelings about this printer. I've always wanted a color laser, but couldn't justify several hundred or even thousands that color lasers used to cost. My mom was in the market for a color printer, so I took the time to read some thoughts on color lasers. I had no idea they had gotten as affordable as I picked this printer up. I'm glad I checked. The price has gone up, and mom isn't getting this one :)
Personally, I didn't "NEED" a wireless printer, but it would make it easier to hook up. Having a network connection means I can hook it up to my router and ANYONE I've allowed to connect to my network can print. With a USB connection, like my mono laser, my computer has to be on in order for any other computer to print. Being wireless means I didn't have to run another cat5 cable in my wall for a network connection. Being wireless is one of the biggest features of the printer, and I didn't see many printers with that feature in this price range. I had very little trouble figuring out how to input my router information and password into the printer...5 stars for the connections!
As far as print quality, I haven't used other color lasers so I'm flying kind of blind. Color graphs and text look great. It prints black text and graphics a good bit better than the Brother 1440 it replaced. On color photos, it's no where near good enough to compete with a photo lab (as expected). Also, the paper comes out curled. It's not major, but I wouldn't run a printing company with it. It would knock the socks off most anyone else...4 stars for print quality
The printer is decently loud while printing. At rest, it's silent. Standby is quiet enough to only be a very slight distraction. The first page is slow to print when coming out of rest mode, but reasonably quick if the printer is in standby. Prints come out fast once the printer is printing. I don't know about power consumption, but my lights don't flicker when warming up like some lasers have done. No problems there...4 stars for operation.
The printer is a beast in size and weight. Be sure you have the space and stand to support it. The consumables are reasonable compared to other brands, but it's still expensive when you have to replace them. It's a good thing it comes with standard toner packs instead of starter packs like other brands include. The printer even has built in Duplexing that works really well, but does slow down output. For what you get, the price is amazing...5 stars for value
Overall, unless you need the best quality output (million dollar business clients, photo printing, etc.), this printer will easily suffice. It's connections make it ideal for hooking up to as a single computer's printer or on a network. Those things mated with it's speed and duplexing means this printer will do anything most small businesses would need. I can't overstate what a value it can be. I've seen a large price swing at Amazon, but I bought it very cheaply and super saving shipping was free.
I gave the printer 4 stars total. It's almost 5 stars, but there is room for improvement on print quality (paper curling, color accuracy for photos, etc). For the price I paid for it, I could give it 5 stars, but it's over 100 bucks more now. If you don't need the wireless connection (I HIGHLY recommend it), you can get the 4040cn which is cheaper. I think it lacks duplexing also.
Oh, and don't worry about mom. We've decided she needs a multifunction instead of just a printer.
 Doesn't suit my needs. April 3, 2008
Steven Berg (Fairfield, Iowa United States)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I have been using a Brother MFC 4350 (monochrome laser) printer for several years. Although it still prints well, I wished to replace it for three reasons. (1) I occasionally do large print runs, and I wanted more speed. (2) Those large print runs involve envelopes, and I can print only about seven envelopes at a time. (3) The manual duplex sometimes double-feeds sheets on the second run, leaving the pages out of order, so I wanted automatic duplex.
I selected the HL-4070CDW because I had read many positive reviews, the paper tray is large, it has automatic duplex, and printing in color has undeniable appeal. Ordinary simplex and duplex printing on standard paper seems to work quite well. And the color, while not photo quality, is good. However: (1) envelopes must be loaded in the "multi-purpose" tray which will hold only three at a time, so I would need to stand there feeding envelopes on my large runs. (2) The paper is severely curled. I am a musician, and I print my own compositions and arrangements. Curled paper will not stand on the music rack of a piano. The MFC 4350 curled the paper slightly, but the curling is severe on the HL-4070CDW and unacceptable for my purposes.
Print Quality Versus Supply Cost June 24, 2008
Thomas Hackett (Chester, VA USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I have been using the Brother HL-4070 for a few months. It is very easy to operate and does duplex well even though it is slow when in the duplex mode. I have been satisfied with the print quality and the speed at which it prints. This is the best printer I have owned for my home office use with one exception. I'll explain that in as much detail as I can.
I rated it two stars because there must be some kind of flaw in the toner cartridges. They are very expensive and to replace the toner cartridges will cost you as much as the printer cost. I wouldn't be upset about that if I got the yield from the cartridges that I am suppose to get. The only thing I can figure out is the toner counts the pages that print no matter how much toner is used. I say this because all the color cartridges run out at the same time. It is not possible that I use the exact same amount of color for each copy I produce since I am printing different items with different color requirements. My color cartridge cost is now around $1,000 since January. This is twice what I spent the entire year previously with the HP printer I replace with this printer.
Overall I am dissatisfied with the performance of the printer since it cost me so much to operate. I am currently contemplating replacing this printer with another HP Color Laser since the operational cost of supply usage will be less.
Good luck to all of you who had glowing things to say about the printer. I too, like the printer but the cost of operation is unmanageable. Therefore, I cannot recommend the printer.
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