Brother Monochrome Laser Printer, Compact Multifunction Printer and Copier, DCPL2550DW, Includes 4 Month Refresh Subscription Trial and Amazon Dash Replenishment Ready

Printer arrived today, and I was able to set it up and install the software without a single glitch. I'm running Windows 8.1 and using a local USB interface. The reason for the purchase is my Canon inkjet died, and I needed a business-capable laser printer. I've had three Canon inkjet printers but I used at least two Brother laser printers previous to the Canon inkjets. There is a considerable difference between this DCP-L2550DW MFC printer, and the previous Brother laser printers besides the glitch-free install. The Windows print driver is far improved with more feature control and ease of use. Brother has a separate printer utility, iPrint & Scan, that provides a print and scan UI for document and image printing and scanning, it is very easy to use, and it is a vast improvement over the Canon print/scan utility. There is a third software, Nuance PaperPort, that is an impressive document management tool and includes a fast PDF reader. The install CD gave me the option to bypass the Nuance Paperport install and install it later. If you don't have a CD player in your machine, you can download the installer from the Brother support web page. During the install, the installer utility also installed printer firmware updates without a glitch. I have printed a text document, and graphic document, and the print quality is impressive. BTW, the printer woke up from a sleep and printed those documents without a glitch. The printer is quiet and the print speed is amazing. Being brand new, I cannot speak to the long term reliability of this printer but here are a few things I learned in my research: the older version of this printer, a Brother 2540 model, is the source of the vast majority of negative reviews for this printer--whether the 2540 or 2550 model. On the first dozen pages of negative reviews, only four pertained to the 2550 model, and three of those four reviews were wireless problems. Wireless printer problems are not unique to Brother printers; they are ubiquitous. If you think about it, the wireless challenge is to make a device in deep sleep mode respond to an interrupt signal--something humans don't like to do--and the majority of the negative reviews are expressing frustration with this challenge. I have returned a Kodak printer due to wireless problems. For these reasons, I stay with tech that works: local USB. The competitor printer nearest in features to this Brother printer is the Dell E514dw, and I noticed the Dell uses the same printer chassis as the Brother 2540 model but the Dell comes with a 10,000 monthly page duty cycle, and this Brother DCP-L2550DW comes with a 15,000 monthly duty cycle. Maybe the duty cycle difference is significant, maybe not (remember: "your MPG may vary") but I went with the higher duty cycle number. I didn't think I would have any install problems for a local USB connection but Brother has a support web site that is easier to use than Dell, and Brother comes with free telephone support if you need it. Bottom line: the 2550 model--including the bundled software--is impressive so far.

We're a very light printing household - maybe 3 or 4 times a year and usually 10 or less pages. Id absolutely had my fill of having to spend $30+ every time we wanted to print as the ink had dried up, and then $50 every 2 or 3 years as the cheap printer broke. Last time we bought a higher end Canon printer and while it lasted longer, it still ate ink as quick as the cheap ones. It was also "wireless" although it was very finicky and rarely worked correctly, so I almost always plugged in to avoid the hassle.Found this reasonably priced laser and I'm absolutely in love. The wireless works 100% perfectly with no hiccups from phones or computers. Printing is fast and crisp. My favorite part is we had a 6 month gap between printing, and it ran like new, something our old ink jets would've struggled to do. I also really like the feed tray copier function as we'd have normally went to a print store to make copies like that as its too slow to make copies on the a regular flat plate scanner.

Update:So bought this in 2019, and still in use in 2025.Have had to replace the toner cartridge one in that time (went with some aftermarket unit for 1/3 the price and 2x the capacity of the original toner, works just fine).Just so nice to not have to deal with dried up ink with this thing. I may go 5-6 months without printing, but it is always ready to go. Prints are still nice and crisp, and is just easy to use.I have bought several new computers, tablets and phones, and this just shows up on the devices to print to, no setup needed (except to connect to my home network).No issues in all this time, and just does what I need. Bumping this up to a 5 star review.I see the price has gone up quite a bit, so I would not buy at current price (I got it for 1/4 of what it cost now) and would find another laser printer, but would definitely look at what Brother has in their lineup.This printer has gotten me spoiled to 2 sided printing though, and that is now a must have for me on a printer.Original Review:So my review after about 4 hours of ownership.So far so good. Un-boxing is easy, setup is also very easy.Simple setup pamphlet is included, easy to follow directions.I set mine up via ethernet. Super simple, just plugged it in to my router and turned it on. I downloaded the software from the Brother site vs using the older software on the included CD. Opened the file and setup was just a few clicks to finished.Prints from my desktop that I set it up on, from my laptop (no need to install any software) (both on Windows 10), 2 other wired desktops running Windows 7, 1 laptop running Windows 8.1, and all my iDevices.Scanning is simple and can be done on all computers (not sure if you can from an iDevice).Dual sided printing is a plus, as is scanning. Not something I really use, but nice to have if needed.Seems a lot of the setup problems are those setting up over wifi or with a Mac, so no idea on that, but on Windows via ethernet, super simple and my suggested way to do it.My use for this will be minimal. Just a few prints a month, a scan and copy here and there. I was tired of dried up ink jet cartridges, so went laser a while back, but my first one only lasted 19 months, so i hope to get a lot longer out of this one.Will update in a few months for a longer term review.