Brother Vs. HP Laser Printers
A laser printer has become nearly indispensable at the office and a good laser printer at home can help with simple printing tasks and provide family photos on demand. Two popular brands of laser printers are made by Hewlett-Packard and Brother International, which consistently have their models competing along with others for the attention of consumers.
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History
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Brother International Corp., a Bridgewater, N.J., company founded in 1954, produces various office and home office products such as facsimile machines, printers and labeling machines. Bill Hewett and Dave Packard met as students in Stanford University before founding Hewlett-Packard together in 1939. Initially producing audio oscillators used by sound engineers, HP sold its first oscillators to Walt Disney to aid in the production of "Fantasia." Over the years, HP moved from oscillator production to personal computers and eventually produced peripheral devices that work with computers such as printers, monitors and fax machines.
Types of Laser Printers
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Laser printers are classified by how many dots per inch (dpi) they can produce, usually ranging from 300 to 1,200. Laser printers can also be divided into those that only print and those that have additional features such as photo printing. Some printers, called all-in-one printers, perform a number of different functions. All-in-one printers can usually copy, scan, print pages or photos and sometimes even serve as a fax machine. In addition, black-and-white laser printers cost less in comparison with color laser printers. Both Brother and HP produce models of all types of laser printers.
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Features of HP Laser Printers
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HP claims that its HP LaserJet M2727nf MFP has a faster first-page print time from power-saving mode than the Brother MFC-8860DN; however, the regular rate of pages per minute (ppm) after warm-up is faster in most Brother models. The HP LaserJet M2727nf MFP also has a simpler one-piece toner replacement cartridge as opposed to Brother printers, which use a two-piece toner and drum set that HP claims is messy and prone to damage. HP also claims that the Brother MFC-8860DN all-in-one printer has smudge problems after printing that the HP LaserJet M2727nf MFP does not suffer from. Finally, HP claims that comparable printers made by HP are more energy efficient than Brother printers.
Features of Brother Laser Printers
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Reviews of Brother laser printers reveal that they are relatively cheap compared with other printers, including HP, and that toner replacements are much more economical than other brands. Although Brother toner and drum replacements are more complex and sensitive than the simple drop-in HP cartridges, the Brother toner supplies last longer and cost less. Brother even offers some toners and drums that print up to 7,000 pages, bringing the operating costs of Brother laser printers well below those of HP laser printers.
Considerations
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In the short term, an HP printer may cost less than or the same as a Brother printer, but in the long term an HP will usually cost more in replacement toner cartridges than a Brother printer will.
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