Brother HL5450DN High-Speed Monochrome Laser Printer With Networking and Duplex, Amazon Dash Replenishment Ready

My LJ4000 had been die-ing a slow death and the HV supply on my Xerox was also on the way out, so it was time to either fix (again) or replace my long-time friends. At only $150 for the HL5450 I decided to try 'replace'. The Brother has either met or exceeded all my expectations so far:Print density and evenness (I occasionally do toner-transfer pcb fab): Exceeds my expectations. (excellent saturation in large fills)Grayscale: completely meets expectations.Speed: This thing is FAST. Starts quick; prints quick. Way exceeds my needs. The duplexer is even quicker than I expected it to be.Startup Power requirement: No problem for me. Some folks have said that the printer trips their circuit breakers on cold startup. Mine is hanging on a 15A circuit breaker along with a bunch of other equipment (including lights). The lights flicker a bit on startup, but they did on my old printers as well.Noise: Doesn't bother me a bit - seems about the same as the Xerox was. My print runs are rarely more than 50 sides, so a little noise isn't a problem. If I'm doing a 500 side run and want to take a nap, I'll go to another room.Lack of an LCD display: I wish it had one, but knew going in that it didn't. The driver software tells me everything I need to know and lets me do anything I need to do and is easy to use, so I'm getting used to it (whaddaya want for 150 bucks?)Paper Handling: Who knows? All I've done is 20 and 24 pound letter-size paper so far - but zero glitches with feed or duplexing.Consumables: Another reason I got this is because toner cartridges are CHEAP and plentiful. Even belts are cheap (but I doubt I'll ever need to replace one during the I time expect to use the printer since I probably only print a couple thousand sides a year.)Overall quality: I expected the printer to be pretty flimsy and plasticy, but it seems to be plenty sturdy where it needs to be. (it's Not a or LJ4000 or even a Xerox, but still a pleasant surprise.)Amazon as a vendor: Excellent as always: Easy Transaction. Great Price. Prompt Delivery.Oh: I've had the printer for about a month (the feedback tips says to put this in). And I'm leaving the plug for Amazon in, even though the tips says not to put it in.

Wow, I love it. The other reviews are correct, it is so fast I hardly get my finger off the mouse before a 3 page document is exiting the printer. And it is the sharpest character printing I have ever had (and I have owned 5 or 6 laser printers before -- and own 2 other Brother laser's now). I had no problem with the set up, the CD did the work OK, drivers all went well on XP machine. It is heavier than I thought it would be, quite a fine piece of equipment. I would prefer light gray, but it is black. I had more or less fixed my AC power to the prior printer in this location because it drew a lot of current on start up, but after a new line was run, it was fine. The Brother doesn't dim lights, or trip breakers either. It also seems not to draw any current when idle, and so it sits quiet and dark until you ask it to print. Then it comes to life almost instantly. The duplex feature i have never had, it works flawlessly so far. For the money, i doubt if this printer can be beat. It is a lot of solid equipment for the money, a true "value" in my opinion. I have had wonderful luck with two prior Brother printers, they have performed far better and less expensively than my HP and Canon printers. I think they dominate the printer business.

I would review the performance of this product if I could get it to work. The test page came out well at the advertised speed and with good resolution. But I can't get it connected to my computer. The unit does not come with a USB cable included [appalling] and the Amazon product description does not specify which type USB cable is required. So I ordered a USB 3.0 A Male to Micro B Male cable based upon a customer review. It does not fit. I don't yet know what type USB cable is required because Brother tech support is closed on weekends, a fact you don't learn until after working your way through a frustrating voice-response system. I live in a rural area with no nearby computer store so it will be sometime next week before I can learn the correct type USB cable and order it. Add to that the enclosed driver CD generated an error message so I had to visit the Brother website & download the most recent upgrade. That seems to have installed correctly but I won't know for certain until I can get the correct USB cable to connect the printer to my computer. This is my first Brother printer. To date I have used HP printers exclusively but thought I would give Brother a try since the specs seemed equivalent and the price was considerably less than for a comparable HP unit. My advice is to pay the extra money & buy an HP instead. UPDATE: Amazon customer service advised during a chat exchange that a http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BS19GZ0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AT84IQRRJZ2ZI is required. They admitted they were wrong in not specifying that in the product description, but refused to send me a replacement saying that I have to order it. That would take an additional week or so to arrive. Amazon is mailing me a return slip [since I can't print one out] for the cable I have and that will probably require postage. I am disabled and live in a rural area with the nearest computer store more than 20 miles away. I prevailed upon a friend to pick one up for me today and that cost $20.00, four times what I should have paid if ordered from Amazon. This is my first bad experience with Amazon but it is a frustrating one. There is still a need for Staples, Office Depot and Best Buy.