Brother HL-L3290CDW All In One: In-Depth Review and User Opinions

The Brother HL-L3290CDW is an all-in-one monochrome laser printer aimed at small offices and workgroups. This space-saving device combines printing, copying, scanning and faxing into a single compact unit.

Key features of the HL-L3290CDW include:

• Print speed up to 24 pages per minute
• Automatic 2-sided printing
• Built-in wireless and Ethernet connectivity
• 150-sheet capacity paper tray
• 20-sheet capacity multi-purpose tray
• Automatic document feeder for copying and scanning
• Flatbed scanner for scanning books and other media
• 2.7" color touchscreen display

With its small footprint, the HL-L3290CDW delivers essential office capabilities like duplex printing, mobile device connectivity, cloud services and more. Its monochrome output keeps operating costs low while still producing professional-quality documents. Overall, it's a solid all-in-one printer suitable for small workgroups that need to print, copy, scan and fax without taking up excessive space.

Print Quality

The Brother HL-L3290CDW delivers professional-looking prints with excellent detail thanks to its high 2400 x 600 dpi print resolution. It can print up to 32 pages per minute, allowing you to quickly churn through large print jobs.

The printer uses specially formulated, high-yield replacement toner cartridges that provide up to 3,000 pages of prints per cartridge. This helps lower your long-term printing costs compared to models that use standard yield cartridges. The toner formulation also allows pages to resist water, fading, and smudging. Blacks and colors look bold and vibrant.

Text is sharp and easy to read even at small font sizes thanks to the printer's dense and consistent toner coverage. Fine details and images also retain clarity and avoid the graininess you may see from other laser printers. Overall, the print quality rivals what you would expect from more expensive laser printers while keeping costs affordable.

Connectivity

The Brother HL-L3290CDW all-in-one laser printer offers excellent connectivity options for both wired and wireless networks.

For wired connectivity, it has an Ethernet port that allows you to connect the printer directly to your router or network switch using an Ethernet cable. This provides a fast and reliable hardwired network connection.

On the wireless side, the HL-L3290CDW supports Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n standards and can connect to 2.4GHz networks. It is fairly easy to set up the wireless connection using the printer's control panel menu or the Brother printer assistant software. You can connect to your wireless network by entering your network name and password.

Additionally, the printer supports wireless direct printing, allowing you to connect your smartphone, tablet or laptop directly to the printer without a router. This is convenient for printing from mobile devices.

With its wired and wireless capabilities, the HL-L3290CDW integrates well into both home office and business networks. The connectivity options provide flexibility for diverse office setups and allow multiple users to easily access the printer.

Print Volume

The Brother HL-L3290CDW laser printer is rated for up to 2,500 pages of recommended monthly print volume. This means you can expect reliable performance printing up to 2,500 pages per month without putting excessive wear on the printer.

The print engine in this model is designed for light to moderate home office or small business use. While you could theoretically print more than the recommended volume, doing so regularly may lead to more frequent maintenance or part replacement needs.

If your print volume exceeds 2,500 pages per month, you may want to consider a printer with a higher duty cycle rating. However, for many home office users or small workgroups that don't need to churn out thousands of pages per week, the print volume on the HL-L3290CDW will be sufficient. Its maximum monthly duty cycle is up to 30,000 pages, but staying within the recommended 2,500 pages per month will ensure optimal printer lifespan.

Paper Handling

The Brother HL-L3290CDW has robust paper handling capabilities. It comes with a 250-sheet paper tray that can hold letter or legal sized paper. An additional tray can be purchased separately to expand the paper capacity to 500 sheets.

The main paper tray supports plain paper in sizes ranging from letter, legal, executive, A4, A5, A6, and envelopes. Having the ability to print on envelopes directly from the paper tray is a handy feature for this printer. Both the main tray and multi-purpose tray allow for printing on special paper types like cardstock, glossy photo paper, recycled paper, and labels.

The 50-sheet multi-purpose tray provides flexibility for printing on various paper types and sizes without having to swap out the paper in the main tray. This is useful for quickly printing a page or two on a different paper. The printer supports manual duplex printing for printing double-sided on paper types that are not compatible with the automatic duplexer.

