Brother MFC-L2820DW review
Mono laser, a 50 page document feeder, and the toner subscription you should look at carefully.
A compact black and white laser printer that also copies, scans and faxes, with automatic duplex and a 50 page document feeder.
Check price on AmazonSpecifications
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Print technology | Monochrome laser |
| Print speed | Up to 36 ppm, per Brother's figures |
| Scan speed | Up to 23.6 ipm mono and 7.9 ipm colour, per Brother's figures |
| Document feeder | 50 page automatic document feeder |
| Duplex | Automatic two-sided printing |
| Connectivity | Dual-band wireless 2.4GHz and 5GHz, Ethernet, USB |
| Display | 2.7 inch touchscreen |
| Cloud | Print from and scan to Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote and OneNote |
| Toner | Brother Genuine TN830 or TN830XL |
| Approx. price | Around $280 |
Specifications above come from Brother's published specifications. Treat pricing as approximate, since Amazon pricing moves.
What it does well
- Laser, not inkjet. A student printer sits unused for weeks at a time and inkjet heads dry out; toner does not. This is the single most important thing about the category.
- The 50 page document feeder is the feature that earns its keep. Scanning a chapter of a library book or a returned problem set to searchable PDF is a job you will do more often than printing.
- Automatic duplex halves your paper use and makes double-sided handouts painless.
- Dual-band wireless including 5GHz matters in halls, where the 2.4GHz band is usually unusable.
- Scan straight to Google Drive or OneNote, which keeps readings where your notes already are.
- It is monochrome, which sounds like a limitation and is mostly a running cost advantage. Coursework is text.
Where it falls short
- The listing includes a Refresh subscription trial. Subscription toner can be good value if your volume matches the plan and poor value if it does not, and it is a recurring charge on a student budget. Work out your actual page count before enrolling, and check what happens to the printer's behaviour if you cancel.
- It cannot print colour. If your programme needs colour figures, posters or design work, this is the wrong machine and no workaround fixes it.
- A laser printer is heavy and takes real desk or shelf space. In a single room it is a commitment.
- Toner cartridges cost meaningfully more per unit than ink, even though they cost less per page. The first replacement is a surprise if you have only owned inkjets.
- At $280 plus toner plus paper, this only makes financial sense above a few hundred pages a term. Below that, campus printing wins and it is not close.
What owners report
Brother's mono laser line has one of the most consistent owner-report records in consumer printing, and the recurring theme is boring reliability: it prints when asked after weeks of standing idle, which is exactly the failure mode that makes people hate inkjets. Setup over wireless is generally reported as straightforward, and the touchscreen draws more praise than screens of that size usually do.
The most common complaint is about toner cost and about the subscription prompts, and it is worth taking seriously. Owners who print a few hundred pages a year report the standard cartridge lasting a long time; owners who enrolled in a plan sized for a small business report paying for pages they did not print. Read the plan, not the trial.
The second recurring report is that people buy it to print and end up using the scanner more. That matches how coursework actually works, and it is why the document feeder is worth paying for.
Who it suits
- Students printing more than a few hundred pages a term, especially drafts and problem sets.
- Anyone who scans readings, returned work or handwritten notes regularly.
- Shared houses where three or four people can split the cost and connect over wireless.
Who should skip it
- Anyone whose programme needs colour output, where this is simply the wrong tool.
- Light printers. Campus printing costs less than $280 plus toner for most people.
- Students in a room with no space for it, where scanning with an iPad camera covers most of the need.
Alternatives worth considering
The same printing engine and duplex for around $100 less, without the scanner, copier or document feeder. Take it if you genuinely only need to print and you already scan with your phone.
Check price on AmazonThe cheapest sensible entry into mono laser. You lose the scanner and automatic duplex, so you will be flipping paper by hand, but it will still be printing in five years.
Check price on AmazonIf the real problem is annotating readings rather than printing them, a tablet with a document-scanning camera removes most of the need for a printer entirely. Worth considering before you buy either.
Check price on AmazonCommon questions
Do students actually need a printer?
Fewer than think they do. If you print under a couple of hundred pages a term, campus printing is cheaper than the machine plus toner plus paper. A printer earns its place when you print drafts constantly, or when you need to scan physical readings often, which is the stronger argument for this particular model.
Laser or inkjet for a student?
Laser, almost always. A student printer sits idle for weeks between deadlines and inkjet printheads clog when that happens, which turns into wasted ink and failed prints at the worst possible time. Toner does not dry out. The only reason to choose inkjet is if you need colour.
Is the Brother Refresh toner subscription worth it?
It depends entirely on your page count, and the honest answer is that most students print far less than the smallest plans assume. Work out roughly how many pages you print a month, compare that with the plan allowance and the price of a TN830XL cartridge, and only then decide. Do not sign up because a trial came in the box.
Can it scan a whole book chapter?
It can scan a stack of loose pages quickly through the 50 page feeder, and single pages on the flatbed. A bound book has to go on the glass a page at a time, which is slow. For bound books, photographing pages with a tablet or phone is usually faster.
Does it work on university wifi?
It supports 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless plus Ethernet and USB. Many campus networks block the device discovery that wireless printing relies on, so if you are in halls, plan to connect over USB or use a personal router. This is a network restriction rather than a printer fault.
Keep reading
- Note taking methods for college
- Exam preparation strategies
- Paper notes vs digital notes
- Apple iPad 11-inch review
- Study essentials roundup
This review draws on published specifications, manufacturer figures and the consensus of verified owner reviews. We have not tested this product ourselves, and we say so rather than implying otherwise. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.