how to fix Brothers Printers Problems

Brother has a reputation for making a wide range of inexpensive printers. The printers are generally very fast, and they are widely available. Unfortunately, as with printers built by other manufacturers, there are a variety of problems that repeatedly turn up among users. Be aware that many of these problems are not unique to Brother printers, and many users receive good service from them. These problems are reported most often with lasers.

Paper Jams

·         Most printers experience paper jams from time to time, but Brother owners tend to report this problem quite often. The paper gets caught halfway on its route through the printer, and getting it out is tricky due to the tight quarters inside the printer. Users often report that they broke the fuser in the process. The fuser is the heating element that heats the paper and toner during printing. This is often caused by poor paper feeding from the trays. In addition, it often results in curled printouts that do not stack well in the output trays.

Printer Drivers

·         Getting the proper driver to match your printer and your computer's operating system can be tricky, no matter what sort of printer you own. Users of Windows XP (32- and 64-bit versions) have experienced various driver and software problems with Brother printers, and Brother maintains a special page at its site devoted specifically to rectifying these problems. The site itself notes that incorrect drivers can cause severe problems and lockups.

Noisy Operation

·         Noise seems to be an especially common problem with Brother printers. The printers are noisy at all phases of the print cycle, but especially when warming up and when leaving rest mode to print a new file. Some users find the noise particularly objectionable. However, it is important to remember that some sacrifices must be made to build inexpensive lasers. While noise may be an irritation, it will not automatically affect the quality of printed output.

Poor Image Quality

·         Most inexpensive Brother printers do not use Postscript drivers, so the ability to print any type of drawing beyond black-and-white line art is automatically suspect. Postscript is a page description language that tells a printer how graphics should look and helps ensure that files will look pretty much the same, even if they are printed on different printers. Because most inexpensive Brother printers do not include Postscript, they are best used for printing text-only documents.

Poor Construction

·         Of all the complaints made against Brother's inexpensive printers, poor construction is probably the most justified. While the sometimes flimsy construction can often be worked around (albeit carefully), it does limit the printer's capabilities. It prevents them from handling paper much heavier than standard 20- to 24-lb copy paper. Given that many people like to print light business card stock or envelopes, this presents a serious problem for a home office.