While all the bells and whistles on All-in-One inkjet printers are nice to have, there are times when you just need a simple black-and-white printer that is less expensive to operate. That’s where the Brother HL-2140 comes in. It prints up to 23 pages per minute at resolutions up to 2400 x 600 dots per inch. It is a monochrome laser printer that is less expensive to operate. Could this be the printer that becomes your daily workhorse? We decided to take a look.

The Brother HL-2140 comes in a large clearly marked box, as shown in Figure 1.

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Figure 1: The printer box.

Inside the box is the printer itself along with the toner cartridge/drum assembly, an AC power cable, a CD-ROM that includes the printer drivers and User’s Manual, and a Quick Setup Guide. These are shown in Figure 2. As with many of the printers of this type, this one comes with a starter toner cartridge that is rated for 1,000 pages.

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Figure 2: Accessories found in the box.

The USB cable, which is necessary for operation, is not included. So unless you have a spare cable lying around, you should include the cost of the cable in your budget.

The printer itself, shown in Figure 3, is a compact device that measures 6.7 inches by 14.5 inches by 14.2 inches (17 by 36.8 by 36 cm). It has a square shape with rounded edges. The top is a pale gray while the sides and back are dark gray. Its small footprint and lack of protruding paper trays mean that it can easily fit on or under a desk. It weighs only 15 pounds (6.8 kg), so it is easily moved.

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Figure 3: The Brother HL2140 printer.