Strengthen your professional presence and uncover additional efficiencies while working from home or in smaller shared workspaces with the laser-quality printing of the HL-L3280CDW digital color printer. With a generous 250-sheet capacity paper tray and increased print speeds of up to 27 pages per minute, this high-volume printer quickly creates vivid, full-color outputs and crisp black and white documents with ease. Featuring a 2.7" touchscreen, dual-band wireless connectivity, and mobile device compatibility for ease of use and accessibility. A valuable timesaver and adept business partner, this printer is built to make a big impact on your small business. From a dedicated solo home office to a small team workspace, it fits seamlessly into your business operations.
Strengthen your professional presence and uncover additional efficiencies while working from home or in smaller shared workspaces with the laser-quality printing of the HL-L3280CDW digital color printer. With a generous 250-sheet capacity paper tray and increased print speeds of up to 27 pages per minute, this high-volume printer quickly creates vivid, full-color outputs and crisp black and white documents with ease. Featuring a 2.7" touchscreen, dual-band wireless connectivity, and mobile device compatibility for ease of use and accessibility. A valuable timesaver and adept business partner, this printer is built to make a big impact on your small business. From a dedicated solo home office to a small team workspace, it fits seamlessly into your business operations.
Strengthen your professional presence and uncover additional efficiencies while working from home or in smaller shared workspaces with the laser-quality printing of the HL-L3280CDW digital color printer. With a generous 250-sheet capacity paper tray and increased print speeds of up to 27 pages per minute, this high-volume printer quickly creates vivid, full-color outputs and crisp black and white documents with ease. Featuring a 2.7" touchscreen, dual-band wireless connectivity, and mobile device compatibility for ease of use and accessibility. A valuable timesaver and adept business partner, this printer is built to make a big impact on your small business. From a dedicated solo home office to a small team workspace, it fits seamlessly into your business operations.
Strengthen your professional presence and uncover additional efficiencies while working from home or in smaller shared workspaces with the laser-quality printing of the HL-L3280CDW digital color printer. With a generous 250-sheet capacity paper tray and increased print speeds of up to 27 pages per minute, this high-volume printer quickly creates vivid, full-color outputs and crisp black and white documents with ease. Featuring a 2.7" touchscreen, dual-band wireless connectivity, and mobile device compatibility for ease of use and accessibility. A valuable timesaver and adept business partner, this printer is built to make a big impact on your small business. From a dedicated solo home office to a small team workspace, it fits seamlessly into your business operations.
Last updated at 07/31/2026 08:14:58
Brother HL-L3280CDW Colour Laser Printer - A4 Single Function, Wireless/USB 2.0, 2 Sided Printing
Free delivery
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Brother HL-L3280CDW Colour Laser Printer
Delivery between 5–7 Aug $38.05
Brother HL-L3280CDW Colour LED Printer
Delivery $36
Brother HL-L3280CDW Colour LED Printer and Toner Bundle
Delivery $43
Brother HL-L3280CDW Wireless Colour Laser Printer
Delivery between 4–7 Aug $54.66
Brother HL-L3280CDW Colour Laser Printer - Duplex, Wireless, 26ppm
Delivery between 4–10 Aug $15.40
Brother HL-L3280cdw Colour A4 Laser - LED Printer, Wireless (WiFi) 2-sided Printing
Free delivery between 3–7 Aug
Brother Wireless Compact Digital Laser Printer HL L3280CDW - Laser Printers
Delivery $52.11
Brother HL-L3280CDW 26ppm A4 Wireless Colour Laser Printer
Delivery between Tue – Wed $12.65
Brother HL-L3280CDW Colour Laser Wireless Printer Auto-Duplex AirPrint 26ppm
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originally posted on bestbuy.com
Currently having a printer is practically indispensable when it comes to home office or if you have a small business and even more important is to optimize and economize in this area. The ideal is a balance between a printer that is durable, that executes its work effectively and fast, and preferably at the lowest possible cost, since it is a tool that in some cases can be used most of the day every day. This Brother HL-L3280 color printer manages to balance the above mentioned aspects very well.In the box comes the printer, power cord, guides and documentation. The unboxing is quite easy although I must admit that the printer is a bit heavy, however this is compensated in its performance. The ink cartridges, which in this case are 4, Black, Cyan, Magenta and ... MoreCurrently having a printer is practically indispensable when it comes to home office or if you have a small business and even more important is to optimize and economize in this area. The ideal is a balance between a printer that is durable, that executes its work effectively and fast, and preferably at the lowest possible cost, since it is a tool that in some cases can be used most of the day every day. This Brother HL-L3280 color printer manages to balance the above mentioned aspects very well.In the box comes the printer, power cord, guides and documentation. The unboxing is quite easy although I must admit that the printer is a bit heavy, however this is compensated in its performance. The ink cartridges, which in this case are 4, Black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow, come preinstalled in the printer but you have to remove some plastic and security stickers to complete the installation. Then it is necessary to install an app on the cell phone