Just great for the price - still

$249 at Costco. Bought to replace an HP LaserJet 5P that still worked fine but 1) needed an 85.00 toner cart and 2) it did not work that well with a new Linux file/print server in the office (driver issues). So after reading reviews and not wanting to spend a bunch of bux (plus Costco's liberal return policy) I jumped on it.

Installation went without a hitch using the included CD using the ethernet (network) interface. (It also has USB and parallel.) Even with a mix of static and dynamic IP addresses on the network, clicking FIND PRINTER in the wizard found it and installed the drivers perfectly on several Win XP machines. Just too easy.

I read through the manual on CD but most things in it were covered in the printer properties menu.. But I DO miss real printed manuals, too. It does a lot of useful things including printing in toner-save mode and booklet format along with the duplexing.

So far, I've gone through about 5 reams of paper and it has performed perfectly. I duplex everything and it makes binder-ready printouts in a flash. The dual paper trays hold a full ream of paper and that's handy too.

Controls are easy through the standard Windows Properties dialogs. You can set up named and default profiles to make all of the settings easy to recall for different jobs.

Some nice bonuses- Installing it on the network (and not as a shared printer on a print server) allows the printer to be controlled easily from the user's computer via Windows. I love Linux as a server but getting to the printer controls to stop an out of control job is a beating. Just hang it on the network and its much better.

BUT THE BEST PART - it has a RED BUTTON on the panel that cancels the current print job - completely. Did you hit the PRINT icon instead of SAVE on the 300 page document? Just walk over and hit the RED BUTTON. No fooling with the Printers and Faxes dialog.. The job will cancel, both in the Windows and local queue and the printer will be ready for the next one.

For those of you who have cleared a paper jam on a network printer only to find that when the job resumes, its without the printer-init string and instead of nice TruType text, you get reams of PCL you'll appreciate the RED BUTTON. For me, its the hit of the show. I'm not kidding. Such a simple concept and kudos to Brother for providing it on a low cost printer.

Print quality is great, even in toner-save mode. Renders photos nicely, too.

Reading reviews on Amazon and other places I read the following downsides:

Too noisy- Maybe compared to an inkjet but the noise level is just fine. No worse than the quiet HP it replaced.

Drew too much power and popped fuses - not here, just plugged it into a 15A power strip that also fed the UPS for the server. No problemo.

Flimsy - The paper trays are not as robust as the HP, but it cost close to 900.00, back when money was real. Should be fine in normal use. Paper trays are easier to get in and out too.

Curls the paper - it kind of does to that. Don't know why but its not like it rolls into tubes or anything. My printing is mostly program printouts and datasheets and I don't find curling a problem.

One guy said both of his failed in 6mos. Did I mention Costco's liberal return policy? (Sam's too).

The drum - the manual says the drum is good for 25000 pages. That's about 2.5 years for me and it costs around a hundred bucks. The toner's cheaper, though. So factor that in and amortize the drum cost over the cheaper toner and.. dangit, Jim! I'm a programmer, not an accountant!

Bang for the buck - can't be beat. Flawless installation and performance so far. If someone ran off with it tonight, I'd buy another tomorrow.

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UPDATE - Still going strong
It developed a loud click and some paper feed problems that was traced to one of the trays' end guide (that sets the paper length) being a bit too tight. Reset it and all is well. Have gone through about 40 reams of paper no problems. It runs a LONG time with the toner light on before it really needs it and the extended-use cartridge lasts a very long time for the price. Longer than the HP it replaced.

Not to knock HP but I just bought 2 additional toner carts on an Office Depot 2 for 1 coupon. HP toner/ink was excluded from the offer...