After 6 months I still love this printer! My previous Brother printers were always reliable and so is this one. When I need it to print a certain way it just does it. Manual feed, easy. Envelopes, easy (with envelope levers down). Thick stock. Lots of paper capacity.
Color reproduction is excellent! I was expecting only color documents but poor photo quality but NO...to my surprise this prints better than my 4-color photo optimized inkjet and I just got frustrated and tired of all the inkjet maintenance issues. Occasionally there are some minor color reproduction errors on some photos but I wont dock any marks because (1) I have a "printer's eye" - so I'm naturally picky...my parents owned a print shop, (2) color lasers are not intended as photo printers (3) It is very minor and much less than I anticipated as a color laser.
The printer comes with four standard toner cartridges that they are practically giving to you for free. The Super High-Yield color cartridges cost $173.48 per cartridge. The Super High-Yield Black cartridge costs $82.48. A full set would set you back $602.92. Third party cartridges are hundreds of dollars cheaper, but the build quality of the cartridges is worse and the quality of the toner is not very good. You risk damaging the printer or the toner can leak into the printer when using third party cartridges. You won't run out of toner for a couple years. The toner will outlive the printer most likely. Laser Printers use toner and Inkjet Printers use ink. Toner lasts much longer than ink. Make sure you maintain the printer and avoid paper jams as much as possible. You can order the printer with one paper tray or two paper trays. You can buy additional trays later, but they cost more individually. The paper trays are not for thick paper, glossy paper and envelopes, but the multipurpose tray is for thick paper, glossy paper and envelopes. It has an easy to use interface on the touch screen with access to a couple of applications. You can print from Google Drive and what not. This printer can't scan, copy or fax documents, it only prints. It has Ethernet and Wireless connectivity. I chose to connect it via Ethernet to the router because a direct connection will always be more reliable than a wireless connection. I don't know if the wireless connection is good, but I assume that it doesn't disconnect as much as the HP Photosmart 7520 I have. It doesn't support Gigabit speeds over a wireless network as it isn't 802.11ac ready and it can't connect to the 5 GHz band if your network broadcasts on the band. I am not able to install the utility on macOS 10.13.2, but I'm able to install the utility on Windows 10. Drivers for the printer are great, but they don't offer any additional features that can be used for print jobs. I almost forgot to tell you that you can print from your iPhone or any modern mobile device. If your mobile device supports the NFC technology, then you can print without being on the same network as the printer, but you have to be near the printer. I have had no issues thus far. It's a business printer and I'm using it for home and personal usage, so it should perform very well. This is my first color laser printer and thus far I'm happy.
I purchased this printer based on my research and the fact that this printer is an PC Magazine 2017 Editors Choice Award winner. Brother printers have been very reliable at work and having one at home just made sense. I was originally going to get monochrome only, but my Epson Artisan 835 ink cartridges were not lasting very long, so I found this printer was color. I Also purchased a high capacity toner cartridge and now print black and white 90% of the time and color only when I need it. This is a heavy printer and build quality is very high. The output is superb. I printed pictures of a white board from a meeting and the pictures were crisp, clean, and clear and color was accurate. Printing is FAST! Setup was relatively simple, once you setup the wireless LAN connection to your router, installing the software is a breeze on your computer! The touch screen is superb and works very well. I highly recommend this printer. It is a good value for a color printer and I am very happy with the purchase.
Works great in most respects. Very good print quality, quick printing. BUT - it has a lot of problems working over WiFi with both our iOS devices or windows devices. Sometimes we have to remove the printer from our airprint list, and refind. Sometimes we need to turn the printer off, unplug, and re-turn-on to make it visible again. One or the other of these is required every few days. (Funny note - bought a Belkin surge protector just to avoid having to unplug and replug repeatedly, and it doesn't work. Which is odd for a Belkin device.).
Update: Spent an hour on the line with Brother technical support. Afterwards it was significantly better, but still not terribly reliable (often had to be unplugged to reset it) - but then, miraculously, several weeks later is started working completely reliably. I literally could not make it fail (I was trying to make it fail in order to troubleshoot it). Works perfectly with Airprint, with Windows 8 and 10.
