Brother HL-5040 Toner Cartridges

Brother HL-5040 Printer Review

Looking for a simple laser printer for the home or small office? There are many to choose from, but the Brother HL-5040 is one of the best on the lower-end market. Though not equipped to handle large jobs or high-capacities, users with simple needs will find this unit efficient and reliable. Weighing only 23 pounds, with the Brother toner, and measuring 9.9x15x15.1 inches, the HL-5040 will be easy for one person to use, and it will fit on any desk space.

This unit is compatible with Mac and Windows operating systems and connects via USB and parallel ports. There is a built-in 133 MHZ processor and 8 MB of RAM, which is upgradeable if necessary. Unfortunately, the paper capacity is not expandable. There is only a 250-sheet tray and if the business is growing, another model may be the way to go. For basic printing, though, this device will be just enough.

The one black Brother HL-5040 toner cartridge has a page yield of 3,300 pages. There are higher capacity toners available that can print up to 6,500 pages. These should last for a long time and provide a low cost per page. Replacement printer toner is available from the manufacture and from third party vendors. Remanufactured Brother HL-5040 toner cartridges will be less than half as much as the OEM.

When using the Brother HL-5040 toner for text printing, 13 pages per minute can be produced. This is 10 pages per minute slower than the Brother HL-2140 toner printer. Text documents come out crisp and professional. When printing graphics, 13 pages per minute can be produced. The resolution is high, though not overwhelming. Text documents tend to be solid, but graphics seem to be lacking.

With the high-yielding Brother HL-5040 toner and the simple but efficient features, this unit may not be a good match for office work, but it is certainly a good choice for personal use.