Brother HL-5250DN Network Ready Laser Printer with Duplex

The HP1100 I purchased in the mid-90s for home use was getting pretty long in the tooth, and I was tired of constantly battling the firewall to let my wife's computer print to it, so I looked around for something suitable to replace it. The printer that seemed to fit in terms of price, capability, and size was this one. I was a bit dubious about purchasing anything this inexpensive, and a few of the reviews slammed it. But I took a chance.So far, my fears have been allayed. It has worked faithfully for several months, and I push the limit on "home" printing. One of the features I was interested in was the double-sided printing feature. Even my much more expensive (but older) HP printer at work won't do this. It has not only worked very well, but it is much more useful than I had imagined. While it is nice to save paper, being able to print out manuals (all of which are supplied in electronic form now) that actually look and read like a real manual is wonderful.The networking feature has worked flawlessly. To install it on a computer, you simply use the automatic installer provided. I connect to the printer using a USB connection, a cable network connection, and a wireless network connection, and all work without problem.The jury is still out on how long it will work well, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I really like it.**************************July, 2012. Well, I still like this printer--but only as a USB printer. I have gone through two of these now, and in each case it is the network interface that has failed. I think that Brother has an issue here, whether it is the hardware or driver. Unfortunately, for me it meant taking these to the recycling center.

I have been using a Brother HL-1440 for the past four years. It has been totally reliable. It was networked through a Netgear PS121 so it could be easily shared with other computers in the house.I decided to get the HL-5250DN for the duplexing capability. The HL-1440 has manual duplexing, which can get annoying if you're in another room and have to either waste paper or run back to the printer to turn the pages over.Amazon got the HL-5250DN to me in two days with free shipping. Setup didn't take long, though I must have made a mistake during the network install portion as the printer didn't show up under Windows. A bit of fiddling with the printer port and IP setup solved the problem. I tried to use Brother's Driver Deployment Wizard to setup the printer on my other computers, but I had trouble there possibly because of the way it was set up on my main computer. I was able to get it working with 3 other computers after a bit of fussing around.The duplexing seems to work fine. Starup and first page out is much quicker than with the HL-1440. I was able to use a 128MB stick of PC133 SO-DIMM memory left over from a laptop upgrade and so did not have to buy additional memory (never throw anything out)!My only complaint is that the multi-purpose feeder is a bit of a pain. With the HL-1440, you just stuck an envelope in the front slot and printed it. With the HL-5250, you have to open the multi-purpose cover, insert the envelope, and then change the printer settings to tell it that you have envelope stock. Otherwise, it seems to think that you have plain paper loaded and it won't print.Initially, the envelopes were coming out creased and almost welded shut. The manual has a fix fo this, but it requires opening the back of the printer and moving some latches that apparently control the roller pressure or some such. That cured the creasing problem, but the manual indicates that you should put the latches back into the "normal" position for other printing. This would be a big hassle since they are inside the back cover. So far, I'm just leaving them in the "envelope" position and plain paper printing still seems to be OK.Overall, I'm satisfied with the capabilities of the HL-5250. I'll be very happy if it holds up anywhere near as well as my HL-1440.Update: It's Oct. 2007 and I've now had this printer for over a year. Still no problems at all!

This printer worked well for about a year. Right after replacing the drum cartridge my paper started to come out crinkled, then repeatedly jamming. When I finally reached Brother customer service they recommended a heavier weight paper even though I had been using their specified type and weight of paper. They were not helpful. By that time it was out of warranty. Still nursing it along until the toner runs out, but only for drafts.

I bought this printer because of a great experience I had with other Brother printers and FAX systems. The previous unit I owned was an HL-1850 with a great MP tray. It was fast, reliable, consumables were inexpensive and it handled envelopes beautifully.This printer while fast and network ready, it has the worst MP tray ever. It can only hold 6-7 envelopes (#10), it shreds and creases all envelopes no matter what speed the feed, it can't handle more than 10-12 sheets of plain paper. The printer can handle heaier stock, but it curls like a window shade.I'm sorry I bought it. I should have done some homework. After I discovered it's huge flaws, I did some research on the net, and sure enough, the exact problems were described by others.If you want pure speed and a network ready printer--it's fine. But if you need a versatile, reliable and professional printer, this ain't it.