to configure the printer, the same app will indicate the steps to follow to complete this task. Once the printer is connected to the network and configured and registered in the app, you can start printing. It is also possible to connect to a computer via Ethernet or USB. On the top right side the printer theres a 2.7" LED screen from which you can access the settings and print options, it is a well-lit screen that respons very well to the touch and has very intuitive menus, it is easy to use.Regarding the performance I consider it a product that fulfills very well with the tasks and functions for which it was designed. It prints relatively fast, although what I have noticed is that when documents are sent from a mobile device either from the Brother app Mobile Connect or from Apple Print (iOS devices) it takes a little time to receive the document and start printing but once it receives the files printing is quite fast even in full color, the ink quality and color representation is very good. By default the two-sided printing function is activated which in many cases helps to save paper, although one of the things that is recommended is to activate the black and white printing as default to avoid printing color documents unnecessarily and thus activate or select the option to print in color only when it is really necessary. I have been checking the price and durability of the replacement cartridges and it seems a bit ironic but depending on what capacity we want to buy, replacing all the cartridges could be a bit more expensive than buying another new printer, for this reason opting for the Refresh Subscription seems the best alternative as it promises to save up to 50% on ink, of course this will depend on the use of the printer and the needs of each user but in the case of small businesses or for those who do home office I think it is the most convenient, plus the printer comes with a 4 month free trial which makes it even more attractive option.The paper tray has a capacity of 250 sheets and the printer can print up to 27 ppm. One feature that I consider important is that this printer can be connected via WiFi in either 2.4GHz or 5GHz band which is very useful when you have 5GHz band compatible devices connected to a single network. If you have cloud services such as Google Drive, Evernote, Dropbox, etc., you can connect to the printer to print from these services. It is also possible to print remotely via email or web, the files are sent to the printer to later enter the password given by the system to be able to print the files that were sent remotely.Something to consider si that this printer only prints, does not scan or copy, so if you need these features in your printer this is not for you. Also to consider that even though it is a relatively compact printer it is a bit heavy 34 lbs, so it is important to have a place to install it to avoid continually moving it.In conclusion I can say that this is a solid product that satisfactorily fulfills its purpose which is to print, either in black and white or color, including photographs, the print quality is very good. Being a printer that has cartridges that can last up to 3000 prints, it is a recommended product for those who work from home or have a small business. If you need a printer (that only prints) of medium capacity and that prints a lot of documents quickly, this is an alternative that I can recommend.
originally posted on officedepot.com
A few years ago we had a great Canon printer that printed photos and copied, too. When it broke down we tried the Epson Ecotank ET-2760 which produced terrible printed images from the start and deteriorated with printing basic text, too. It wouldn't allow us to enlarge or shrink an image. So we tried this Brother printer hoping, like with the Ecotank, to reduce the amount of ink cartridges we'd have to buy, and we went with reviewers' accounts of how well it printed images. While I would not call the quality of image printing photographic, I would say it is decent- not photographic. Just know (at least for me working on an iMac computer in OS 10.15.7, that you need the image to be in the form of a pdf file to use the Brother iPrint&Scan program 10.5.2 It's a bit ... MoreA few years ago we had a great Canon printer that printed photos and copied, too. When it broke down we tried the Epson Ecotank ET-2760 which produced terrible printed images from the start and deteriorated with printing basic text, too. It wouldn't allow us to enlarge or shrink an image. So we tried this Brother printer hoping, like with the Ecotank, to reduce the amount of ink cartridges we'd have to buy, and we went with reviewers' accounts of how well it printed images. While I would not call the quality of image printing photographic, I would say it is decent- not photographic. Just know (at least for me working on an iMac computer in OS 10.15.7, that you need the image to be in the form of a pdf file to use the Brother iPrint&Scan program 10.5.2 It's a bit cumbersome- the image must be print-ready- you cannot alter the image (increase/ decrease its size, or its position on the paper, print multiple images per page). You cannot copy an already printed image. The Brother printer will print images from my iPhone. So if you want to copy an image, for instance, you'd have to take a picture of it on your iPhone first and then print it. Additional steps like that might make you want to turn around and buy a different printer that has more functions. The less options for printing and copying (for example low quality fast vs high quality, slower) these manufacturers offer to us consumers, the fewer functionalities we get from these products. It's a trend we consumers need to protest for these companies to end. There is no reason we cannot get for a decent price technology that addresses all of our needs and is ecologically mindful to boot.
