Recommended printers for use in SHASS Sections

NOTE: Please be aware that there may be newer models available.

For the administrative office environments with high volume printing

Brother HL-L8260CDW Business Color Laser Printer, Duplex Printing

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XDS1XW7?ref=emc_p_m_5_i_atc&th=1

Brother HLL8360CDWT multi-tray Business Color Laser Printer with Duplex Printing:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XDM9FG3?ref=emc_p_m_5_i_atc&th=1

 
Toshiba e-Studio 3555c Multi Function Printer (~$6000-$20,000 depending on installed options) This copier, printer, scanner, business grade multi function printer does it all.  It prints legal, letter, tabloid, double sided, from a usb drive, it does color, it does black and white, it scans to email. There are additions for stapling and collating. However, the breadth of this functionality comes at a hefty price.

Xerox Workcentre 7845 Multi Function Printer (~$8000-$21000 depending on installed options) Very similar to the Toshiba but the admin panel and web access admin software has a lot more options including firewall and file encryption.

For areas looking to rent or own high performance standing multifunction printers, we would recommend contacting MIT CopyTech to get the best information and offers available.

https://copytech.mit.edu/distributed-printer-programs

For individual users or small offices with low printing volume

Brother HL-L3270CDW Compact Wireless Digital Color Printer with NFC, Mobile Device and Duplex Printer (~$350) micro or small office, or a workgroup duplex printer.

Purchasing link: https://www.amazon.com/Brother-HLL3270CDW-Color-Wireless-Printer/dp/B07KGVTMHJ/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=brother+home+laser+printer&qid=1612190402&sr=8-4

Brother HL-L8360CDW Wireless Color Laser Printer (~$350) micro or small office, or a workgroup duplex printer. This is an older model and may be harder to find.

Review: http://www.pcmag.com/review/354052/brother-hl-l8360cdw
Purchasing link: https://www.amazon.com/Brother-HLL8360CDW-Business-Printing-Networking/dp/B06XDSMKLT?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAICE7LOAJMK3SSLPA&tag=pcm_rounduptable-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B06XDSMKLT&ascsubtag=d9c1341c-eec7-4546-9821-1cf6713a02e9
 

Brother HL-L6200DW Wireless Monochrome Laser Printer with Duplex Printing (~$180-$220) micro or small office, or a workgroup duplex printer. This is an old model that might still be available.

Purchasing link: https://www.amazon.com/Brother-Monochrome-HL-L6200DW-Networking-Replenishment/dp/B01824JTWK/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&keywords=brother+home+laser+printer&qid=1612189867&sr=8-16

Brother HL-L6210DW Business Monochrome Laser Printer with Large Paper Capacity (~$300) newer model.

Purchasing link: https://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL-L6210DW-Business-Monochrome-Networking/dp/B0CGC9HPNH/?th=1

Brother HL-L2300D Monochrome Laser Printer with Duplex Printing (~$100) Small footprint personal black and white double-sided laser printer. This small laser printer is for low print volume, single user environments only. It sacrifices performance for its small size. Price per page is significantly more per page but if the user doesn't really print that often, this is the ideal printer. For individual users, the decrease in performance compared to larger capacity laser printers is not noticeable if they are replacing any ink jet printer. No WiFi.

This printer replaces the Brother HL-2240D
Last checked on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL-L2300D-Monochrome-Printer-Printing/dp/B00NQ1CLTI/ref=psdc_172648_t3_B004A16L2Q

Brother HL-2240D  (~$200) Small footprint personal black and white double-sided laser printer. This small laser printer is for low print volume, single user environments only. It sacrifices performance for its small size. Price per page is significantly more per page but if the user doesn't really print that often, this is the ideal printer.  For individual users, the decrease in performance compared to larger capacity laser printers is not noticeable if they are replacing any ink jet printer. This model is not readily available anymore and has been replaced by the Brother HL-L2300D.
  
Experience notes: These small printers are rock solid. One of our sections bought 30 of them 3 years ago and not one of them has failed yet.
Last checked on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL2240D-Monochrome-Printer/dp/B004A16L2Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413392871&sr=8-1&keywords=brother+hl+2240d

HP Color LaserJet Pro M252dw ($180-$300) Small foot print personal color laser printer for users who consider the Phaser 3600DN too big. This small printer is for personal offices only and is also one of PC Magazine's 2015 top 10 printers.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2493671,00.asp

Last checked on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/HP-Color-LaserJet-M252dw-Printer/dp/B00S74JAHK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1447075437&sr=8-2&keywords=HP+Color+LaserJet+Pro+M252dw

Important Caveats

1. Across the board all new printers use more plastic and less metal parts. This has resulted in poorer component reliability OVERALL. We have seen plastic gear, capstan, and feeder tray failures on printers that are subjected to a lot of printing. The failure rates increase when the printers are subject to high temperature environments (>80F) without adequate air conditioning or external cooling. To appropriately manage expectations, do not expect these printers to last more than 3-4 years under a steady load in a heavy printing environment without adequate AC cooling.
2. DELL- Based on our past experience, we recommend users avoid Dell re-branded printers for the time being. Non-working and poor driver support for both Mac and Windows, non-user serviceable parts, and under-performing overall printer reliability have lead us to advise all users to steer clear of Dell branded printers.
3. LEXMARK- Lexmark has been another brand that has produced products with driver and hardware reliability issues.  We recommend staying away from Lexmark branded printers for the time being.
4. HP- from the 80s-early 2000s, HP was the standard by which all other printers were compared against. Unfortunately printers produced by HP in the late 2000s and early 2010s were manufactured with an excessive quantity of plastic parts that may have contributed to poorer overall hardware reliability. If you consider a new post 2013 HP product, be sure you read the reviews carefully to confirm for yourself that the model you're purchasing will fit with your reliability expectations.
5. Inkjet printers- We do not recommend the use of inkjet technology printers for the reason that the ink cartridges are overly expensive and the ink cartridges themselves dry up if the printer is not used for a while.
6. NONE of the WiFi capabilities listed on any commercial printer sold today will work in MIT’s Enterprise WiFi environment. The WiFi many of these printers have is built only for home WiFi environments, not Enterprise. This means that work printers at MIT rely on Ethernet networking or USB printing for direct computer to printer printing.
7. As noted above, there may be newer models of the listed recommended printers available. Please check the reviews of the new models to make sure they are still as reliable as the models listed.