Brother HL-1440
The inexpensive Brother HL-1440 can run on a single PC or go to bat on a network.
WHAT'S HOT: We found plenty of things to like about the HL-1440. Near the top of our list is the HL-1440's $300 price tag, which makes a laser printer as affordable as a high-quality ink jet. The HL-1440 also prints clean, smooth black text and even surprised PC World's review panel with good detail and shading on gray-scale graphics.
When the PC World Test Center retested the HL-1440 using Windows XP, its text-printing performance fell to 10.9 ppm. (It was previously clocked at 11.2 ppm on Windows 98.) But it prints graphics faster, at 5.8 ppm compared with 5.3 ppm before. While not the fastest printer on the chart, this laser has plenty of speed for an ordinary home office or even a small workgroup.
The Brother HL-1440 runs quietly and sits silently between jobs. Because the paper feeds from a tray under the printer and the prints lay flat on top of the case, there are no loose flaps to fall off or break. Though the 1440 lacks an LCD panel, it does have an easy-to-use control panel, uncommon in similar small printers without an LCD.
WHAT'S NOT: With only 2MB of memory, the HL-1440 might choke on complex print jobs. If you regularly print big jobs, you can bump up the memory to a maximum of 34MB. Another weak spot is the HL-1440's lack of expandability. This model does not support any optional paper trays. (Note: The HL-1450, another laser in this series from Brother, supports an optional 250-sheet feeder and includes more memory. PC World has not tested the HL-1450, which costs $350.)
WHAT ELSE: The HL-1440 supports an ethernet adapter, which Brother sells for an additional $299, so you can use it on a small office network, but you'd probably need to upgrade the memory to enjoy its best speed performance. If code geeks wander the corridors of your office, you could put them to work on the HL-1440's macro language to program complex print jobs. Or, for $499, Brother's HL-1470N offers an internal network adapter and all the perks of the HL-1450.
Brother doesn't provide a printed manual for the HL-1440, but you get clear, thorough documentation on the accompanying CD, with videos of how to set the system up.
UPSHOT: Limited paper capacity probably restricts the HL-1440 to home offices, but in that environment it's sure to pull its weight handsomely.
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