Product Reviews
Brother HL-3040CN
Digital Color Printer with Networking
Average Customer Rating:
Rating Snapshot (32 reviews)
5 stars
13
4 stars
6
3 stars
5
2 stars
2
1 star
6
22 of 32(69%)people would recommend this product.
Customer Reviews for HL-3040CN
Review 1 for HL-3040CN
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Best printer
Date:November 6, 2011
By Walid
from Brea, CA
I have this printer for one year now, and this is the best printer that I ever owned. In the past I always bought inkjet printers, but by far this one is the best. My whole family are using it and everyone loves it. I really recommend this printer for every house it's great printer buy it buy it buy it, don't think twice just buy it.
Expertise: Professional or Expert
Use: Home (Personal Use)
Brother products owned: 1
2 of 3 found this review helpful.
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Review 2 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
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out of
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Very Pleased With Purchase
Date:July 26, 2011
By Vern1947
from Greenwood, SC
I bought the Brother HL-3040CN color laser printer because it was at a great price, and because I already had a monochrome Brother laser printer, the HL-2040. I like the ease of changing the toner cartridges, and the relative low-cost of the cartridges. The print quality is superb! I will never go back to inkjet printers! I am very pleased with the Brother brand!
Expertise: Advanced Amateur
Use: Home (Personal Use)
Brother products owned: 3
2 of 2 found this review helpful.
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Review 3 for HL-3040CN
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Uses too much Toner
Date:July 22, 2011
By campcreek
from Wyoming
I have had mine for about a year. I learned early on I goes thru toner cartidges at a high rate. So now I don't use it. It was a waste of money.
Use: Small Business (Up to 25 Employees)
Brother products owned: More than 5
1 of 2 found this review helpful.
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Review 4 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
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out of
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won't buy another
Date:July 11, 2011
By Anonymous
I am really disapointed - gone through 4 sets of cartridges (color and black including the 'starter cartridges)) in less than 2 months and we haven't printed anywhere close to the approximated 6000 sheets that we should have been able to print. We don't use much color and they all go out at the same time?? not sure why and not much help from 'support' on why either.
Expertise: Professional or Expert
Use: Home Office (Business Use)
5 of 5 found this review helpful.
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Review 5 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
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out of
5
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Great printer for the price
Date:May 9, 2011
By Bobmo
from Frisco, TX
I bought a refurb for half the list price. I have used this printer for over six months. I added extra memory to 544Mbyte. The memory was a very cheap upgrade. While I didn't expect inkjet photo quality I have found my photo prints acceptable. I don't understand the complaints about starter cartridges. Even HP starts you out with a partial cartridge. You should know that this is an industry practice. Brother did not start this practice. Having owned multiple inkjects for over 20 years I find the plusses of laserjet printing refreshing. I got over 1.000 prints from my starter cartridge not the very low amounts that others complained about. My printing was mostly text with colored photos. When people complain about the cost of cartridges they should compare the cost of owning a HP color printer with this HL-3040CN unit. It is not even close. Setup was very simple and was done for my desktop and laptop without issues. The sleep mode is noiseless. While I don't doubt some people have had bad luck with their printers, that has not been the case with my refurb. If my wife wasn't satisfied with her Okidata C5500 I would get her a HL-3040CN. In the past I have owned HP, Canon, and Epson inkjets that all had nozzle issues due to irregular usage. This is why the wife now has a color laser printer. A color laser is a better fit for my situation and usage. My workhorse printer is a HP Laserjet M2727nf. Between the two printer I print about 1,200 pages a month with out issues. I throughly research products before making a purchase. Perhaps some of the disappointed user comments relate to unrealistic expectations.
Expertise: Advanced Amateur
Use: Home (Personal Use)
Brother products owned: More than 5
10 of 10 found this review helpful.
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Review 6 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
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out of
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Great Low Cost Printer
Date:January 25, 2011
By ClassicDave
from RI
I have been using this printer in a small home office for 3 months and have no complants.
It is a very low cost color laser printer an works fine in home or small office.
It is a very low cost color laser printer an works fine in home or small office.
Expertise: Advanced Amateur
Use: Home Office (Business Use)
Brother products owned: 4
3 of 3 found this review helpful.
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Review 7 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
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out of
5
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HL-3040CN
Date:November 20, 2010
By Phototom
from Smyrna TN
The printer is great, with beautiful color.
The only thing that I do not like about it, is the starter cartridges that is comes with. Very little toner in them, and for the money I paid for the printer, I should get more toner than this.
I was only able to print 125 color pages from them before the printer said I need to replace the color cartridges.
The only thing that I do not like about it, is the starter cartridges that is comes with. Very little toner in them, and for the money I paid for the printer, I should get more toner than this.
