Conclusion: The Brother HL-2040 is a good value, with fast performance, excellent text quality, and a 250-sheet paper capacity that's appropriate for a personal printer.
Pros: Very inexpensive. Compact. Excellent text quality. Excellent performance for the price. Adequate paper handling, with a 250-sheet capacity and a manual feed.
Cons: Graphics and photo quality are both relatively low. Oddly for a laser printer, output has a tendency to curl.
Excerpt: This is a fine printer to buy if your old one dies in the middle of a critical project. The print quality is good, and it's so inexpensive that it will pay for itself...
Excerpt: Photograph: Rick Rizner The $150 (as of 2/2/06) Brother HL-2040 laser printer would fit comfortably in an office that's tight on space and on budget.