I was a bit uncertain about ordering this printer because of the very vocal minority complaining about Wi-Fi issues. I’m happy to report that no such problems exists for me, and I suspect user error. To assure success from the get go, here’s what I did:
- Turn on printer, dismiss setup wizard
- Find network settings and turn on WLAN
- Show info, and jot down the MAC address of the WLAN interface
- Configure DHCP on router to assign a fixed IP to the jotted down MAC
- Connect to Wi-Fi from printer
- Confirm fixed IP was assigned
After above, I opened a browser and navigated to the fixed IP, which brings up the printer’s admin page (default password was initpass). I was delighted by the myriad of supported protocols, and configured AirPrint, Google Cloud, and IPP.
All of my devices (Mac, iPhone, Android, Chromebook, and Windows) were a cinch to configure. I only installed software on the Windows machine - all the rest required no drivers. Not surprisingly, the Mac with AirPrint was the simplest.
Printer itself is fantastic. Great quality prints and very fast. It warms up in seconds from sleep and prints quietly. Changing paper type, etc. is very easy.
No regrets!
Note: my wireless access point is in a closet about 20 feet from the printer. Two walls in between.
Feature Product
- Fast, business quality printing at up to 33ppm color/black
- Low cost printing with Brother Genuine Super high-yield 6,500-page Replacement toner cartridges (approximate yield based on ISO/ IEC 19798)
- Flexible connectivity with Gigabit Ethernet or Wireless networking and convenient printing from nfc-capable mobile devices^
- Print from mobile devices over a Wireless network
- 250-sheet capacity paper tray adjustable for letter or legal Plus a 50-sheet capacity multi-purpose tray. Total capacity expandable to 1,300 sheets with optional trays.
Description
Offices large and small in search of a dependable color laser printer should consider the Brother HL-L8360CDW. This printer produces fast, high-quality prints in both black and color at speeds up to 33 pages per minute. The HL-L8360CDW offers low cost output due to super high-yield 6,500-page replacement toner cartridges(2).
The Brother HLL8360CDW Business Wireless Laser Printer offers multiple connectivity options. Connect via wireless or Gigabit Ethernet network interfaces or print from popular mobile devices(1). A 2.7″ Touchscreen display offers easy menu navigation and printing from popular business cloud services including: Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and more(3).
This Brother printer also has advanced security features such as, an integrated NFC card reader for easy badge authentication, and Active Directory support for network user authentication. The security features help protect against unauthorized device access and control costs by restricting printing on a per-user or group basis. The HL-L8360CDWis also Amazon Dash Replenishment–enabled. When you activate this feature, Amazon Dash Replenishment will continuously measure the toner level and order more from Amazon when it’s low. This unique Brother feature keeps busy office workspaces operating at peak efficiency, ensuring you don’t run out of toner.
Brother is dedicated to superior customer service and offers a 1-year limited warranty on the HL-L6200DW business laser printer. We also offer free at-your-side support for the life of your product, featuring online, phone, or live chat assistance.
(1)Requires connection to a wireless network. (2)Approximate toner cartridge yield in accordance with ISO/IEC 19798 (letter/A4). (3)Requires Internet connection and an account with a desired service. Troubleshooting step-The paper is jammed inside the machine-Open the front cover, remove the toner cartridges and drum unit assembly, and pull out all jammed paper. Close the front cover. CPU (Processor) Speed: 800 MHZ
Great printer, terrible customer service unless maybe if you pay for it. I called Brother asking if I should remove the orange plastic bits around the ink cartridges. The text operator wanted to load software on my computer and had no idea what to do with the orange plastic bits. The second person told me to leave the orange plastic bits in place and asked to load software on my computer. The third person did not respond to my question about removing the orange plastic bits and wanted to load software on my computer. Finally the third person asked to transfer me to a technician, but there would be a one time charge. I said no. So I took the orange plastic bits out and the fault cleared. Installing the printer driver took no Brother software. I just open the MAC systems preferences "Printer and Scanner" page and selected the + sign to add a printer. The MAC software found the printer. It was easy from there.