I was only able to print 125 color pages from them before the printer said I need to replace the color cartridges.
Expertise: Professional or Expert
Use: Home Office (Business Use)
Brother products owned: 1
4 of 4 found this review helpful.
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Review 8 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
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out of
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Brother HL-3040N
Date:November 18, 2010
By Tcamperman
from Western North Carolina
We've just gotten this printer, so it may be a bit premature to fully assess its capabilities.
However, a couple of points: As the machine comes out of the box, it's heavy and rather robust compared to some of the printers we've had. Assembly is minimal...mainly just drop in the 4 cartridges and plug it in and it's ready to go. Set up went very smoothly...drivers loaded quickly and we had both my wife's and my laptops sending wireless commands in just a few minutes.
I'm no expert, but print quality looks to be very good. There are some bells and whistles we havn't tried yet...envelope printing, draft quality printing, etc....but so far....we're very pleased with our choice.
The scary prospect...as in all printers...is how many grandchildren sold into slavery will it take to replace the toner cartridges.
I'm no expert, but print quality looks to be very good. There are some bells and whistles we havn't tried yet...envelope printing, draft quality printing, etc....but so far....we're very pleased with our choice.
The scary prospect...as in all printers...is how many grandchildren sold into slavery will it take to replace the toner cartridges.
Expertise: Casual User
Use: Home (Personal Use)
2 of 4 found this review helpful.
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Review 9 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
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out of
5
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Jammed and failed in 5 minutes
Date:November 16, 2010
By rcimi
from westcheter ny
Had high hopes. machine jammed and failed within 5 minutes of use. could not be corrected. tech support excellent, but could not fix issue. had to drive 40 miles to exchange it for a new one. hope that works or it's back to HP.
Expertise: Casual User
Use: Home (Personal Use)
Brother products owned: 1
2 of 7 found this review helpful.
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Review 10 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
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out of
5
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HL-3040CN Printer
Date:October 30, 2010
By LinuxGuy
from New England
I just received the printer less than 24 hours ago. I found setup to be normal. In other words, not cumbersome but, not easy either. This is in part due to the LCD Display not having a back-light. I should not have to set the language to "English". It should be set at the factory during initial setup to default to the country it is sold in. This can be accomplished when the control module is first programed and then they are stocked in the parts house by country. With today's technology, this can be accomplished easily.
The straight through paper path is still a mystery to me and I have yet to get the printer to print a single page using this method. Front door down, backdoor down, tell the driver to print with the straight through path and NOTHING! 12 attempts have resulted in no printing.
The printer driver settings are not easy to understand. A lesson should be learned from Canon here. Brother should also learn that for Linux support the only thing needed is a PPD file. Forget DEB and RPM files.
The PPD file on the CD installed the 3070CW just fine and the same features I see in Vista 64-Bit for the 3040CN are there in the Linux properties. However, with the 3070CW PPD file the 3040CN printer refuses to print at all! (No big surprise there.) It would be nice to have a 3040CN PPD file and call it a day. This would give Brother access to a lager range of Linux Users without having to have separate installs for every Distro of Linux out there. I suspect the reason I had no printing from the 3070CW PPD Metrics is because I am using USB and not the network setup. Including USB in the PPD would be helpful. - And yes!, my Linux Distro properly identified the printer even though no native driver exists.
When not in use, the printer is completely quiet. I don't understand User Reviews I read before my purchase about the printer being noisy in "Sleep Mode". The only noise is during printing as one would expect. I find the noise level when printing to be no louder than most Laser Printers in its class.
Printing photos on plain paper with the paper tray paper path produces the same results as I read in pre-purchase reviews. However, by choosing to reduce page curl, print quality improves. If I could get photo paper to print on the straight path with "Fine Printing", I suspect the photos would print just fine and the 3040CN would serve as a backup to my main photo printer.
A BIG! plus for this printer are the separate Toner/Drum Assemblies. I like the fact all I have to purchase is toner when I run out.
The upper lid could raise higher though for Toner/Drum replacement. I have big hands and they were cramped by not enough lid clearance. -- Especially when placing the Cyan Toner/Drum in for the first time. While not impossible, this means that Toner/Drum replacement will be difficult, always.
I find the 250 page paper tray to be generous for a compact design. For Home use, this will serve for several months of printing. That said, I seriously doubt I would use this printer in anything but a S.O.H.O. setup. Anything larger for a business setting and I would most likely consider a different printer. It would be Digital as the 3040CN is but, I would prefer better capacity and quality for real business printing.
Expertise: Professional or Expert
Use: Home (Personal Use)
Brother products owned: 1
2 of 3 found this review helpful.