originally posted on bestbuy.com
The Brother HL-L3280CDW Wireless Compact Digital Color Printer has Laser Quality Output. I’m unsure what the difference between Laser and Laser like is, but regardless this printer provides good color printing. I would not regularly print photographs on plain paper and expect exceptional results, if I wanted better results in printing photographs I would use better stock paper including something that has a more glossy finish. For everyday business printing this printer does a very good job. The printer is larger and heavier than I expected and has enough room to have an integrated 2.7-inch touch screen to configure settings (including networking parameters). One issue I had was entering my Wi-Fi password for the wireless access feature, it was a bit cumbersome ... MoreThe Brother HL-L3280CDW Wireless Compact Digital Color Printer has Laser Quality Output. I’m unsure what the difference between Laser and Laser like is, but regardless this printer provides good color printing. I would not regularly print photographs on plain paper and expect exceptional results, if I wanted better results in printing photographs I would use better stock paper including something that has a more glossy finish. For everyday business printing this printer does a very good job. The printer is larger and heavier than I expected and has enough room to have an integrated 2.7-inch touch screen to configure settings (including networking parameters). One issue I had was entering my Wi-Fi password for the wireless access feature, it was a bit cumbersome trying to use a finger, so I had to use a stylus from another device and type the characters in a very deliberate fashion. AirPrint is built into this printer so printing from an iOS device is seamless and easy. I downloaded the Brother Mobile Connect app and was able to print photos, although the upload of the photos to the printer took a while (sixty to ninety seconds). Duplex printing is also a feature that is highly desirable at this price point. In addition, the small color screen provides the ability to print from cloud-based apps like Google Drive, EverNote and Dropbox. I like the idea of four separate toner cartridges as opposed to the old color ink jet technology that often clogs due to non use. Having color printing on demand without having to unclog ink nozzles or wasting a bunch of ink to clean them could be considered the best feature with this type of printer. Longer term I will likely utilize Brother’s subscription service for consumables. >> Pros: printer is a good value > does a great job printing color pages for business or home use > Duplex printing > varied ways to connect to your network (gigabit Ethernet port or Wi-Fi) > small color touchscreen panel << Cons: photo printing is not a strong point < some of the plastic parts seem a bit delicate.
| General | |
| Printer Type | Workgroup printer - LED - color |
| Bundled Services | Refresh EZ Print Subscription service |
| Printer | |
| Print Speed | Up to 27 ppm - B/W ¦ Up to 27 ppm - color |
Brother HL-L3280CDW Colour Laser Printer - A4 Single Function, Wireless/USB 2.0, 2 Sided Printing
Free delivery
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a small commission for purchases made through this link at no extra cost to you. This helps support our site. Thank you!
Brother HL-L3280CDW Colour Laser Printer
Delivery between 5–7 Aug $38.05
Brother HL-L3280CDW Colour LED Printer
Delivery $36
Brother HL-L3280CDW Colour LED Printer and Toner Bundle
Delivery $43
Brother HL-L3280CDW Wireless Colour Laser Printer
Delivery between 4–7 Aug $54.66
Currently having a printer is practically indispensable when it comes to home office or if you have a small business and even more important is to optimize and economize in this area. The ideal is a balance between a printer that is durable, that executes its work effectively and fast, and preferably at the lowest possible cost, since it is a tool that in some cases can be used most of the day every day. This Brother HL-L3280 color printer manages to balance the above mentioned aspects very well.In the box comes the printer, power cord, guides and documentation. The unboxing is quite easy although I must admit that the printer is a bit heavy, however this is compensated in its performance. The ink cartridges, which in this case are 4, Black, Cyan, Magenta and ... MoreCurrently having a printer is practically indispensable when it comes to home office or if you have a small business and even more important is to optimize and economize in this area. The ideal is a balance between a printer that is durable, that executes its work effectively and fast, and preferably at the lowest possible cost, since it is a tool that in some cases can be used most of the day every day. This Brother HL-L3280 color printer manages to balance the above mentioned aspects very well.In the box comes the printer, power cord, guides and documentation. The unboxing is quite easy although I must admit that the printer is a bit heavy, however this is compensated in its performance. The ink cartridges, which in this case are 4, Black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow, come preinstalled in the printer but you have to remove some plastic and security stickers to complete the installation. Then it is necessary to install an app on the cell phone to configure the printer, the same app will indicate the steps to follow to complete this task. Once the printer is connected to the network and configured and registered in the app, you can start printing. It is also possible to connect to