Brother LaserJet.
this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2025
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100% Brother LaserJet.
I recently got one after getting fed up of paying $30 for a color cartridge each time when I needed to print something twice a year.
I went B&W only instead of color. I figure if I need to print color usually it's portraits to frame and I'll send those somewhere anyways.
Brother laserjet.
I agree, I have had mine for years at this point. A monochrome wireless printer. Maybe print out 10 pages a year and still works great.
I bought a Brother black and white laser printer in 2019 or so. I print around 10 pages a month on average and I'm still using the starter toner cartridge. Not bad for a $100 printer in my opinion.
If you start haunting your local thrift stores, there's a good chance you'll be able to pick up one in good nick for, like, 15 bucks or so.
Throw in a $12 aftermarket toner cartridge and you'll be ready to rock and roll.
I will say though, if you can test the printer at the thrift store, some brother printers have an issue where there's like a hammer on the side that is made out of a sticky cork substance, and when it breaks down over time, it will stick to the thing that it hammers on and not be able to print a second page.
To fix that, it's a very difficult and expensive process of using a screwdriver to remove three or four screws and then putting a piece of scotch tape over the cork pad so that it won't stick anymore.
yup. even their color laser printers are good.
It can't be overstated: Brother laser.
If you’re going to buy a printer (any printer) for very infrequent use, make sure to protect it from dust.
I just threw away my Brother Laser (stored in a very dusty location) because of dust all through the works making streaks on every print.
I started with a series of white dots on each page, and in order to fix that I cleaned the whole outer case, blew out the toner cartridge area with canned air, and installed a new toner cartridge.
Result: white speckles on each page AND several big black streaks down the whole page. 😡
I’m sure somebody who knows how to clean them properly could have resuscitated the thing but I ended up contributing to e-waste instead.
Better to keep it in a cabinet with doors, or store it inside a pillowcase or something for the 18-month duration between prints.
so that's why it does that.
5 years in with no cover and I go a few months between prints but I notice the odd streak here and there. Dust makes sense.
Same, I've had the same brother color laser printer for 15 years running on linux, and I think I've bought ink maybe 4 times.
Don't get an HP.
I have an old Brother HL-L2350DW black and white laser printer that seemingly never runs out of toner and every device I’ve ever had can print to it. It’s wireless so I think I needed avahi to discover it but I don’t remember having any issues.
Great thing about laser printers vs inkjet is you don’t have ink drying out and the long warmup and nozzle cleaning. I go months without needing to print and it’s always ready to go in a few seconds.
Brother HL-L2350DW
Me too, Brother! This thing seems to have infinite toner.
If I need to print something (usually around once a year or more) I email it to myself. Then I walk into the local library and either ask if I can forward it to the person at the front desk to print, or sign into a computer and print the 2 pages.
Usually if it's under 10 pages a day, it's free. If your not sure, calling or checking their website before going will save you to time.
I've always had second hand laser printers. Letter-quality laser printers for professional use that is. The sort that's used as a department printer in office buildings everywhere. No ink jets, and for sure no multifunctional devices. Big companies usually lease these things and after about five years they'll get sold on eBay. Unlike end-consumer crap these machines are generally fast, reliable and use relatively cheap toner. The one I've got now has been for ten years without ever causing any problems. It replaced a perfectly good, old HP Laserjet 500-something parallel port printer because the last PC with a parallel port in the house broke so I got a wireless standalone printer with three paper trays and sorter for less than 100€, If you avoid any retail grade trash, even HP is acceptable.
Parts also tend to be to easy to get. So even if the drum is almost done, you can easily find a replacement. I find business stuff tends to have actually useful manuals and maintenance guides.
Sure. Business usually has maintenance contracts, so support costs the vendors actual money.
%100 this, I have a second hand laser/scanner/copier from a office that literally tossed them out. It's an HP laserjet, I've had it for almost 20 years now, changed the toner twice in that time and it's still going strong.
The comments say everything. Buy anything other than a Brother printer and you are a chump.
One of these: https://www.brother-usa.com/black-and-white-printers
I have a (discontinued) HL-L2350DW that I bought several years ago and I still have like 80% toner capacity (according to Home Assistant). It still prints just as crisp as it did on day 1.
I think most newer printers will work with IPP Everywhere™ AKA driverless, so you may not need to worry about a printer driver unless you want to plug it into your computer I guess.
In which case, this package may help: https://github.com/pdewacht/brlaser (or check the AUR)
I print at work, a printer is not coming near my house. I try to avoid owning demon machines.
Not sure about where you live and your options, but near me I have a few places where I can go in and print from a USB or the cloud or emailing. In the US, Staples is the most popular. There are little convenience stores that also have printers.
The prices are dirt cheap and no worrying about drivers and shipping and all that crap.
But I print so infrequently (typically only for my cover letter and resume) that it’s worth it for my case.
UPS and FedEx stores also have print services.
Brother laser printer
Anything old enough to not have DRM.
I have a 1999 HP 4050DTN Laserjet that is still relatively bulletproof and works with pretty much anything that takes PS6 drivers. The larger OEM toner cartridge is good for 20,000 sheets at 5% coverage. And sure, after a quarter century of use the fuser is finally starting to go, I just don’t print all that much anymore - and certainly haven’t been needing crisp output - so I haven’t gotten around to replacing it as of yet.
If you want something in near-photo-quality colour, I would recommend the Epson tank-based inkjet printers. Because they use tanks, and not cartridges, the ink can stay viable and not dry out for much longer.