Review

Created: July, 2000

Brother HL-1030 Windows laser printer

By David S. Lee, Cyberwalker Media Syndicate

Ink jet printers have been workhorses in the home but laser printers remain the primary choice for offices with high volume printing needs. The Brother HL-1030 Windows Laser Printer fits the bill perfectly. It's fast enough to print out large amounts of documents for home offices and is easy enough on consumable supplies to compete with ink jets.

Text detail from this 600-dot-per-inch (dpi) printer is impressive. True type fonts are rendered sharply at both 600 dpi and 300 dpi. Postscript fonts downloaded quickly and were just as clean as true type fonts.

Graphics were not nearly as impressive when compared with the output of "photo" ink jet printers. The tonal range was not as smooth as an ink jet's output and the toner was not applied evenly to large black areas. Note: this isn't a limitation of the Brother printer but of laser printers as a whole. Tonal ranges and fine detail just aren't captured well with laser printers.

Brother hasn't embellished anything in its literature. The warm-up time on the test unit comes in under the quoted 45 seconds and the first page printed within the first 15 seconds, as claimed. It also prints out the specified 10 pages per minute but only when printing out the same page of text 10 times. When printing different pages, it was able to print seven to eight pages per minute. Keep in mind that these times are when there is five percent toner coverage on the page. Times increase incrementally as the toner coverage increases.

The Brother HL-1030 is very easy on toner supplies. The toner cartridge can print up to 2,200 sheets of text at five percent coverage and 4,400 sheets when used in toner saving mode. At a price of $69.00 (half that in street prices), toner cartridges won't break the bank.

Brother also supplies a clever program that lets the HL-1030, or any other printer, print new email at scheduled times, every time email is checked, or manually. The program was easy to set up and worked flawlessly. However, unless your business requires daily emails printed out on a regular basis for filing or intra-office distribution, reading email on screen and forwarding as needed seems to be a better solution.

The Brother HL-1030 printer is an inexpensive entry into the laser printer field that doesn't skimp on quality in the name of price. Any office that needs a laser printer would do well with this one.

Reviewer's rating: 4.5 / 5

Comments: The Brother HL-1030 is an excellent printer that produces quality text at a minimal price. Those who need high quality graphics might want to stick with ink jets.

Specifications:

Platform: PC
Interface: Bidirectional IEEE 1284 parallel
Network capability?: Yes, Optional 10BaseT Connection
Maximum resolution: B&W: 1440 x 720
Color?: Yes
Pages per minute (manufacturer's claim): 10 ppm
Software included: Brother Automatic E-Mail Printing Software
Maximum paper size: 8.5 inches x 14 inches (A4)

More info: http://www.brother.com
Buy: At Amazon.com or through eBay!

Price: $260 US, $380 Canadian