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Review 11 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
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out of
5
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A Very Good Product
Date:October 15, 2010
By stan3398
from Pittsburgh
I like everything about this printer except the fact I have to download the manual every time I want to use it. Why not make make the manual so I can place an icon on my desktop to get to it?
I would also have liked the on/off switch on the front panel but that is a small quibble.
I would also have liked the on/off switch on the front panel but that is a small quibble.
Expertise: Hobbyist/Enthusiast
Use: Home (Personal Use)
Brother products owned: 3
2 of 2 found this review helpful.
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Review 12 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
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out of
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Terrible Choice
Date:October 15, 2010
By rbm5
from Ft Edward New York
This is worst printer I have ever used. Slow to wake up and print. Will not do labels unless using manual feed and jams constantly in manual feed. Sorry we purchased it.
Expertise: Advanced Amateur
Use: Small Business (Up to 25 Employees)
Brother products owned: 3
1 of 4 found this review helpful.
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Review 13 for HL-3040CN
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out of
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HL-3040cn
Date:October 12, 2010
By Candlestick
from Frankfort, Illinois
Great quality, nice speed, and really quiet. Nice crisp printing with very accurate output. Best general purpose printer I've found.
Expertise: Advanced Amateur
Use: Home (Personal Use)
Brother products owned: 3
2 of 3 found this review helpful.
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Review 14 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
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out of
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Good printer
Date:October 12, 2010
By Richks
from Wichita, Kansas
Good quality print, very fast. Toner is a little expensive and didn't last long.
Expertise: Advanced Amateur
Use: Home Office (Business Use)
Brother products owned: 2
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Review 15 for HL-3040CN
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Eats Toner, Terrible front loader
Date:September 4, 2010
By Administrator
from Lansing, MI
I used to think Brother was a great company until I bought this printer for my office from Office Max. Even though the machine is not out of toner, it demands I replace the toner and will not let me print anything. This is a SCAM. It is my printer, I will decide when to replace the toner. Dollar for dollar a basic ink jet printer is more cost effective and often faster than this terrible printer.
Expertise: Advanced Amateur
Use: Medium Business (26 to 999 Employees)
Brother products owned: 2
5 of 7 found this review helpful.
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Review 16 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
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out of
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Awesome!
Date:August 17, 2010
By schworak
from Salem, Oregon
I already owned the Brother MFC-7820N but I wanted color and inkjets just weren't working out for me. I plugged the printer in, connected the network cable and within 20 minutes had it running on my two Ubuntu Linux laptops and two Windows 7 boxes as well. I am running the HL-3040CN over the network just like the 7820N and they both work perfectly. I am so very happy.
Expertise: Professional or Expert
Use: Small Business (Up to 25 Employees)
Brother products owned: 3
3 of 3 found this review helpful.
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Review 17 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
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out of
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A Winner!
Date:August 13, 2010
By turkeyneck
from So. Cal.
I first purchased this model's "bigger" brother, the 4040CN but found it was a bit too big for my small office and donated that to a local school.
The 3040CN is just what I needed. An excellent laser-quality image--either color or B&W--and utterly dependable, network available, easy to maintain, everything I've NEVER gotten from dozens of bogus ink-jet printers going back into the 1980's.
Add to this fact that Brother updates the firmware regularly and fully supports MacOS X right up to the latest versions and you have an outstanding value for your printer dollars, giving up nothing but hassles & incompatibility.
Expertise: Professional or Expert
Use: Home Office (Business Use)
Brother products owned: 3
2 of 3 found this review helpful.
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Review 18 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
(
out of
5
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Not to bad
Date:May 16, 2010
By Gruff
from South Bend, IN
This machine works pretty good. One problem I have is feeding a single sheet or envelope. It jams and has to be reset. Other then that is works great.
Expertise: Professional or Expert
Use: Home Office (Business Use)
Brother products owned: More than 5
3 of 3 found this review helpful.
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Review 19 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
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out of
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not worth it
Date:May 8, 2010
By secretary
from saginaw michigan
the printer is quiet, fast and does a beautiful job printing. I purchased the printer based on the amount of pages that the toner said it uses. This is not true, I have spent so much money on toner it is ridiculous. I am very angry about that. I also have the laser 5140 and the toner lasts forever. But the 3040 is so expensive it is not worth buying
Expertise: Advanced Amateur
Use: Home Office (Business Use)
Brother products owned: 3
7 of 8 found this review helpful.
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Review 20 for HL-3040CN
Overall Rating:
(
out of
5
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Works great. But uses too much ink.
Date:May 3, 2010
By Nick
Works great but uses lot of ink. Have to get a new toner every few weeks with minimal use.
3 of 3 found this review helpful.
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