Laser Printers

Laser Printers

Laser printers use toner powder fused to the page with heat rather than liquid ink. That gives you sharp text, pages that don't smudge or run, and — the reason most offices use them — a much lower cost per page than inkjet once you're printing regularly. NXP stocks 17 A4 laser printers from Brother and HP, in mono and colour, standalone and multifunction.

Laser or inkjet?

Buy a laser printer if you print mostly text, print regularly, or need speed. Toner doesn't dry out between uses, so a laser printer that sits idle for three weeks still prints perfectly. That alone makes it the right choice for most offices.

Buy an inkjet if you print photos or full-bleed colour graphics, or print so rarely that the higher purchase price of a laser can't be justified.

The nuance people miss: a laser printer costs more upfront and less per page. If you print 50 pages a month, that maths never catches up. If you print 500, it catches up quickly.

Mono or colour

Mono (black and white) laser printers are cheaper to buy, cheaper to run, faster, and simpler — one toner cartridge instead of four. For invoices, contracts, reports, picking slips and general office printing, mono is the correct answer and most of this range reflects that.

Colour laser printers make sense when you produce client-facing documents, marketing collateral, presentations, or anything where colour carries meaning — charts, colour-coded schedules, branded proposals. Colour models here include the Brother HL-L3240CDW, DCP-L3560CDW, MFC-L8390CDW and the HP LaserJet Pro 4301fdw.

A practical middle path many offices take: one colour multifunction for the whole floor, plus cheap mono units where the volume is.

Standalone or multifunction

A standalone printer (Brother's HL series) prints only. It's smaller, cheaper and has fewer parts to fail — good as a personal desk printer or a second device.

A multifunction printer or MFP (Brother's DCP and MFC series) adds scanning and copying, and on MFC models, faxing. Most business buyers should choose multifunction: scanning to email or a network folder is now a daily task in most offices, and a separate scanner costs more than the difference.

Decoding Brother's naming helps: HL = print only, DCP = print/scan/copy, MFC = print, scan, copy and fax. The letters after the number matter too — DW = duplex + wireless, DN = duplex + network (Ethernet, no Wi-Fi), CDW = colour, duplex, wireless.

Matching the printer to your volume

This is the decision that actually determines whether you're happy with the purchase in two years.

• Home office / 1–3 people — HL-L1230W, HL-L2400DW, DCP-L2640DW. Compact, wireless, modest monthly volume.
• Small office / 5–15 people — HL-L2865DW, MFC-L2820DW, MFC-L2920DW, HL-L3240CDW. Faster, larger paper trays, higher-yield toner available.
• Busy workgroup / 15+ people — HL-L5210DN/DW, HL-L6210DW, HL-L6415DW, MFC-L5710DW, MFC-L5915DW, MFC-L6915DW. Built for sustained volume, with high-capacity toner and heavier duty cycles.

Check the recommended monthly print volume, not the maximum duty cycle. The maximum is what the machine can survive; the recommended figure is what it can do comfortably for years. Buying one tier up from your actual volume is nearly always cheaper than replacing an over-worked printer early.

Running costs: look past the sticker price

Two things drive the real cost.

Toner yield. A high-yield cartridge costs more but delivers a lower cost per page. Before you buy, check that a high-yield option exists for the model — on entry-level printers it sometimes doesn't, which is what makes cheap printers expensive.

Drum unit. On Brother lasers the drum is a separate consumable from the toner and lasts several toner cartridges before needing replacement. Budget for it; it's the cost that surprises people in year two.

Connectivity and features worth having

Duplex (double-sided) printing as standard halves your paper use — the DW and DN models here all include it. Wireless suits offices without structured cabling; Ethernet is more reliable for a fixed shared printer. Most current models support mobile printing from phones and tablets.

If a machine will be shared, an automatic document feeder on the multifunction models is what turns a 20-page scan job from a five-minute task into a 30-second one.

NXP has no minimum order quantity, orders placed by 3pm dispatch the same day from the nearest branch, and freight is free over $50 — and toner, drums and A4 copy paper can go on the same order.

Frequently asked questions

Is a laser printer better than an inkjet for an office?

For most offices, yes. Laser printers are faster, cost less per page on text documents, and the toner doesn't dry out if the printer sits unused. Choose an inkjet only if you print photos or full-colour graphics, or if your print volume is very low.

What's the difference between Brother HL, DCP and MFC printers?

HL models print only. DCP models print, scan and copy. MFC models add fax and usually more advanced paper handling. The suffix describes features: DW is duplex and wireless, DN is duplex and networked via Ethernet, and CDW indicates a colour duplex wireless model.

How long does toner last in a laser printer?

It depends on cartridge yield and page coverage. Standard cartridges commonly run 1,000–3,000 pages and high-yield versions considerably more; the manufacturer's page yield assumes about 5% coverage, so heavy or graphics-rich documents use toner faster. Check whether a high-yield cartridge is available for the model before buying — it's the biggest lever on running cost.

Do I need to replace the drum as well as the toner?

On Brother laser printers, yes. The drum unit is a separate consumable that lasts across several toner cartridges before it needs changing. Factor it into your running costs rather than treating toner as the only ongoing expense.

What size office is a mono laser printer suitable for?

Compact wireless models suit one to three people. Mid-range models with larger trays and faster speeds suit small offices of five to fifteen. For fifteen or more, choose a workgroup model with high-capacity toner and a higher recommended monthly volume — and size to your actual monthly pages, not the headline duty cycle.