Bought this because we print a lot and the cost per page is supposedly far lower. It looks as if the Super High yield Black toner will cost us about 1/4 what we used to spend on toner, and the Super High yield color toner cartridges will cost us a little more than 1/2 what we spent on color toner with our old color laser printer.
If you don't buy the High yield or Super-High yield cartridges, it uses toner at the same rate as our previous laser printer (We've tested this because it comes with the lowest yield cartridges). We've just replaced the 3 color cartridges that came with it but black is still almost 1/2 full.
At first, we felt the print quality wasn't quite as bright and bold as we were used to, but either it got better within a couple of weeks, or we got used to (and happy with) the print quality - text, graphs, and photos!
Our old laser printer was working just fine; we bought this one just to save money, and we're glad we did.
Update (Most Recent 2019-May-09):
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With the most recent updates in firmware (the only thing that's changed for me) this printer is now working quite well through my wi -fi network. To quickly recall, my printer is set to a fixed IP address through the printer control panel -- and my router associates that same fixed IP address with the printer based on the printer's MAC address. There are no disconnects and the printer remains accessible for as long as we have it powered on. I appreciate greatly that Brother has addressed this issue.
With wireless connectivity fixed (at least for me) I think this printer is a very good, even excellent, value. My comments are below in the original review about print quality. The printer interface LCD and software really brings color laser printers up to modern current expectations. Perfect or even just good color matching will require tinkering, but that's going to be an issue at this price point. Of course brand new this printer comes with filled, full sized, toner cartridges - a nice plus. I now fully recommend this machine!
Current Review 4.5 stars --- Original Review 2.5 stars
Original Review:
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The wi-fi connectivity would not work properly. Through the LCD panel everything seemed to be a go, and I could verify it was connected to my network. Windows recognized the printer. And yet, nothing would print over wi-fi, which makes this printer useless to me, to be frank. The software installed with the printer is essentially dialog boxes that indicate if the printer is not working, then we can't help you: error code -1. Great.
Update:
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So after contacting customer support, their fix was to (in Windows) create a new TCP/IP printer port using the IP address assigned to the printer by the router. I'm not sure how long this will work since the IP addresses are assigned through DHCP. So what happens when the printer's IP address changes when the lease expires or the router is power cycled?
I downloaded the Brother android app on my tablet (my tablet is wi-fi only and was connected to my network). That app couldn't detect the printer and needed me to manually input the printer's IP address, so I see a common issue with this printer being glitchy among two different platforms. After the android app connected to the printer, the app worked and I was able to send pictures and documents to the printer. However, on subsequent tries the app did not work. The printer usually acknowledged a print job was incoming, but it would just bomb out.
So tonight I haven't really been able to evaluate print quality, etc. because the wi-fi connectivity has been obtained (unsatisfactorily) through a stop-gap measure or kludge, and was really an annoying time sink. Upgrade from one star to two.
Update (a few days later):
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Okay so I tried a number of things, like assigning a static IP address to the printer's MAC address in my router -- essentially when my network sees the printer always assuring the printer's IP address is fixed, so that applications know where to find it on the network. The Brother LCD panel/menu has settings to do this on the printer's end as well. This doesn't make any difference. The problem is the printer goes into a sleep mode, and never wakes up. So if the software driver in concert with my OS can't communicate with the printer, I have to power down the printer and turn it back on. There is no way around this. So when it comes to printing, the Brother is not there waiting for me, it needs a wake up call. Maybe this isn't a wireless issue, maybe the printer goes to sleep and never wakes up with cable connectivity too. It's annoying as all get-out.