a computer via Ethernet or USB. On the top right side the printer theres a 2.7" LED screen from which you can access the settings and print options, it is a well-lit screen that respons very well to the touch and has very intuitive menus, it is easy to use.Regarding the performance I consider it a product that fulfills very well with the tasks and functions for which it was designed. It prints relatively fast, although what I have noticed is that when documents are sent from a mobile device either from the Brother app Mobile Connect or from Apple Print (iOS devices) it takes a little time to receive the document and start printing but once it receives the files printing is quite fast even in full color, the ink quality and color representation is very good. By default the two-sided printing function is activated which in many cases helps to save paper, although one of the things that is recommended is to activate the black and white printing as default to avoid printing color documents unnecessarily and thus activate or select the option to print in color only when it is really necessary. I have been checking the price and durability of the replacement cartridges and it seems a bit ironic but depending on what capacity we want to buy, replacing all the cartridges could be a bit more expensive than buying another new printer, for this reason opting for the Refresh Subscription seems the best alternative as it promises to save up to 50% on ink, of course this will depend on the use of the printer and the needs of each user but in the case of small businesses or for those who do home office I think it is the most convenient, plus the printer comes with a 4 month free trial which makes it even more attractive option.The paper tray has a capacity of 250 sheets and the printer can print up to 27 ppm. One feature that I consider important is that this printer can be connected via WiFi in either 2.4GHz or 5GHz band which is very useful when you have 5GHz band compatible devices connected to a single network. If you have cloud services such as Google Drive, Evernote, Dropbox, etc., you can connect to the printer to print from these services. It is also possible to print remotely via email or web, the files are sent to the printer to later enter the password given by the system to be able to print the files that were sent remotely.Something to consider si that this printer only prints, does not scan or copy, so if you need these features in your printer this is not for you. Also to consider that even though it is a relatively compact printer it is a bit heavy 34 lbs, so it is important to have a place to install it to avoid continually moving it.In conclusion I can say that this is a solid product that satisfactorily fulfills its purpose which is to print, either in black and white or color, including photographs, the print quality is very good. Being a printer that has cartridges that can last up to 3000 prints, it is a recommended product for those who work from home or have a small business. If you need a printer (that only prints) of medium capacity and that prints a lot of documents quickly, this is an alternative that I can recommend.
A few years ago we had a great Canon printer that printed photos and copied, too. When it broke down we tried the Epson Ecotank ET-2760 which produced terrible printed images from the start and deteriorated with printing basic text, too. It wouldn't allow us to enlarge or shrink an image. So we tried this Brother printer hoping, like with the Ecotank, to reduce the amount of ink cartridges we'd have to buy, and we went with reviewers' accounts of how well it printed images. While I would not call the quality of image printing photographic, I would say it is decent- not photographic. Just know (at least for me working on an iMac computer in OS 10.15.7, that you need the image to be in the form of a pdf file to use the Brother iPrint&Scan program 10.5.2 It's a bit ... MoreA few years ago we had a great Canon printer that printed photos and copied, too. When it broke down we tried the Epson Ecotank ET-2760 which produced terrible printed images from the start and deteriorated with printing basic text, too. It wouldn't allow us to enlarge or shrink an image. So we tried this Brother printer hoping, like with the Ecotank, to reduce the amount of ink cartridges we'd have to buy, and we went with reviewers' accounts of how well it printed images. While I would not call the quality of image printing photographic, I would say it is decent- not photographic. Just know (at least for me working on an iMac computer in OS 10.15.7, that you need the image to be in the form of a pdf file to use the Brother iPrint&Scan program 10.5.2 It's a bit cumbersome- the image must be print-ready- you cannot alter the image (increase/ decrease its size, or its position on the paper, print multiple images per page). You cannot copy an already printed image. The Brother printer will print images from my iPhone. So if you want to copy an image, for instance, you'd have to take a picture of it on your iPhone first and then print it. Additional steps like that might make you want to turn around and buy a different printer that has more functions. The less options for printing and copying (for example low quality fast vs high quality, slower) these manufacturers offer to us consumers, the fewer functionalities we get from these products. It's a trend we consumers need to protest for these companies to end. There is no reason we cannot get for a decent price technology that addresses all of our needs and is ecologically mindful to boot.
