The Sibling HL-L3230CDW slots in at the affordable end of the brand's shade LED lineup and also are focused on the tiny workplace or residence individual.

Avoiding premium attributes like a touchscreen user interface or NFC connection, it focuses on print quality and the bare essentials, such as auto duplexing in order to maintain the acquisition cost fairly reduced. The outcome is a desktop computer color printer with outstanding specs for its cost classification. Printing at a quick 25 web pages per min and also holding 250 web pages in its main tray makes it ideal for a heavy workload of as much as 1,500 web pages each month. With its durable developed high quality and also safe printing capability, it presents a tempting suggestion at just ₤ 240 (US$ 249, AU$ 320).

Design and also develop

Brother describes the HL-L3230CDW as a desktop printer, however with a 41cm by 46cm impact, it's a little large to share a work desk with. It is considerably bigger than Brother's monochrome offerings due to the fact that it has to accommodate 4 toner

cartridges rather than one, and also it's a little larger than the majority of shade prints in its course too. The simple proportion styling looks smart as well as it really feels really significant and built to last. Being an LED, it has fewer moving parts than a conventional laser printer, so it may well last longer consequently. With its smooth corners as well as flat top, there are no flaps or outcroppings that look likely to snap off in office relocation.

Attributes and also specs

SPEC SHEET

Type: Shade laser/LED printer

Features: Print just

Connectivity: Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, USB

Data storage spaceports: none

Print speed: 25 ppm

Paper ability: 250 sheets

Print high quality: 600 x 2,400 dpi

Apple AirPrint: yes

Google Cloud Print: yes

Consumables consisted of: Toner for 1,000 black pages, or 1,000 colour

Dimensions/Weight: 410 x 461 x 252 mm (WxDxH)/ 18kg.

The attribute listing for the Brother HL-L3230CDW is short but it does mark off all of the essential features. Wi-Fi is integrated, for instance, with Wi-Fi Direct offered and AirPrint compatibility. It can additionally auto-duplex and print securely. There's a specialized button beside the display screen marked Secure which enables you to grab personal prints at the printer when being utilized in a common office. There's no expensive touchscreen, no front USB port, and no NFC or Bluetooth connectivity. There's not even a home window to check into the paper tray to see how many sheets are left, but these noninclusions do not amount to any kind of genuine issue.

The Sibling HL-L3230CDW's requirements are a lot more excellent. The asserted print rate of 25 single-sided web pages per min is fast and practical. Our speed tests showed that it doesn't decrease a lot for duplex printing either. The paper capacity is sufficient at 250 sheets and also the print resolution is good as well as high at 600 x 2,400 when maximized. Sibling's recommended regular monthly volume is 300 to 1,500 web pages, which indicates you can work this device rather hard.

The box includes setup Brother HL-L3230CDW Toner cartridges generating 1,000 black and white web pages and also 1,000 colors. Higher return cartridges are available, but not much greater (3,000 mono pages or 1,400 shades) and that makes it a little much less cost-effective to run than several various other laser printers. Similar to all laser/LED printers, you will likewise need to change the drum system, in this situation after regarding 18,000 pages.

Arrangement and also procedure

Setting up the Brother HL-L3230CDW implies very first eliminating all the tape and also plastic product packaging it for transport and this entails getting rid of the 4 cartridges. The clear as well as succinct setup instructions in the box, or online will certainly aid you to do this. After that, it's an instance of adhering to the directions to get the printer onto your Wi-Fi network. The free companion application for iOS/Android devices can aid you to do this, but without Bluetooth, it's not quite as very easy as with Brother's Bluetooth-enabled printers.

In operation, the Brother HL-L3230CDW is an enjoyment to make use of. The tiny, old-fashioned one-line screen is difficult to see from any type of angle, however, that's not a big problem with a print-only gadget. It publishes quickly and also quietly. The strong developed high quality and fewer moving parts of its LED layout help to maintain the sound down to just 47dB. If it weren't for the dimension and the excessively brilliant LEDs blinking at you while the printer is powered up, you might incline to have it on the corner of your desk. As it is, we'd recommend providing it its own table.

Efficiency

We're happy to report that the print performance, essentially, is very solid. Black and white text appears crisp and sharp and also precise. However little the factor size that you're pointing at, the fine delineation of the characters guarantees they are always legible. The total effect is not as dark and also vibrant as a few other printers, but a light touch similar to this is almost constantly preferable.

Colour prints look specifically brilliant as well as vibrant, making your records pop nicely. But while pie charts and spreadsheets look, expert, pictures do not make out so well. The black toner in black and white images often tends to beam and not color well as well as shades look unrealistic. It's a common issue with laser printers and consequently not a fatal strike against this one.

The first printout time is priced estimated as 15.5 secs, which is slow-moving as well as it can be slower relying on the paper due to the fact that the onboard memory is just 256MB. But it makes up for its ponderous beginning with a fast and constant churn rater afterward. The web pages pile up in addition to the printer at a smooth and also stable rate in duplex settings and without all the loud wining and straining you frequently get with economical laser printers.

Final decision

It seems like the Brother HL-L3230CDW strikes simply the best balance between rate, performance, and also functions. For the cash, you might expect to see a touchscreen user interface, or NFC/Bluetooth connectivity, however, we would rather pay for better development as well as publish top quality, which the Sibling HL-L3230CDW provides. The quick duplex print speed, as well as silent operating sound, make it easy to recommend this simple LED printer.