Print! Just print, d@mn you!

November 1, 2016 12:08 PM

So tired of doing workarounds -- need a small footprint, B&W Brother printer which will play nicely with my Dell All in One until I can pull it together and purchase a whole new system. Currently Windows 7.

For way too long I have been putting up with an HP Office Jet 4500 Wireless which (according to HP) will never print MS Word in black print after you reach a certain point which I reached a while ago (yes, it's a glitch, tech support suggests buying a new printer and I'm right with them on that).

Now I can't even get it to print a full clear line in dark blue, which has been my default for some time.

I am printer-less in a world which occasionally needs me to produce hard copies of relatively important STUFF. For others and myself. Not a business, just … it needs to be printed.

Now I am looking to purchase a small footprint B&W Brother wireless (are they truly wireless?) printer which will eventually link up with either a Surface Pro or an iPad Pro (or both) when I ditch the Dell All in One (6+ years old and wonky). Also copying might be nice. Do I need a scanner or would a separate scanner do? Don't need a fax.

Suggestions? Will my totally non-cognizant-of-computer-stuff self be able to hook this printer up without help? And why are there wires if it's "wireless"? The mind boggles.

Any thoughts appreciated as this must be dealt with STAT. Crisis status reached yesterday.

Thanks!

posted by alwayson_slightlyoff to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

We have this Brother L2340DW printer, and though there are a lot of reports of the printer not turning on when printing, etc., we have not had a hint of a problem with it. We use it 100% via Wifi. All of the devices we print from run Windows 10.
posted by cnc at 12:14 PM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

I have a Windows 7 laptop that is perfectly happy with my older Brother HL-2270DW (as are all our other Windows 10, and MacOS devices) which has been superceded by the HL-L2340DW, HL-L2360DW, or the HL-L2380DW multifunction printer/scanner.

I'm really curious about the Epson Eco-Tank printers, but I do not have a tremendous need for a color printer and I suspect this Brother will last me another 3 years minimum (probably until Windows and MacOS outgrow it, I bet).
posted by Lyn Never at 12:25 PM on November 1, 2016

Brother black and white cheap-o laser printers for life.

I bought whatever they had that was $100 or so 6 years ago, and it is the best purchase I have ever made in my entire life.
posted by kbanas at 12:56 PM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

I also have the Brother HL-L2340DW and love it to death. I print all the time wirelessly from my macs and iPad.
posted by crazy with stars at 1:14 PM on November 1, 2016

Yup, I've got a HL-2270DW here. I love it. I print from Windows 7 and macOS with it. Also, I print from iOS by using something called Printopia. Not sure if that's needed for the later models.
posted by destructive cactus at 2:59 PM on November 1, 2016

Another satisfied HL-2270DW owner here, and my home network is Linux, which is notoriously persnickety with printers. I've worked the crap out of that poor wee printer for years and it just keeps chugging along. When it finally dies, I'll buy another one just like it.
posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 8:22 PM on November 1, 2016

I also have a Brother HL-2270DL, and it has worked flawlessly and wirelessly with Win7 and XP laptops for several years. I'm not sure if I'd describe its footprint as 'small,' but it's not a monster. I wouldn't buy an inkjet for B&W printing.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:33 AM on November 2, 2016