Generally OK (but... )

After five months this has proven to be reliable - including the duplex option (which I've used plenty of times and had no misfeeds). However the collection tray for printed pages can't cope with paper curl (caused by the heating unit) so after about a dozen pages it pushes everything on the floor. This is a real problem if you're printing multi-page documents that you want to stay collated! Some papers are worse than others - but different brands of `cheapo' 80 gsm white have proven to be consistently problematical. Higher-price papers curl less so are usually OK.

Apart from that only one grumble and that is the printers are shipped with a 'sample size' toner cartridge which is rated at 2000 copies (but packed up after 1500 for me!). Worse still the printer decides when the toner pack is dead and then refuses to print - not like the good old days when you could give the toner pack a shake and get a few hundred extra copies out. Unless you only intend to use this occasionally (and who buys a laser unless they want to produce lots of copies??) make sure you also buy the larger ('7000 copies') toner pack (ref TN-3170) straight away otherwise you will find yourself out of toner and with a (temporarily) 'dead' printer much sooner than you would reasonably expect.

DOA and HP support quality mixed

When first plugged into the wall the printer made an awful wailing sound that continued for several minutes. Subsequent attempts to print produced sheets of paper covered in unfixed toner. HP support recognized the problem immediately - a broken blade inside the toner cartridge - and the support rep said this was a common failing. Because of this I returned the printer for a refund rather than risk this problem each time the toner cartridge needs replacing.

HP support were good on the first call, but the return procedure was unbelievably annoying. I had to repeatedly email and fax the receipt. These docs were marked for the attention of a specific person, but they never seemed to get them. HP Printer Support does not respond to their email at all, but do send automatic responses when the case is marked as closed in their system. The agent repeatedly left phone messages with no way to return the call.

Noisy 'Iron Lung'

Although i am generally happy with the performance of this product i cannot believe the noise level it generates when printing. I upgraded from an HL1030 which i have had for 6 trouble free years, hence the reason for opting for another Brother machine. However the HL1030 was much quieter than the HL5240 which is referred to constantly as an 'iron lung'. If silence is golden do not buy the HL5240!

Too slow on start up but OK.

Very slow to power up and to get ready for printing. Usual glitches with windows software.

Good but only for normal printing

This is an excellent printer provided you only want to print colour on normal paper, it doesnt handle glossy paper or thicker grades of paper. If you only want to print high speed on normal 80gsm paper this is the printer for you.

Very good but please read this review it will help

This printer is fantastic if you get the wireless function to work striaght away.

If you want to use it wireless which is really the only reason you would buy this model, it can be a little tricky. The problem is the instruction manual is not very well written like this review.

When installing the printer wireless for the firs time you have to connect the printer to the wireless router and the computer. Install the full installation program including wireless installation (follow on-screen instructions). Then the next step is were the problem lies with the manual. If you are planning to add the printer to more than one computer then ONLY INSTALL THE SOFTWARE NOT THE WIRELESS INSTALLATION PROGRAM. That is it, should work great after that.

Again it is a very good printer once working and would recommend it.