The Brother HL-L3280CDW Wireless Compact Digital Color Printer has Laser Quality Output. I’m unsure what the difference between Laser and Laser like is, but regardless this printer provides good color printing. I would not regularly print photographs on plain paper and expect exceptional results, if I wanted better results in printing photographs I would use better stock paper including something that has a more glossy finish. For everyday business printing this printer does a very good job. The printer is larger and heavier than I expected and has enough room to have an integrated 2.7-inch touch screen to configure settings (including networking parameters). One issue I had was entering my Wi-Fi password for the wireless access feature, it was a bit cumbersome ... MoreThe Brother HL-L3280CDW Wireless Compact Digital Color Printer has Laser Quality Output. I’m unsure what the difference between Laser and Laser like is, but regardless this printer provides good color printing. I would not regularly print photographs on plain paper and expect exceptional results, if I wanted better results in printing photographs I would use better stock paper including something that has a more glossy finish. For everyday business printing this printer does a very good job. The printer is larger and heavier than I expected and has enough room to have an integrated 2.7-inch touch screen to configure settings (including networking parameters). One issue I had was entering my Wi-Fi password for the wireless access feature, it was a bit cumbersome trying to use a finger, so I had to use a stylus from another device and type the characters in a very deliberate fashion. AirPrint is built into this printer so printing from an iOS device is seamless and easy. I downloaded the Brother Mobile Connect app and was able to print photos, although the upload of the photos to the printer took a while (sixty to ninety seconds). Duplex printing is also a feature that is highly desirable at this price point. In addition, the small color screen provides the ability to print from cloud-based apps like Google Drive, EverNote and Dropbox. I like the idea of four separate toner cartridges as opposed to the old color ink jet technology that often clogs due to non use. Having color printing on demand without having to unclog ink nozzles or wasting a bunch of ink to clean them could be considered the best feature with this type of printer. Longer term I will likely utilize Brother’s subscription service for consumables. >> Pros: printer is a good value > does a great job printing color pages for business or home use > Duplex printing > varied ways to connect to your network (gigabit Ethernet port or Wi-Fi) > small color touchscreen panel << Cons: photo printing is not a strong point < some of the plastic parts seem a bit delicate.
I am using this printer in a home office to replace an aging competitor's (not Brother) color laser printer.Thus far, I am pleasantly surprised with the printer. The form factor is about as compact as a color laser printer can be and, while I really do not move the printer around very much, it is actually a little lighter than my previous printer. Printing speed is good. The print quality is exactly what I would expect from a laser printer. Standby mode is great in that the display turns off and the printer is quiet to the extent that it may as well as be unplugged. Yet, when I send a print job to the printer, it wakes right up, warms up, and does its thing relatively quickly. (This is in contrast to my previous printer that sometimes would simply fall off the ... MoreI am using this printer in a home office to replace an aging competitor's (not Brother) color laser printer.Thus far, I am pleasantly surprised with the printer. The form factor is about as compact as a color laser printer can be and, while I really do not move the printer around very much, it is actually a little lighter than my previous printer. Printing speed is good. The print quality is exactly what I would expect from a laser printer. Standby mode is great in that the display turns off and the printer is quiet to the extent that it may as well as be unplugged. Yet, when I send a print job to the printer, it wakes right up, warms up, and does its thing relatively quickly. (This is in contrast to my previous printer that sometimes would simply fall off the face of the earth, so to speak, and would not wake from sleep mode when a job was sent over.) The ability to print duplex was also a "must have" for me, so another one in the "plus" column for this printer.The printer is internet accessible and will actually check automatically for firmware updates, if you turn on that setting through its control panel (which I think is a rather nice feature). It is also possible to print from a remote location (using the Brother Mobile Connect application). The printer can connect wireless to a network or via ethernet (I use the hardwired ethernet option, personally).I like the color touchscreen display. One challenge I have experienced is that, given the smaller size of the screen, the on-screen keyboard can be difficult to "type" on with my average adult male fingers. It also lacks the feel of a smartphone or tablet... It feels like plastic and is "soft" to the touch (if that makes sense). Not necessarily a fan of how it feels, but it works and I do not have to access it often, so I suppose it is not a big deal.Brother also has their "refresh" EZ Print Subscription service for this printer. While I am not sure how I feel about being charged to use my own printer, that monthly charge covers replacement toner and, given how expensive toner was with my last printer, I am thinking it may not be a bad deal... (There is a free four month trial when setting up a new printer, so I am giving it a shot. Unfortunately, I do not have anything to report on at this time because I am only a few days into it.) The printer does ship with toner cartridges, but they are "low yield" cartridges, so I am guessing they will need to be replaced sooner rather than later with average printing volumes.Ultimately, there is a lot to like about this printer and, while I would probably give it 4.5 stars (if allowed to do half-stars), the positives I noted outweigh the negatives to the point where I am very comfortable rounding up to a 5 star rating (at least at this point having only used the printer for a few days).
