shamino

Good review, and I'm glad to see Brother is still keeping up the series.

I'm currently using this model's predecessor, the HL-L3270CDW.  And before that I was using the HL-3140CDW.  They work well and don't cost a lot.  At least until an expensive part fails.

At some point, you will need to replace the waste toner cartridge and the belt unit.  These, together cost almost as much as a new printer.  My 3140 failed when the rubber coating on the fuser roller separated.  A replacement fuser unit actually cost more than a new printer, which is when I replaced it.

Regarding toner, yeah, it's not cheap.  But the cost per page isn't very different from what I used to spend on HP ink cartridges.  The current price on Amazon for a 4-pack (one of each color) of high yield cartridges is currently about $375.  Which is a lot more than what I paid the last time I ordered a set (February 2024), but significantly less than retail (Staples is showing about $450 for the same set).

Regarding the interface speed, I disagree that the slow USB speed doesn't matter.  If you print anything with a lot of bitmap graphics, it is going to be moving a lot of data.  I wouldn't want to push that much data over USB 2.0.  I use the Ethernet interface.  It is connected to a gigabit switch in my office, and everything works really well.  I'm rarely waiting for data to transfer.

I have disabled the on-board Wi-Fi.  No need for it.  My existing Wi-Fi router will forward traffic to the wired Ethernet part of my network to the printer.  This even works with Bonjour/AirPrint.

My only disappointment is the lack of product-specific device drivers.  Once upon a time, Brother had Mac drivers, which did a better job of things like color calibration.  But these days, the official documentation is to use Apple's generic AirPrint drivers (even for wired connections).  They work, but I think I'm not able to take advantage of everything the printer has to offer.

I agree with everybody else that this printer is not for photo printing.  It does an OK job if you buy glossy laser-printer paper, but no toner-based system is going to produce prints as good as a photo-inkjet printer.  But I print photos so rarely that I just take the JPG files to my local Walgreens when I need a good looking print.  For everything else, the Brother is quite sufficient.

Please watch the videos that describe CarPlay Ultra (especially the Aston Martin demo).  It doesn't require a permanent connection to your phone.  When the phone is paired with the car, all the necessary content is uploaded into the car and runs on the car's own computer (using the operating system provided by the car manufacturer).

Once this is done, you can disconnect your phone.  It only needs to remain connected in order to upload updated data, or for accessing apps on your phone (e.g. Music, Phone or Maps), which is presented in a way very similar to today's CarPlay.

Of course, there may be bugs - all software has bugs.  But you won't lose your dashboard as a result of the phone losing USB connectivity.

But unlike "classic" CarPlay, Apple doesn't completely control the interface.  Users can choose the manufacturer's interface, one of Apple's interfaces, or some custom mix of them.  At least that's what the Aston Martin demo showed.

So if the automaker thinks they can make a world-class interface, nobody is stopping them.  And if their customers agree, they will use it.  But if it sucks, the will change it to what they want.

And I think that's a lot of the resistance.  The worst thing (to them) they could possibly do is prove to the world that their own designers can't make something drivers actually want to use.  Apple is going to force them to put up or shut up.

I might even go so far as to say that this is why they no longer make cars where the radio can be swapped-out.  Because everybody knows that aftermarket radios from big audio manufacturers like Sony, Kenwood and Pioneer are lightyears better than anything any automaker bundles with the vehicle.

It's never been that complicated.  Any sub-30s audio file encoded as AAC can be used.  Just rename the file to have an ".m4r" extension and drag/drop it onto the phone (via the Finder on modern versions of macOS, via iTunes for older ones).  That's it.

As for how to make these files, no need to use Garage Band or Audacity.  You can do it from within Music.  Select the track you want.  Set the start/end points (via the Get Info page) to specify the region you want to use (up to 30s), and then File -> Convert -> Create AAC version.  This will create a new track in iTunes containing the region your selected, and having a copy of the original track's metadata.  Drag this new track to the desktop (you can delete it from Music afterward).  Rename the extension from "m4a" to "m4r" and you're good to go.  Drop it onto your phone to install it.

It's illegal for me to draw pictures of copyrighted characters and sell the results.  And I have a legal right to view all of the source material (assuming I've bought or rented the movies).

An AI which is not just viewing content but incorporating it into its own software for the purpose of generating copyright-violating images should be a clear-cut case of infringement.

Sue these scammers for the maximum allowed by law.  Given the millions of images they've scraped without permission and the millions more they've generated for their customers, the fine should be enough to put them out of business and bankrupt everybody remotely related to the company.