Brother ’s HL - L3280CDW is a crushed - cost color laser printer that tries to find the correct balance wheel between toll and execution . As Brother isone of the best printer brands , I knew the HL - L3280CDW would be dependable and work with all my gimmick .
Still , I involve to research how durable and economic the Brother HL - L3280CDW is and quiz its focal ratio and quality to find out if it ’s thebest color optical maser printerfor you . There ’s a peck to like about it , but I ’ve found that there ’s a like Brother printer that is a well overall value that most people should buy or else .
Design
Brother ’s HL - L3280CDW is quite little for a color laser printer , take up 15.7 by 15.7 inch on my printer brook with a height of 10.8 column inch . It attend nice and is a manageable 33.9 pound sterling .
The 2.7 - inch color touchscreen work well , but appear a little dim unless I ’m standing directly in front of the printer . It ’s placed at a make angle that ’s 20 degree from horizontal , so you ’ll want to stand to use it .
The main paper tray holds 250 sheets of paper and there ’s a convenient media tray that can take on a individual bed sheet or envelope so you do n’t have to remove your bulk newspaper from the main tray .
The great power electric cord connects to the right rear of the HL - L3280CDW . Ethernet and USB overseas telegram connection are on the unexpended rear . I use Wi - Fi since my pressman stand is in a dissimilar room than my computer .
Printing performance
The HL - L3280CDW is fast for an cheap printing machine , rolling out monochrome and colouring material document at up to 27 pages per second ( ppm ) . The first varlet complete in about 14 moment when the printer is warm up . If you call for more speed and can afford a much more expensive printer , HP ’s Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4301dw prints the first Sir Frederick Handley Page in just 9 secondsand has a free burning speed of 35 ppm .
Since it ’s a duplex printer , you could carry through paper by impress on both sides of a mainsheet , thin out usage in half . That ’s authoritative for multiple copies of long documents .
For double - sided printing process , newspaper is pull back into the machine , reducing the swiftness to 10 ppm for duplex house . There are a few printers that can publish on both sides at once , but exclusive - pass semidetached house printers are rare .
Photo quality is acceptable , but ca n’t compete with that of more expensive , high-pitched - functioning people of colour optical maser printers like the Canon imageClass MF753cdw . Like most coloring laser printers , there ’s no borderless selection , so pictures print with about a quarter - inch border , but it handles color documents well .
The media tray works dependably for envelope and label , but only accepts one rag at a time .
Software and compatibility
Brother ships the HL - L3280CDW with the toner cartridges inside the printing machine , but they must be removed to uncap the ends and replaced before use . That only takes a second .
Connecting Wi - Fi was loose with the Brother Mobile Connect app and the HL - L3280CDW ’s double lot Wi - Fi . I could have used the touchscreen to select Wi - Fi and enter my web watchword without a phone . It ’s just easier with an iPhone or Android phone .
My Windows microcomputer and Mac identify the printing machine and associate quickly . Brother makes drivers for Linux computer also .
Everything worked as expected from my computers , and I only had one progeny with the mobile app . Printing gasbag continues to be a problem for many printers and the HL - L3280CDW turn out off the return address .
Price
At $ 300 , the Brother HL - L3280CDW will catch your eye . It ’s firm and reliable and can wield a monthly duty cycles/second of up to 40,000 Page . Brother recommends print an average of 3,000 pages , though . That means the HL - L3280CDW is tough enough for business use .
When it comes to toner cost , Brother ’s 3200 - series offers tops high-pitched - yield cartridge that last longer and make gloss document more affordable . If your budget is crocked , check outour guide to the just cheap printersfor more options .
colour documents can average out 10 penny per pageboy , which is quite dispirited for a color optical maser printer . Black toner is always inexpensive , but drop down to just 2 cents per varlet with Brother ’s bombastic cartridge . The first-rate high - yield cartridge also last a long meter , providing up to 4,500 black pages and 3,000 color pages .
Standard - payoff cartridge average out 5 cents per black and white page and 18 centime for color . Brother also sells midsize toner cartridges if you do n’t need to invest in the more expensive extra - mellow - capacity magazine .
The HL - L3280CDW come in with starter cartridge that Brother says will print about 1,000 black page and 1,000 colouration page . While that will last a while , it ’s less than you get with standard - capability cartridges .
Is this the printer for you?
Brother ’s HL - L3280CDW is a durable , low - monetary value color laser printing machine . At about $ 300 , it ’s a dependable damage for a agile colour text file printer . That aver , you ’ll getbetter tenacious - condition value from Brother ’s HL - L3295CDW . It cost about $ 70 more , but it ’s faster , has excess features , and comes with an additional $ 75 Charles Frederick Worth of toner in the included cartridges .
For most people , I ’d recommend the HL - L3295CDW over the HL - L3280CDW . However , if you ’re planning on using Brother ’s Refresh EZ Print toner subscription , the Brother HL - L3280CDW matches many of the features of the more expensive poser with a lower upfront cost .
If neither Brother color laser pressman take on your requirements , check out our template to thebest color laser printers , where you ’re sure to find a closer mate .
