HP Smart Tank 5101 All-in-One Ink Tank Printer vs Brother MFC-L2820DW Mono Laser All-in-One Printer

What separates them

These two differ on 9 recorded specifications. The Brother MFC-L2820DW Mono Laser All-in-One Printer is $50.00 dearer. They are different kinds of product — ink tank mfp against mono laser mfp — so read the table as two spec sheets rather than a like-for-like.

HP Smart Tank 5101 All-in-One Ink Tank Printer vs Brother MFC-L2820DW Mono Laser All-in-One Printer

HP

HP Smart Tank 5101 All-in-One Ink Tank Printer

$199.99

Refillable tanks rather than cartridges is what changes the arithmetic: a bottle set covering roughly 6,000 black and 8,000 color pages costs about as much as one laser cartridge.

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Brother

Brother MFC-L2820DW Mono Laser All-in-One Printer

$249.99

The multi-function sibling of the HL-L2460DW, adding a 50-sheet feeder, a scanner and a fax for about a hundred dollars.

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Who the HP Smart Tank 5101 All-in-One Ink Tank Printer is for

Buy it if: Home offices printing color regularly and wanting the lowest cost per color page.

Avoid it if: Sites that print in bursts weeks apart, where a laser will not clog and this will.

Who the Brother MFC-L2820DW Mono Laser All-in-One Printer is for

Buy it if: Small offices wanting laser output, scanning and a feeder without cartridge restrictions.

Avoid it if: Anyone scanning two-sided documents in volume, who needs a duplex feeder.

Specifications, side by side

9 of 14 rows differ. Differences first.

SpecificationHP Smart Tank 5101 All-in-One Ink Tank PrinterBrother MFC-L2820DW Mono Laser All-in-One Printer
Price$199.99$249.99
ConnectivityWi-Fi, Bluetooth and USBEthernet, Wi-Fi and USB
Cost per pageAbout 0.5 cents mono and 1.5 cents color, excluding paperAbout 3 cents on TN760, excluding drum and paper
Document feederNone -- flatbed glass only50-sheet ADF
DuplexManual onlyAutomatic two-sided printing, single-sided scanning
Duty cycleUp to 3,000 pages a month maximumUp to 20,000 pages a month maximum
Print resolution1200 x 1200 dpi black, 4800 x 1200 dpi color1200 x 1200 dpi
Print speedUp to 12 ppm mono, 5 ppm color, draftUp to 36 ppm, Letter mono
Rated powerAbout 12 W printingAbout 550 W printing, 0.7 W in sleep
Warranty1-year limited hardware warranty1-year limited warranty
Drum unit not publishedDR730, about 15,000 pages, replaced separately
Input tray not published250 sheets
Page yield per refillAbout 6,000 black and 8,000 color pages not published
Replacement cartridge not publishedBrother TN760, about 3,000 pages
Replacement inkHP 32XL black and HP 31 color bottles not published

Every row is a figure one or both products record. A blank is a figure the catalogue does not hold, not a zero.

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