Brother Monochrome Laser Printer DCPL2550DW

Printer arrived today, and I was able to set it up and install the software without a single glitch. I'm running Windows 8.1 and using a local USB interface. The reason for the purchase is my Canon inkjet died, and I needed a business-capable laser printer. I've had three Canon inkjet printers but I used at least two Brother laser printers previous to the Canon inkjets. There is a considerable difference between this DCP-L2550DW MFC printer, and the previous Brother laser printers besides the glitch-free install. The Windows print driver is far improved with more feature control and ease of use. Brother has a separate printer utility, iPrint & Scan, that provides a print and scan UI for document and image printing and scanning, it is very easy to use, and it is a vast improvement over the Canon print/scan utility. There is a third software, Nuance PaperPort, that is an impressive document management tool and includes a fast PDF reader. The install CD gave me the option to bypass the Nuance Paperport install and install it later. If you don't have a CD player in your machine, you can download the installer from the Brother support web page. During the install, the installer utility also installed printer firmware updates without a glitch. I have printed a text document, and graphic document, and the print quality is impressive. BTW, the printer woke up from a sleep and printed those documents without a glitch. The printer is quiet and the print speed is amazing. Being brand new, I cannot speak to the long term reliability of this printer but here are a few things I learned in my research: the older version of this printer, a Brother 2540 model, is the source of the vast majority of negative reviews for this printer--whether the 2540 or 2550 model. On the first dozen pages of negative reviews, only four pertained to the 2550 model, and three of those four reviews were wireless problems. Wireless printer problems are not unique to Brother printers; they are ubiquitous. If you think about it, the wireless challenge is to make a device in deep sleep mode respond to an interrupt signal--something humans don't like to do--and the majority of the negative reviews are expressing frustration with this challenge. I have returned a Kodak printer due to wireless problems. For these reasons, I stay with tech that works: local USB. The competitor printer nearest in features to this Brother printer is the Dell E514dw, and I noticed the Dell uses the same printer chassis as the Brother 2540 model but the Dell comes with a 10,000 monthly page duty cycle, and this Brother DCP-L2550DW comes with a 15,000 monthly duty cycle. Maybe the duty cycle difference is significant, maybe not (remember: "your MPG may vary") but I went with the higher duty cycle number. I didn't think I would have any install problems for a local USB connection but Brother has a support web site that is easier to use than Dell, and Brother comes with free telephone support if you need it. Bottom line: the 2550 model--including the bundled software--is impressive so far.