I've owned a brother all-in-one for the last 6 or so years and being in the market to upgrade I was wanting to keep Brother in mind due to the experience I've had with my previous one. The Brother HL-L3280CDW is exactly what I hoped for, a full featured, fast, high quality color laser with wireless capabilties.Packaging is much as you'd expect from any printer these days, comes in a standard box, packed in foam with necessary documentation and a power cable. The printer itself is fairly compact when compared to many other color lasers of similar capability, just as all Brother lasers tend to be. This one uses the new L229 cartridges which is the next iteration up from their previous line which has had a long and noteworthy existence in their previous generation of ... MoreI've owned a brother all-in-one for the last 6 or so years and being in the market to upgrade I was wanting to keep Brother in mind due to the experience I've had with my previous one. The Brother HL-L3280CDW is exactly what I hoped for, a full featured, fast, high quality color laser with wireless capabilties.Packaging is much as you'd expect from any printer these days, comes in a standard box, packed in foam with necessary documentation and a power cable. The printer itself is fairly compact when compared to many other color lasers of similar capability, just as all Brother lasers tend to be. This one uses the new L229 cartridges which is the next iteration up from their previous line which has had a long and noteworthy existence in their previous generation of laser printers, so there's a good chance this toner line will be used in multiple of their lasers as well.Connecting it to my wireless network and having it found by my PC was nearly a no brainer. Navigate the menus on the screen, attach to the network and search for the printer in Windows. I downloaded the Brother printer drivers and software, but the default printing capabilities of Windows 11 was able to function with it without having to install additional drivers if you didn't desire to do so.Printing is fast and high quality, as the title suggests, I'd say it's a fair amount faster than my previous Brother color laser, so it's good to see. Warm up time seems to be a touch faster as well.All in all, while this may just be a printer and not an all-in-one, if you're in the market for a wireless color laser with good quality prints, this really would be the workhorse quality device you're looking for. I heartily recommend it.
I've purchased a few different printers in the past, but I have always ended up with my dependable Brother printer from 2007. I know it's going to work flawlessly, where other printers have assorted jams and connectivity issues. I recently decided to upgrade for my home office as I have had many large reports to print for meetings as well as kids who needed a printer for school projects.While I didn't "need" an upgrade, I'm really glad that I did. The Brother HL-L3280CDW Printer is a work horse -- it has a lot of great features but not only does it work, it's FAST. I didn't consider how much time I was waiting for my printouts until I received my upgraded Brother printer -- I have 20+ page reports that are complete within a minute. Additionally, while reviewing my ... MoreI've purchased a few different printers in the past, but I have always ended up with my dependable Brother printer from 2007. I know it's going to work flawlessly, where other printers have assorted jams and connectivity issues. I recently decided to upgrade for my home office as I have had many large reports to print for meetings as well as kids who needed a printer for school projects.While I didn't "need" an upgrade, I'm really glad that I did. The Brother HL-L3280CDW Printer is a work horse -- it has a lot of great features but not only does it work, it's FAST. I didn't consider how much time I was waiting for my printouts until I received my upgraded Brother printer -- I have 20+ page reports that are complete within a minute. Additionally, while reviewing my reports, I like to print 4 pages onto one sheet to make my review easier. The print quality with this much smaller font size is perfect. These are my favorite aspects of this printer -- and while it has many other great features (touch screen menu, print from phone, large print tray, toner delivery service), I'll focus on these specific items that make it the best printer I've used (home or office) in many years.1. It just works -- I entered the wifi code on the touch screen. On my laptop, I said "Find Printer" - done. Easy. Zero complications.2. It has dual-band wi-fi connectivity. My old printer was one of the few items that used the lower band of my router -- it's just nice to have full security and as many items as possible on the 5Ghz band.3. Print quality is perfect. I have even printed 6 pages to a sheet and each number comes out perfect (small but perfect). This helps to keep my toner costs down immensely. I can even dial down the print quality or print only Black and White to further conserve toner.4. Speed --- it prints nearly 30 pages per minute -- exceptionally fast.5. Duplex printing helps for meetings.6. Size -- this printer takes up about 1 cubic foot of space -- it's nearly identical to my old 15 year old printer -- this is a huge benefit over many printers which are too big/bulky for my office.The HL-L3280CDW Brother Printer is a sleek looking, compact printer that goes head to head with much larger and louder printers -- and best of all, works every time.
