A laser printer by any other name…
When is a monochrome laser multifunction or all-in-one (AIO) printer not a laser all-in-one printer? Well, when, according to Brother, it’s a multifunction copier. And what’s a multifunction copier? Is it a new product genre, perhaps? For the longest time now, all-in-ones that lack a specific function, such as fax functionality or an automatic document feeder (ADF), have nevertheless been called AIOs—until Brother’s recent round of monochrome laser products, that is.
The company’s latest monochrome laser printer/copier/scanner (sans fax), the $159.99-list DCP-L2550DW seen here, and its DCP-L2540DW sibling have been dubbed multifunction copiers, which does little more than muddy the product-naming waters this late in the game. But hey, we’re too concerned with more important things, such as price, performance, print quality, running costs, and overall value, to worry about nomenclature. What type of users does the product serve and how well does it serve them, right?
To answer that question generally, the Brother DCP-L2550DW is an entry-level monochrome laser printer designed for use in a home-based or small office or workgroup. It’s fast for its price, and it prints well enough, as long as your application doesn’t call for a lot of nice-looking grayscale graphics and photos; in other words, it’s best suited for printing text. That isn’t a restriction for all monochrome laser printers; some of Canon’s monochrome AIOs, even entry-level models like the Canon imageClass MF249dw, produce impressive grayscale output. (Although if good-looking photos are what you’re after, you should be reading an inkjet printer review.)
In any case, the DCP-L2550DW is a great text printer, and we can think of plenty of settings where a reasonably fast low-volume text printer fits well, especially environments where quick delivery of one- and two-page documents is just the ticket.
That includes just about every front office or front desk setting—doctors’ offices, pharmacies, auto repair shops, tire shops—and anywhere else that needs to print quotes, receipts, and so on. Not only will they benefit from the fast, good-looking text documents, but few of these offices print more than 100 to 200 pages each month, which sort of minimizes the DCP-L2550DW’s steep running costs. The latter are our biggest complaint about this printer (and the entry-level laser market in general).
Read the entire review at Computer Shopper