Overall, the paper handling of the HL-L3290CDW is very versatile. The dual trays, broad media support, and manual duplexing allow users to tackle a wide range of print jobs without having to manually feed each page. The generous paper capacity reduces the need to frequently refill the trays.

Copy and Scan Features

The Brother HL-L3290CDW offers robust copy and scan capabilities for both basic office needs and more advanced document digitization workflows.

For copying, it can produce up to 23 copies per minute with resolutions up to 1200 x 1200 dpi. The printer includes options for collating multiple copies and adjusting the contrast. You can also scale or enlarge copies from 25% to 400%. These features enable most office copying jobs with good quality and speed.

The scanner can digitize documents at up to 19 images per minute at resolutions up to 1200 x 1200 dpi. It has a 50-sheet automatic document feeder for unattended batch scanning. You can scan to image, file, email, OCR file, network folder, FTP, web services, and more. It supports common file formats like JPEG, TIFF, PDF, encrypted PDF, XPS, and searchable PDF.

Additional scan features include 2-sided scanning, scan preview, auto deskew, background removal, ID scan, and more. These allow digitizing various original types, cleaning up documents, and enhancing quality. The scan functionality turns the printer into a versatile document management station.

Overall, the copying and scanning of the Brother HL-L3290CDW give small offices and workgroups versatile tools for digitizing, sharing, and archiving documents. The speed, quality, and connectivity make it easy to integrate paper workflows into digital processes.

Security Features

The Brother HL-L3290CDW offers robust security protocols and encryption to help protect sensitive documents and information. It supports secure protocols like IPsec, SNMPv3, and SSL/TLS to encrypt communication over networks.

For accessing the printer, it provides secure login with LDAP authentication. Admins can set permissions and restrict access to features for individual users. Any jobs sent to the printer are secured till a user logs in at the device to release them.

To prevent unauthorized access, sensitive print jobs can be protected by a 4-digit PIN which users enter directly on the printer's control panel. The documents are encrypted before being sent over the network and can only be decrypted and printed after entering the right PIN.

The printer also supports features like secure print, locked print, and other access controls. Secure print requires users to be physically present to retrieve print jobs, while locked print saves all jobs until the user is ready to print them.

Overall, the HL-L3290CDW provides the encryption, authentication, and access controls required for an office or workgroup to print safely over the network.

User Convenience

The HL-L3290CDW is designed with several user-friendly features for convenience.

LCD Screen

It has a 2.7" color touchscreen LCD that allows you to easily navigate menus and settings. The screen is bright and easy to read. You can preview documents before printing directly from the screen.

Mobile Printing Options

Connecting your mobile devices is easy with the Brother HL-L3290CDW. It supports wireless printing from your smartphone, tablet, or laptop. You can print from iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac devices. It also supports popular printing standards like AirPrint, Mopria, and Google Cloud Print.

Quiet Mode

Engage quiet mode to reduce noise during printing for shared office environments. It runs at a reduced speed to lower noise levels without sacrificing too much productivity. The printer itself operates quietly at just 50 decibels while printing.

Pros

• Fast printing speeds: The Brother HL-L3290CDW can print up to 25 pages per minute for black and white and 24 pages per minute for color. This makes it one of the fastest printers in its class.

• Low cost of operation: With high-yield replacement toner cartridges, this printer can print over 6,000 pages in black and over 5,000 pages in color before needing new toner. This keeps the long-term operating costs low.

• Automatic 2-sided printing: The automatic duplex printing feature allows you to easily print on both sides of the paper without having to manually flip pages. This saves on paper costs.

Cons

• The Brother HL-L3290CDW has relatively high running costs compared to laser printers with larger toner cartridges. Replacement high-yield toner cartridges can be expensive.

• It has a smaller paper capacity (250 sheets) than some competing models, which can hold 500 sheets or more. You may need to refill the paper tray more frequently for high volume printing.

• The print speed of 19 pages per minute is quite slow compared to other options. If you frequently print large jobs or need to print in volume, a faster model would be better suited.