The HL-L3280CDW Wireless Color Laser printer is a good printer for small business needs. It’s most likely recommended for small business due to the size and number each cartridge can print before it needs to be replaced. The printer has a somewhat of a small footprint compared to large laser printers. Don’t let the small footprint fool you, because it’s a fairly heavy printer. Unpacking the printer and installing the toner cartridges was fairly easy. I ran into issues during the setup process. It has a QR code sticker on the printer directing you to download the Brother Mobile Connect app on my iPad. After downloading and installing the app, I had issues getting the app to connect to the printer. First the instructions said I should press and hold the WiFi button. ... MoreThe HL-L3280CDW Wireless Color Laser printer is a good printer for small business needs. It’s most likely recommended for small business due to the size and number each cartridge can print before it needs to be replaced. The printer has a somewhat of a small footprint compared to large laser printers. Don’t let the small footprint fool you, because it’s a fairly heavy printer. Unpacking the printer and installing the toner cartridges was fairly easy. I ran into issues during the setup process. It has a QR code sticker on the printer directing you to download the Brother Mobile Connect app on my iPad. After downloading and installing the app, I had issues getting the app to connect to the printer. First the instructions said I should press and hold the WiFi button. This printer does not have a manual WiFi button. The WiFi settings are accessible through the printer’s touchscreen interface so I’m not sure why they have incorrect instructions for this printer via their app. I then went through the user menu on the printer’s LCD screen and connected the printer to my WiFi network. The printer was then connected to my WiFi network. The Brother Mobile Connect app said it could now search for the printer if it’s connected to my WiFi network. After trying for several minutes, the app was never able to find the printer. While going into the settings on the printer, I noticed there was a firmware update. After the update the app still was not able to find the printer. I then saw there was another firmware update. After the second firmware update install, the Brother Mobile Connect app was finally able to locate my printer. I was then able to proceed and setup the mobile print feature. Being able to print documents from my mobile device to the printer remotely is a nice feature. It’s a feature I don’t use too often, because it’s easier for me to email the documents back to the office for them to print, or upload them to a cloud account for them to download. However, it’s convenient for those times when you need to print something to the office without having to email the documents. I was unable to find a driver on the Brother website for my Mac. I was able to go into the Mac settings and add the printer via Bonjour, which was easy and painless. The pages that are printed from this printer are of good quality and the printer is also capable of duplex printing. Overall, I’m happy with the size and quality of this printer.
I love color laser printers and was thrilled to get the chance to review the Brother HL-L3280CDW. I've had the chance to use a ton of printers over the last few years both in my work and personal life where I am the personal IT guy for my elementary educator spouse. For the last year or so our primary printers have been the "tank" variety, but I've used everything from "dumb" ink jet and laser printers to subscription based printers. The Brother HL-L3280CDW seems like kind of an in-between of a traditional non-tank printer and a subscription model. Brother offers the "Refresh" subscription for this model which allows you to pay for a monthly allotment of pages, or you can just buy the toner cartridges. More on that in a second, I want to talk about the high points ... MoreI love color laser printers and was thrilled to get the chance to review the Brother HL-L3280CDW. I've had the chance to use a ton of printers over the last few years both in my work and personal life where I am the personal IT guy for my elementary educator spouse. For the last year or so our primary printers have been the "tank" variety, but I've used everything from "dumb" ink jet and laser printers to subscription based printers. The Brother HL-L3280CDW seems like kind of an in-between of a traditional non-tank printer and a subscription model. Brother offers the "Refresh" subscription for this model which allows you to pay for a monthly allotment of pages, or you can just buy the toner cartridges. More on that in a second, I want to talk about the high points with this printer first.First, and I've said this before about Brother products - unboxing and physically setting this printer up were super easy thanks to smart packaging design. Kudos to the Brother packaging team for the well thought out bag with reinforced handles which let you easily take the printer out of the box. Also kind of shocking to me is that this printer could be configured incredibly easily without having to use an app or computer. I just plugged it in and was able to use the touch screen on the printer to add my wifi network. The touch screen was remarkably good for something that's an afterthought on many printers. Print quality and speed were phenomenal for what is really a low-cost device. I was able to easily add the device to my Android phone and a Windows computer and print within 60 seconds on either device. Kudos again to Brother for not badgering me to install a Windows app to use the printer.On the value proposition though, this printer is a tough call. In the era of "tank" style printers, the HL-L3280CDW is kind of a dinosaur since it uses traditional toner cartridges (4 in total, black plus 3 colors). The cost of replacement cartridges is incredibly high compared to an ink/toner kit for a tank style printer. The Refresh service could be a decent value if you have a constant, predictable usage pattern, but in my experience the risks of such a service make it hard to recommend subscription services. You pay way too high a price for overages with these services, to the point that any realized value of the service evaporates pretty quickly. Right now a standard yield 4 pack costs around $247 from Best Buy, and that prints 1500 pages in black and 1200 in each color. The top monthly option is 500 pages per month and costs $35. That does save you some money if you constantly print just under 500 pages per month in black, but the overage charge of $2 for 30 pages. That's 2 bucks whether you print one extra page or 30. It's just not consumer friendly when they could just as easily charge overages on a per-page basis since they clearly track usage on a per-page basis. The overage fee is even worse if you choose one of the lower page plans as you only get 10 or 20 pages per overage block on the 75 and 200 page plans. I just don't like it.So, if you have a real need for a color laser printer from a speed and quality perspective, this Brother printer is a great choice in terms of up front cost and easy setup. It becomes a less great deal compared to "tank" style printers unless you fit the right usage patterns to get your money's worth on the Refresh subscription. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for great deals on the toner cartridges, myself.