So in Windows I did a clean install of the latest drivers. Now personally I set the static IP address in the printer and in my router, but I think the normal wireless (WLAN) install of this printer is fine, you just need to power-cycle the printer if your computer can't communicate with it. The Brother android apps as a general rule DID NOT work for me, either through my wireless network or through wi-fi direct. The printer would usually acknowledge a print job was starting, but would bomb out at some point. Occasionally the LCD display would give the cryptic message "Data remaining in memory" and "Push X to stop". Is that a good thing, bad thing? I don't know.
The printer's print quality is okay for text, and colored text -- certainly acceptable. Photos are meh. It is nice to see pictures print really, really fast, but I wasn't planning on printing a bunch of photos on plain paper or card stock. I can say if you want a really decent picture printed with this printer you need to use color profiles and a program like/similar to Photoshop to manage output. Also, if a picture is black and white, set the printing options to monochrome in the printing properties. The colors in general are off unless corrected in some way. Since this printer uses toner, there are some streaks where rollers push paper through the printer, and the toner lays on top of the paper: it doesn't soak in like ink.
Brother says this printer can handle at most 43 pound bond paper, which is about 94 grams per meter square weight. This is VERY thin card stock. Using paper that's too thick might result in toner not sticking and causing problems over time (e.g. a laser printer could run hot and the rubber rollers could soften). This printer does have a nice front and rear tray for printing on special paper and keeping it relatively flat. As an artist, I've printed line art on some special paper with the intent of using alcohol markers (e.g. Copics, Prismacolor) over the toner and that works great with no smears, as well as printing blue lines over which I would ink. Thick watercolor paper is an absolute no-go since it's way too thick, especially Arches paper, or anything of that nature.
So I would give this printer maybe two and a half or three stars. The wi-fi/wireless connectivity is very very very very disappointing, and really an ABOMINATION in this day and age where such connectivity is so ubiquitous. I would have thought the Brother engineers would have done a much better job of troubleshooting/fixing wireless issues than releasing the printer as it is to the general public. Maybe they'll fix the go to sleep/dying issue in a firmware update. I don't know.
I just love this printer. I have taken out all the printers in my house and replaced it with this beast. Yes, it is big and weighs about 50lbs or 22.68kg. I have it in my work room and everyone can print directly to this printer by using our WiFi network to print to it. No USB cables to plug into. What took me the longest time was to figure out how to set it all up. But once i figured it out (took about 1.5 hrs) everything runs smoothly. The kids print out their assignments with the option to print in color if needed. Mostly they print in black and white because they are just writing papers or printing worksheets. With electronic documents printing at home is increasing especially for my older daughter who is in college. I highly recommend this printer for any family that just wants one printer in the house that can print quality documents. It even prints on both sides. Just remember to make ample space for it because this is no desktop printer. Take the leap and go wireless. You will not regret it.
First of all, I own MANY printers, and I have owned about 20 different color laser printerS (HP, Xerox, older Brothers). I am a printer fanatic, and currently have about 8 in operation in my real estate office. I LOVE THIS PRINTER!!!
Setup was very easy (for wireless printing), or for USB. The instructions were clear, and the printer set itself up all on it's own.
The time to 1st page out for full color printing is about 20 seconds, which while not the fastest on the planet is great for me, as I print LONG print jobs (mail merge letters of 1200 pieces at a time). The print quality is superb! I compared it side-by-side to output from a Xerox Versant 80 (a $70,000 printer), and the Brother prints we better! The cost per page is outstanding! Using 3rd party Super High yeild toner (which works great), the cost per page for full color is less than $.02/pg.
I have printed a couple of thousand pages so far in the first few days, and everything is working. The rated print speed is 33 pages/minute. On long print jobs the actual was more like 29 pages/minute as the printer stops to cool down from time to time. A couple of minor complaints I have:
1. The output tray only holds about 200 sheets. I wish it were bigger.
2. There is no "tray full" sensor to stop printing when the tray is full (the top of the printer). If you don'y keep removing the output as it prints on large jobs, the output pages go all over the floor.
3. The printer produces a slight curl in the printed pages, particularly with heavier stock..
Other than that, I love this printer!
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