Quick Reliable Compatible

I purchased this printer through a local retailer and was debating between the HP and a similarly priced wireless printer from Brother. The replacement toner cartridges are a bit more for the HP but then again they come with the drum assembly built in. This greatly reduces maintenance and potential hardware failures.



Setup:

As for setup under Windows it's a snap. Put the CD in and follow the directions.



Under Linux (I'm using Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx)) the install was easy. I visited [...] web site and downloaded the drivers. From there I just followed the directions on the web page and it works like a charm.



I've not used it with a Mac but I did note that OSX is listed on the box.



Printer quality:

As for the printer itself. It has a very small footprint on the desk when the paper trays are not extended and a small one when they are. It has excellent monochrome print quality and is very fast. As with all laser printers the ink is waterproof once it's on the paper. I'd recommend it any day of the week.



The printer's body feels solid when you handle it. The input trays are similarly solid. The output tray feels a bit light but as long as you aren't abusing the tray it'll be more than sufficient.



HP Experience:

For me HP printers are generally very reliable and always has good driver support both under Windows and Linux.More detail ...

Great printer but programmed to rip you off in toner

I bought the HL-2170W from Amazon at the beginning of 2008. I found it very easy to configure for both wired and wireless networks although I use mine on a wired connection out of convenience. I print mostly plain text and the quality is very good.



I have but two complaints:



First the paper comes out slightly curled but this is a fact of life for a printer this size.



Second Brother has programmed the printer such that when its thinks the toner is empty it stops working. This happened to me when I was printing some important documents. I did some internet searches and examined the toner cartridge. There is a clear plastic circle at each end of the toner cartridge. The printer shines a light through to see how full the toner is. Simply cover one of them with a piece of opaque tape and the printer will think that the toner is full. I've already gotten 1500+ pages out of the starter toner that was "empty" at 983 with no difference in printed quality.More detail ...