Brother MFC-L2900DW Cost to Run and Its Place in Brother's Laser Lineup
The Brother MFC-L2900DW is a mono laser all-in-one — print, copy, scan and fax — with Wi-Fi, a touchscreen and automatic duplex, running at 36 ppm. It sells for $300 and costs $4.33 per 100 pages in black. That rate comes from the TN830XL cartridge, $98 for 3,000 pages, with drum wear from the $158, 15,000-page drum baked in.
Brother's own lineup ties much of this printer's black running cost: the MFC-L2900DW ties for 7th of 23 mono laser printers on cost per page, a rate seven others match, three of them Brother's own — the HL-L2400D ($120), HL-L2405W ($120) and HL-L2460DW ($160), all at $4.33 per 100 pages. What separates them is function, not ink. The HL-L2400D is print-only, with no Wi-Fi, no Ethernet and no touchscreen. The HL-L2405W picks up Wi-Fi but has no duplex. The HL-L2460DW comes closest on paper — duplex, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, the same 36 ppm speed — yet it still prints only, with no copy, scan, fax or touchscreen, for $160 against this printer's $300.
Among mono lasers, the running-cost floor belongs to the HP LaserJet Pro 4006dw, at $2.23 per 100 pages in black. It sells for $400 up front, more than the Brother's $300, and prints only — no copy, scan or fax — though it shares duplex, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and a touchscreen with this printer.
HP's nearest mono laser rivals — the M209d ($159), M209dw ($199) and M234dw ($239) — all cost $4.37 per 100 pages in black, a touch above this printer's $4.33. The M209d has neither Wi-Fi nor Ethernet; the M209dw adds both; the M234dw adds copy and scan on top, but not fax, still short of the Brother's full print-copy-scan-fax set and its touchscreen, at $239 against $300.