[ad_1]
The Brother HL-L5100DN ($199.99) is a very capable mono laser printer for a micro or small office or a workgroup, and offers very good value for its price. It is lightning fast, prints high-quality text, is capable of heavy-duty printing, has good standard and optional paper capacity, and a low running cost. The HL-L5100DN ($279.98 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) lacks the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct found in its near-twin, the Editors’ Choice Brother HL-L5200DW ($265.38 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , but is a top-choice in its own right.
Design and Features
Other than connectivity, the HL-L5100DN has the same feature set as the Brother HL-L5200DW. I discuss the features in detail in the latter printer’s review, linked above, but I’ll present an overview here. The HL-L5100DN measures 10 by 14.7 by 15.3 inches (HWD) and weighs 23.5 pounds. Standard paper capacity is 300 sheets, between a 250-sheet main tray and a 50-sheet multipurpose feeder. Optional trays are available, up to a maximum paper capacity of 1,340 sheets. An auto-duplexer for printing on both sides of a sheet of paper is standard. The maximum monthly duty cycle is 50,000 pages.
The HL-L5100DN connects to a PC via a USB cable, or to a network via Ethernet. It lacks Wi-Fi or WiFi Direct connectivity, although you could print to it via Wi-Fi provided that your network has a wireless access point.
Similar Products
Dell B2360dn
Check Stock
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Dell B2360dn Review
Canon imageClass MF227dw
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Canon imageClass MF227dw Review
OKI MB472w
Check Stock
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our OKI MB472w Review
Brother MFC-L2720DW
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Brother MFC-L2720DW Review
Brother HL-L5200DW
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Brother HL-L5200DW Review
Canon imageClass LBP151dw
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Canon imageClass LBP151dw Review
Brother HL-L6200DW
Â
Read Our Brother HL-L6200DW Review
Brother HL-L2300D
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Brother HL-L2300D Review
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M277dw
Check Stock
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M277dw Review
Dell Printer – E310dw
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Dell Printer – E310dw Review
HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553dn
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553dn Review
Dell Smart Printer – S2810dn
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Dell Smart Printer – S2810dn Review
HP Color LaserJet Pro M252dw
Check Stock
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our HP Color LaserJet Pro M252dw Review
Dell Color Cloud Multifunction Printer H625cdw
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Dell Color Cloud Multifunction Printer H625cdw Review
Dell B2360d
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Dell B2360d Review
Printing Speed
I timed the Brother HL-L5100DN on our business applications suite (using QualityLogic(Opens in a new window)‘s hardware and software for timing) at 15 pages per minute (ppm), a good speed especially considering its 42ppm speed rating. (While rated speeds are based on text-only printing, our test suite includes text pages, graphics pages, and pages with mixed content). The Editors’ Choice Dell B2360dn ($899.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , rated at 40ppm, also turned in a 15ppm speed. It was effectively tied with the Brother HL-L5200DW, rated at 42 ppm, which tested at 15.3ppm, with just one second separating their total timings. It was faster than the Brother HL-L6200DW ($219.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , which tested at 12.7ppm despite its 48ppm rated speed.
Output Quality
Overall output quality for the HL-L5100DN, based on our testing, was slightly above par, with above-average text, slightly subpar graphics, and average photos. Text should be good enough for any business purpose except for ones requiring tiny fonts.
Graphics are good enough for internal business use and perhaps for PowerPoint handouts, depending on how picky you are. It had trouble differentiating between similar shadings in one illustration, and couldn’t print one page that shows dark text against an even darker background. Photo quality, which I would categorize as newspaper quality, is typical of mono lasers, good enough for printing out images from Web pages or files.
See How We Test PrintersThe HL-L5100DN has the same running cost, based on Brother’s price and yield figures for toner and drum, of 1.8 cents per page, which is shared by both the Brother HL-L5200DW and HL-L6200DW. The Dell B2360dn’s running costs are a touch higher at 2 cents per page, while the Canon imageClass LBP151dw’s costs are higher yet, at 3.5 cents per page.
Conclusion
The Brother HL-L5100DN is a strong choice mono laser printer for up to heavy-duty printing in a small or micro office. Among its strengths are blazing speed, good output quality with above-par text, good standard and excellent optional paper capacity, and low running costs. The Editors’ Choice HL-L5200DW is the same printer but with Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct added to the mix. If you don’t need to connect wirelessly, you can still get a highly capable mono laser for less money with the HL-L5100DN.
4.0
(Opens in a new window)
(Opens in a new window)
View More
A mono laser printer for a small or micro office or a workgroup, Brother’s HL-L5100DN is lightning fast, prints high-quality text, has good paper capacity and low running costs.
[ad_2]
Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/brother-hl-l5100dn
