Review : Brother HL-6050D
Brother’s HL-6050D is a new entrant in the economical monochrome laser printer range. The printer is aimed at medium sized workgroups. Some features that stand out include the automatic duplex functionality, Ethernet networking along with optional wireless connectivity and the estimated price per print.
The printer is boxy and generally unattractive when compared to the likes of Samsung printers, but does cover a smaller footprint. Paper trays are aplenty with a 500-page main tray supported by an additional tray and a 100-page multi-function tray. Printer controls are made simple with navigation keys.
A particular button on the control panel – Reprint – provides a gaping loophole for data security. The last print job is saved in the printer cache memory and can be automatically printed by the click of this button. There are no options on the printer to disable this button.
Print quality for black text is excellent with sharp, dark and well formed characters. Graphic output is not the greatest but is forgivable as the main job for a monochrome printer is to print text material.
Claimed printing speed is 24ppm and as we have witnessed these many years, the claimed and actual speeds are never close. For this printer, actual printing speed is not far-off at 20ppm. Surprisingly, printing speed does not deteriorate when duplex printing is employed; printing speed for duplex printing is 10ppm.
The printer drum needs replacement after printing 30,000 pages where as each toner cartridge should last for 7500 pages, which should make maintenance job a little easier. Calculating the costs of the toner, drum and stationary, each printout works out to be 0.83p which is one of the most economical printers that we have seen in quite some time. The printer itself costs around £300, depending on where you buy it from.
An ideal printer for every office!!! It produce great prints at a quick time and what more, it’s economical. But, users must be aware of the deadly Reprint button while printing sensitive documents.
About the author:
Abhinav has been blogging about printing and related technologies on CreativeCloud for several years. He is also a project manager for a large technology company.
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