Your needs, this model
Does it fit your priorities?
Can included Ethernet support color Letter documents, PIN release and 250 Letter sheets?
Qualifies with compatible native Windows PCL software, suitable stock and nonzero RAM-disk allocation for protected jobs. Optional storage is not counted as mandatory for that documented RAM routine.
Explore this need in the finder →Does the base configuration automatically print both sides?
Fails: DX-2700 duplex is an optional unit and is excluded from included capability.
Explore this need in the finder →Can included Tray 1 print Legal documents?
Fails: Legal requires the optional LT-27LG tray; the included ordinary tray stops at its documented shorter range.
Explore this need in the finder →Color output with meaningful hardware options
The Brother HL-2700CN is a discontinued dedicated color laser printer for a compatible wired workflow. It includes USB, Fast Ethernet, parallel and a 250-sheet tray. Its fit is ordinary Letter or A4 color documents with native protected jobs, provided automatic duplex, Legal input and document capture are not essential parts of the included configuration.
Several prominent specifications describe optional hardware. DX-2700 adds automatic two-sided output; LT-27LG provides a Legal-capable replacement for the standard tray. A separate LT-27CL lower tray adds capacity. Those options are real, but their presence in the manual does not establish that they accompany the base machine or an individual earlier unit.
Legal needs the optional tray
The standard tray supports Letter and A4, with its ordinary custom range ending below fourteen inches. Legal belongs to the optional Legal tray. Therefore a Legal requirement cannot be satisfied simply by noticing Legal in the duplex-unit specification or in a combined options table. The actual input path must accommodate that paper too.
The guide declares ordinary tray capacity on a 75 g/m² paper basis, while the surviving web table uses an 80 g/m² headline footnote. These original conditions are retained separately. Prepared COM10 and DL envelopes can use the standard tray under their own instructions and limits; ordinary-sheet capacity is not automatically envelope capacity. Automatic two-sided printing remains optional even when an envelope or smaller page fits.
Native password release can use configured RAM
The exact web specification identifies secure printing as a PCL-driver function. The operating guide distinguishes protected Secure data from Public, Proof and Last Job spooling. Protected data waits for user, job and password release through the instructed controls, rather than printing immediately as an ordinary document.
CompactFlash storage is optional and recommended for larger retained jobs. The guide also explicitly permits reprinting from RAM without that card. RAMDISK SIZE must be raised above its default of zero, which reduces working memory; stored data clears at power-off. More RAM is recommended for large secured data rather than treated as an unconditional purchased prerequisite for every job. Match the driver and memory configuration to the actual document.
Included interfaces and honest speed comparisons
USB, 10/100 Ethernet and parallel are standard, with sixty-four megabytes of base memory. Historical driver and operating-system distinctions still matter. There is no scanner, copier or fax hardware, and no included wireless radio is established. A network-management or storage utility does not supply those missing physical functions.
Standard one-sided output is declared up to thirty-one monochrome or eight full-color A4/Letter pages per minute. Optional-duplex declarations differ between the web table and original manual, including unresolved page-versus-sheet units. They are not turned into a confident comparable rate. All stated performance remains manufacturer information rather than personal testing, and no monthly workload recommendation is inferred.
Color images, supplies and installation
The supplied starters are declared at approximately 5,000 black and 3,000 color pages, while replacement TN-04 cartridges have different five-percent coverage yields. The OPC belt and waste-toner pack instead use images. The guide defines one to four color images per output page, so a 60,000-image belt declaration is not 60,000 full-color pages. Fuser pages are another separate maintenance quantity.
The US/Canada original specifies AC 120 V, 50/60 Hz. The cabinet is approximately 18.9 × 16.5 × 15.2 inches; base loaded weight is not explicitly established by the cited weight line. The original calls for two-person lifting and ventilation space. Check installed options, usable native software and maintenance state; a requirement for standard Legal duplex or captured originals calls for a different configuration.
Key details at a glance
| Color printing | Yes |
|---|---|
| Scanner | No |
| Copying | No |
| Fax | No |
| Flatbed scanner | No |
| Automatic document feeder | No |
| Automatic two-sided printing | No |
| Automatic two-sided scanning | No |
| Single-pass two-sided scanning | No |
| Color scanning | No |
| Instructed envelope handling | Yes |
| Supported PIN-release printing | Yes |
| Included ordinary-paper capacity | 250 sheets |
| Declared one-sided mono Letter rate | 31 pages/min |
| Declared one-sided color Letter rate | 8 pages/min |
| Unit-body width | 18.9 in |
| Unit-body depth | 16.5 in |
| Unit-body height | 15.2 in |
| Imaging engine | laser |
Use the exact model’s instructions for operating limits, supplied equipment and version differences.
Paper, software and setup details
Print-rate conditions
Standard up to 31 mono or 8 full-color A4/Letter ppm; these are one-sided declarations. Optional-duplex figures conflict: web 15.5 sheets/min mono versus original 14.5 ppm; units unresolved and not normalized into a comparable rate. No monthly recommendation or duty figure is inferred.
Paper handling
Included standard tray up to 250 sheets, Letter/A4 but not Legal. Original guide capacity basis 75 g/m² / 20 lb; web headline footnote uses 80 g/m², retained separately. Optional LT-27LG Legal tray replaces Tray 1; optional LT-27CL adds up to 530. DX-2700 automatic duplex is optional, not included. Standard tray supports prepared COM10/DL envelopes under its own limits.
Scanning arrangement
Dedicated four-color toner laser printer without scanner, document feeder, copying or fax hardware. Network and storage utilities do not add document capture.
Computer and mobile connections
Included Hi-Speed USB, 10/100 Ethernet and IEEE1284 parallel; 64 MB expandable to 576 MB, two-line display, native PCL/BR-Script with historical OS distinctions. CompactFlash is optional. No included Wi-Fi radio or established AirPrint/Mopria/peer route is asserted.
Supplies and declared yields
Included starter black approximately 5,000 and cyan/magenta/yellow approximately 3,000 pages. TN-04BK replacement approximately 10,000; TN-04C/M/Y approximately 6,600, at 5% Letter/A4 coverage, not relabeled ISO. OP-4CL OPC belt approximately 60,000 images continuously; WT-4CL 12,000 images; FP-4CL fuser 60,000 pages. Original defines one to four color images per output page.
Software and support
Exact web secure function is PCL-driver-only. Original RAM reprint instructions permit nonzero RAMDISK SIZE above default 0 without optional CompactFlash, reducing working memory and clearing stored data at power-off; additional RAM/CompactFlash is recommended for larger storage. Protected user/job/password release differs from unrestricted Public/Proof or Last Job spooling.
Electrical edition and setup
US/Canada original explicitly AC 120 V 50/60 Hz, distinct from 220–240 V editions. Body W 18.9 × D 16.5 × H 15.2 in. per exact web; original also states same 480 × 420 × 385 mm but rounds depth 16.4. Base approximately 31.5 kg/69.4 lb lacks explicit loaded basis, so loaded weight unknown; expanded 42.7 kg includes options and toner and is not base. Original requires two-person lifting and approximately 4 in ventilation gap.
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