Brother HL-5240 High-Speed Desktop Office Laser Printer

I bought the Brother HL-5240 Laser Printer the last week of December,2005. This is my first laser printer, and I wanted something to replace aninkjet printer which became erratic after 25,000 cyles. I'm what I call seriousretired, I'm not going to use the printer in business but I do a lot of printingpursuing my hobbies of genealogy, bridge, and photography. I wanted aproductive black and white printer mostly for text or line type art work, I domy photo printing on an Epson R1800. My first impression was that setup was a breeze. I am running WindowsXP Professional in a Hewlett Packard Workstation xw4100 computer. Thequick setup sheet led me through what to do, and everything loaded off the singleCD furnished with the unit. I understand that if I had Windows XP 64x version,it would have been necessary to go to Brother's website for the printer driver. I loaded up some paper, and ran a few prints of things I had in my harddrive. Yes, it really DOES print 30 pages a minute, of printed text, by the stopwatch!However, there is a ten second delay after sending a print command before thefirst copy begins. With regard to paper. I had LOTS of inkjet paper on hand, and I ran acouple hundred sheets of Hammermill 24 lb inkjet through the Brother beforeI discovered, buried in the Manual, a caution NOT to use inkjet paper! So I gotsome house brand 24 lb printing paper from the local office supply. I thought a good test would be to print out the manual for the unit, since it'son the CD but there's no paper copy included in the box. Besides, I needed acopy of the manual, and having it on the computer was inconvenient. So Ioffer here a set of instructions for BROTHER HL-5240 owners who wouldlike to give their new unit a bit of a test, and get a manual besides: The Manualfor the unit runs 137 pages. My instructions will print it out in booklet mode on35 sheets of paper, using both sides. It will take approximately six minutes. I assume that you have the printer up and running, that you have loadedthe bottom tray with paper, and that you have located the Manual Print (upper)tray, it folds down from the front and some flaps extend; it is light gray plastic. Click on the HL-5240 Program from the program list on your desktop.Click on USERS GUIDE IN PDF FORMAT. I assume you have Adobe Acrobatand can read the user's guide. Click on your part of the World Map (USA Canadafor me). This will bring up the Manual for the HL-5240. Click on FILE. On FILE,Click on PRINT; click on PROPERTIES. At Duplex/Booklet, select BOOKLET.Click on ADVANCED; click on the A/B panel. Next click on BINDING OFFSETand enter the figures 0.4 inches for the binding offset. Next, OKAY each window in turn. Now, I have just given you the instructions to the printer to print a bookletwith the left edge left unprinted for margin so you can punch and bind the result. Give the print command for using lower tray paper. The printer will begin printing after a minute or so, and should completeprinting one side. This will require about 90 seconds. Draw a light pencil arrowon a corner of the pile of printout before removing it, pointing toward the printer. Take the pile of printout, jog it so it is nice and even, and put it blank sideup in the upper tray with the pencil arrow pointing toward the printer. Click on MPtray on the computer and the printer should complete its run in another 90 seconds.

Having owned an older version of this Brother laser printer for several years, we found ourselves with extra toner cartridges and a printer, though still working, that would only feed with its top-loading feeder and not the higher-capacity tray. Since we had used that model with no negative issues, this newer HL-5240 was the perfect solution. It shadows the functionality of the older printer, with a few minor exceptions and allows us to finish our stock of cartridges. This is a high-use machine, prints quietly, fast, and very clear. We have used it for all types of documents, different weights of paper, never have had a problem. It's fast, economical, and I would purchase this, or a newer model of the same machine again if available.

An earlier Brother laser printer that I had (HL-1440) did not exhibit any problems, so I bought this one which is significantly faster.Like others, I have had problems with this printer. Specifically:* When I first used it, it would only accept a small number of pages before it would make a clicking sound and refuse to print. This problem can be corrected by adjusting the plastic tabs at the rear of the paper tray.* I have had the same problem with the printer crinkling envelopes that other users have had. This is a serious problem if you're using the printer for formal correspondence.* The printer runs hot after the first 20 or so copies, causing paper to curl. To some extent, this problem can be dealt with by turning the paper over in the tray, trying to take advantage of its natural curl to offset this effect, but it is impossible to offset it completely.These problems are irritating enough that I would not purchase a Brother printer again.

I have been a Brother printer user for years - and have had good experiences with all Brother products except my current printer, an HL-5240. In spite of following every Brother guideline and telephone instruction, and in spite of trying many different kinds of (#10) envelopes, this printer simply cannot print a #10 envelope without creasing it. For my purposes, this makes it just about useless. Brother has been no help; its customer service people merely state the obvious (about how to print envelopes) and suggest using different kinds of raw stock (which I have - even though this obviates using my own printed stationary). Nothing has solved the problem. If you don't need to print envelopes, this is a fine printer -- if you do need to print envelopes, look elsewhere.

The paper tray broke about 6 years of usage but it's a pretty good printer overall. The paper try started making sounds as if it cannot reach paper.

I've had pretty good luck with Brother printers. Okay speed, good print quality, last awhile. Drum units are expensive though. Once it's time to replace your drum, almost cheaper to just toss the thing and buy a new one. Buy a new drum, or spend an extra $30 and get a new printer with a new drum, new toner cartridge etc...hmmmm, tough choice.

This was purchased to replace an older Brother Laser printer that had served its time well. The HL-5240 responded promptly to Win XP pro with no problem. The unit was very reasonable in price and was faster and quieter than the previous much older Brother laser printer. Good value for a single station office desk printer, or a home office general printer. Print is BW, but you can get very high resolution if necessary for certain print jobs, such as photos for documentation.For general use, the memory contained is ok, but you can purchase a chip to boost the memory, and it takes just 1 min to install in a side port.

I had my Brother HL-5240 freeze up; according to the service tech at Staples it was because of the discount toner I was using in it. [They sell discount toner themselves, by the way.] The new one arrived quickly, setup was exceptionally fast since it was the second time I'd done it, and I'm cranking copies out with great efficiency. For the price it's a tremendous value.