Brother DCP-L2500D Printer – Ideal for Small Business/Home Office
Brother is one of the biggest names in the printer market. And as a result, we’ve come to expect a lot from this company. Unlike the other players, like Dell and HP, Brother has stuck to what they know and resolved to make the best printers in the world. And the Brother DCP-L2500D printer is one of those.
Only a few months ago the company launched the Brother DCP-L2500D printer. Like most printers, it doesn’t have the catchiest of names. But the question is whether or not it is the perfect printer for home office use. Well, is it?
On the surface, it doesn’t seem like it is. The printer is a mono laser printer, meaning that it can only print in black ink. That’s a pain for anybody looking to print out their favorite photos from home. But when you consider the market that Brother has targeted with this printer, what they’ve done makes a little more sense.
The Brother DCP-L2500D printer is designed for the so-called small business/home office crowd. These guys are usually on a tight budget, and just want something that can get the job done. They’re not interesting in printing out beautiful photos on glossy paper. It’s all about printing out black text quickly and to a reasonable standard.
On this front, the Brother delivers. But it also delivers in other areas too. For a mere $75, you also get scan and copy facilities too, as well as the ability to print on duplex pages. This means that this printer is essentially able to replace hundreds of dollars of equipment in one fell swoop.
Brother ink cartridges are slotted into a two-part drum at the front. They usually fit in quite easily, although you’ll have to watch that your hands don’t touch the toner-coated feed roller on the way in.
Once you’re up and running, you’ll notice just how impressive the print speed is compared to your regular inkjet. The Brother is capable of churning out something close to 26 pages per minute. Although, in the real world, it’s likely to be less. Even so, it’s still a good deal when you consider just how little you’re paying up front.
Finally, the Brother has a low noise output. The printer is unusually quiet, delivering a peak noise of 61 dBA. This is ideal for people who don’t want the sound of daily printing to drive them mad.
There are some downsides, though. And that’s almost to be expected from a printer that costs so little. Brother had to cut corners somewhere, and it looks like they did it in the copying department. Yes, the printer has copy facilities, which is great. But greyscale reproduction accuracy is poor and copies are often underwhelming, to say the least. The printer also suffers from not having an LCD backlight.
But the bottom line is that this is the printer to get if you want a tonne of functionality and a low price. To get the same functions, you have to look at printers that cost about $20 more, like the Samsung M2070. As long as you don’t need to print in color, the Brother DCP-L2500D printer is the best cheap printer out there.