They don't make them as durable. They make them with about a 5-10 year shelf life, not 20. But everything else - from speed and print quality to power use, footprint, noise, etc., - is better.
But they're also cheap. And when they break, well, toss 'em and get a new one.
Having only 20k prints doesn't matter a lick if the machine is that old. Parts deteriorate. Plastic gets brittle, grease dries out, etc.
Given your low print volume and limited needs (just B&W) the
Brother HL-L2370 is probably your best shot. It's the successor to the HL-2270, which replaced the 2170, which replaced the 2070. I've been recommending all of the above for years, owned a couple myself, and nobody's ever been unhappy.
That said, they aren't built like bricks, don't take abuse, and will wear out faster than the HP you have (my 2070 started getting cranky at around 8 years old.) New HPs aren't any better/more durable than the Brothers though. Just more expensive. So play nice, and don't buy a used one - you're just paying money for somebody else's problems. As you've learned - nobody gets rid of a functioning laser printer without a pretty good reason.
They come in a few variations - I would recommend getting a networkable one. Printer interfaces come and go, but Ethernet isn't likely to disappear any time soon.
Hey, Dave... I just saw your post. Thanks for this post, it's right on the issues. I'm going to check that out. I hope it duplexes, I print a lot of manuals and when I do, I almost always duplex them. Duplexing with an LJ4/4+ without the duplexer is a pain in the rear, but I know how to do it and have done a lot of A+ jobs.
What I want in a printer:
A laserjet printer with acceptable durability (yeah, the longer the better, right? Ideally you want a printer that would never wear out, it's like death!
) duplexing, cheap toner, ethernet, razor sharp printing, fast even with graphics, quiet, not too big (or heavy), I never thought about quiet, I so seldom print it never occurs to me. Oh, and of course, not too expensive.
Edit: Just checked Amazon's page for it briefly, will read the review you linked.
It duplexes!!! It's ethernet networkable. It's not very expensive. I'm thinking this is for me already!
:thumbsup:
Edit2: Multifunction??? Well, I have a scanner but use it pretty rarely. Much more rarely do I fax. I haven't faxed or received a fax for, jeez, must be a couple of years at least!
My laptops (according to the specs) have built in modems, I have a modem in my current main mid-tower, fax software, I can fax with those, even receive a fax if I set it up to receive. My scanner's serviceable. IOW, I don't
need fax/scan built into my printer, I've never had that. I suppose it might be real nice if it works simply and nicely, but I don't flat out need those features. The Brother 2360 has cloud printing. I don't know what that is (color me stupid), but I assume that in practical terms for me that just means wifi printing from my computers that aren't wired into my network, which I do want.
Edit3: Actually your post says
Brother HL-L2370, but the link is to the Brother HL-L2360. I'm going to check out and see if there's a newer model.
Hmm... Amazon has no hit for the Brother HL-L2370.
Is the
Brother Hl-l2360dw basically just a newer model of the
Brother HL-L2340DW Compact Laser Printer, Monochrome, Wireless, Duplex Printing?
The toner cost, well, a quick assessment has me thinking that the prints will be around 2-2.5 cents/print in terms of toner, probably about 5x the toner costs for a Laserjet 4, if this is for real:
HP 98A (92298A) Black Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge at Amazon
I have a lot of toner for my Laserjets, two cartridges in the machines and an unopened one on a shelf, it's been over 2 years now, but it's probably still good. If I don't fix my LJ4 and get one of the Brothers I'll probably put it upstairs and put my LJ4+ downstairs under my kitchen table and hook it to the parallel port on my laptop's mini-dock.
Edit4: Hmm, I'm reading
reviews of the Brother Hl-l2360dw Laser Printer and the next most-recent reviewer (review title: 2.0 out of 5 stars,
Look at the print CLOSELY...you'll most likely return it, dated Oct. 29, 2015) said:
If I didn't care about the print quality of this printer, I could have given it four stars like most people. But in a simple test, just look at the printed text with a magnifying glass and you'll see exactly what I mean. It's absolutely HORRIBLE! I also have an $89 HP LaserJet P1102w and looking at print from it with a magnifying glass makes it looks about 50 times better than the Brother.
This has me concerned!!! It was a comparison such as this between the HP 4P and the HP4 back around 1994 (just using the naked eye) that made my decision between the 4P at ~$800 and the 4 at twice the cost. The 4P's text printing was horrible, just horrible and the 4's was sharp as a tack, very close to glossy magazine quality. I have wondered about the claimed resolutions of printers that I've seen over the years. Wondered if the claims are for real. The quote above has me thinking that they are just plain BS.
That was the next most recent review at Amazon. The most recent is just as harsh in its assessment of the print quality:
1.0 out of 5 stars --
I have three different Brother Model printers in my office and would rate them all excellent but not this model
By Charlotte A. Cooperon November 3, 2015 Verified Purchase
I have ALWAYS used Brother printers. The printing on this one was not sharp right out of the box. I have three different Brother Model printers in my office and would rate them all excellent but not this model.
I guess I'm still in a quandry, unless I can find a replacement printer I feel confident in buying. Maybe I'll keep after trying to fix my Laserjet 4.
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