Quality laser printers are a necessity for home offices and businesses for managing your documents and printing needs. Brother and HP are two of the more popular laser printer brands, and it helps to compare models and features if you’re looking into purchasing a laser printer. While both create a range of printers to fit all of your needs, the debate has evolved to a preference between saving time or money.
Types of Laser Printers
- Inkjet printers are usually smaller and lighter – making it ideal for a bedroom or home office where space saving is valued.
- Great at producing photo quality prints and image-heavy documents, as inkjet printers do a better job of blending and producing vibrant colors than laser printers.
- The price of an inkjet printer is less than most laser printers.
- No warm-up time needed before printing.
- Can print on a variety of paper types, including glossy photo paper, textured art paper, and fabrics.
- Can accommodate larger paper sizes.
- Ink refill kits can reduce the cost of printing.
Types of Laser Printers
When looking for your next laser printer, part of the evaluation is determined on your needs. Laser printers are often defined by their dpi, or how many dots per inch they can produce, ranging from 300 to 2,400. Typically a higher dpi produces a better quality image. Laser printers are also differentiated by their ability to print photos and what type of networking they support. Laser printers listed as “all-in-one” let you scan, copy, print and fax from the same machine. Brother and HP create models that support all of these functions.
Where Brother Benefits
Brother printers tend to be a little more work but make up for it with long-run savings. Toner replacements for Brother models are typically cheaper than its competitors, including HP, but part of this comes from toner and drum replacements that are more complex. These need to be properly installed and are at more risk of damage than traditional cartridges, used by HP, but they can print more than 7,000 pages, reducing your replacement cost over time. Brother printers also have high printing speeds, but they take a few seconds to warm up and reach this max speed.
HP’s Speedy Goods
HP gets strong marks for quick printing and low-power use. The company routinely compares its models to Brother printers and shows how quickly it can come out of a standby mode and start printing. For example, HP LaserJet Pro 200 Color M251 can print four pages before comparable Brother models are done warming up. HP printers also have lower power consumption than most of their competitors, including Brother. HP also claims that Brother printers are prone to smudging because they don’t use regular replacement cartridges like HP printers.
Owner Comparisons
Noise, volume and service are big issues for managing your printer needs. PCWorld has created a large survey getting consumer reactions for these features, and HP and Brother have mixed scores. Based on owner opinions, Brothers are reliable throughout their lifecycle, while HP was typically viewed as worse than average for reliability. Neither scored very well for service, but Brother barely edged out HP in overall support and problem resolution. Brother owners are more satisfied in their choice as a whole, but models vary widely with supported features so it’s best to read specific reviews about models you’re considering.
Making Your Choice
Both HP and Brother create high-quality printers, so you’re unlikely to be disappointed with whichever you choose. Brother printers can be a larger initial cost but may be cheaper in the long run if you consistently print large jobs. HP provides better ease-of-use and requires you to do less to keep your printer running, taking up less time. With similar feature sets the choice may be about what’s more important to you, saving time with HP or saving money with Brother.
Source: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/brother-vs-hp-laser-printers-74085.html