Good value especially compared to print shop pricing. Color print quality professional looking and looked good with 28 lb paper. Black print quality wavered, bold and strong at start but shabby and a bit faded toward the end (especially for envelopes) of toner cartridge, however, I think this is due to included starter toner cartridge. Once replaced, brand new (not included) Brother toner cartridge looked much sharper and hasn't showed issues yet. Read reviews about black print markings along the paper and did encounter this from time to time. I will say this occurred more the one time I accidentally left inner machine envelope size paper latches in down position by mistake.Envelope printing is the significant issue with this printer. Product notes manual feed ... MoreGood value especially compared to print shop pricing. Color print quality professional looking and looked good with 28 lb paper. Black print quality wavered, bold and strong at start but shabby and a bit faded toward the end (especially for envelopes) of toner cartridge, however, I think this is due to included starter toner cartridge. Once replaced, brand new (not included) Brother toner cartridge looked much sharper and hasn't showed issues yet. Read reviews about black print markings along the paper and did encounter this from time to time. I will say this occurred more the one time I accidentally left inner machine envelope size paper latches in down position by mistake.Envelope printing is the significant issue with this printer. Product notes manual feed required, so you have to insert one by one, but the plastic manual feed tray sizer guide is flimsy and doesn't lock tightly in place. Further, when sucking in an envelope it often does so at a slight angle resulting in slightly angled envelope front text; text is still readable but if you're looking for professional style this can be an issue. I found eyeballing feed slot and aligning with only one side of the size guide somewhat corrected this.Another big envelope issue, it constantly has trouble detecting envelopes from manual feed. Even when envelope is gently pressed to limit of feed tray slot it can take 2-4 attempts for intake. Most annoying thing is that when it doesn't intake an envelope it cycles into a roughly 3 sec system check making you wait before you can attempt to feed the envelope again. This was frustrating and I almost considered returning (...price and print quality saved it). It did eventually work for but this was annoying and wastes so much time, especially if you're looking to print a lot of envelopes.Printer did lock out black printing when color toners were empty despite new black toner being full. Documentation says this is to avoid damage to print drum, but Brother should at least give users the option to not print and perhaps a warning it could cause damage. Looked online and found if you go into printer settings on your PC and set it to black only to work around this problem.Marked as 3 stars but it should get a 3.5 star.
I must admit up front here that I am a huge fan of Brother printers. I've owed two of their black and white laser printers, and the only reason I bought a second one was to get wireless connectivity. The original Brother Laser printer I bought is now over 20 years old and still works great!When I saw this Brother HL-L3280CDW available, I knew it had to be my first color laser printer, and I am not disappointed. The fit and finish on this printer is exactly as good as I've come to expect from Brother, and so is the speed and quality of printing.I am impressed by how well this prints, and I've tried both photos and pdf reports. Both come out looking crisp and professional at the 2400 x 600 dpi resolution. I'm even more impressed in the 2-sided printing, ease of ... MoreI must admit up front here that I am a huge fan of Brother printers. I've owed two of their black and white laser printers, and the only reason I bought a second one was to get wireless connectivity. The original Brother Laser printer I bought is now over 20 years old and still works great!When I saw this Brother HL-L3280CDW available, I knew it had to be my first color laser printer, and I am not disappointed. The fit and finish on this printer is exactly as good as I've come to expect from Brother, and so is the speed and quality of printing.I am impressed by how well this prints, and I've tried both photos and pdf reports. Both come out looking crisp and professional at the 2400 x 600 dpi resolution. I'm even more impressed in the 2-sided printing, ease of setup, and ease of adding this printer to Windows computers on the network. There are both wi-fi and gigabit ethernet connections to be had.Particular advantages of this printer include a 4-month trial subscription to Brother's Refresh EZ Print service, which sends out new toner cartridges when it sees that you're getting low. I am typically no fan of ink/toner refill subscriptions, but Brother does not make its program mandatory to use the printer. You can cancel and re-buy toner whenever you need it, just like in "the old days."And before I decide whether to do that, this 4-month trial will give me ample time to evaluate the HL-L3280CDW's ability to handle my needs. After the trial, a plan costs between $9.99 and $34.99 per month for 75-500 pages, and additional pages are automatically charged at an affordable rate.The only thing I'm not in love with when it comes to this printer is the name of the App. Yes, I said "name," haha. Using the app is fine, but you have to remember that it has neither "Brother" nor "Print" in its title when searching for it in your app drawer. Instead, it's just called "Mobile Connect." Come on and change the name, Brother!Other than that tiny gripe, I am impressed with the HL-L3280CDW, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a capable wireless color laser printer for their home or small office!
| General | |
| Printer Type | Workgroup printer - LED - color |
| Bundled Services | Refresh EZ Print Subscription service |
| Printer | |
| Print Speed | Up to 27 ppm - B/W ¦ Up to 27 ppm - color |
