Posted by ts/ca on 5/11/05 8:20pm
Msg #37217

brother 5050 lt printer

I want a dual tray printer that can decipher between letter & legal when printing and have been reading everything I could find in the threads here. I have a chance to get a brother 5050lt a a very reasonable price. There are conflicting answers in threads as to whether the Brothers can automatically decipher between letter & legal. I have also gotten two different responses from reps at Brother. Does it strictly depend on the program the sender is using or should the printer have a certain sensor that can choose correct paper size? I have narrowed it down to Brother HL 5050Lt, 5150LT or 5170 dnlt. I know the dn is for two sided printing and networking and I don't think that's necessary for the diff in price. Am I right ?I have also read here that the HP1320t or tn can decipher where the Brothers can't. It will mean another $300 more if HP is the only one that can do that but I've already made a mistake earlier in buying a wrong printer . For those of you that want to say I can print everything on legal, I know but I want dual trays. Anyone out there have the 5050 or anyone really knows ther answer? Sorry for the book but I have spent hours on this and still get conflicting answers.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 5/11/05 8:28pm
Msg #37221

Hmm

HL-5050LT
High-quality personal graphics laser printer with bonus 2nd lower paper tray
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The HL-5050LT is a powerful high quality laser printer. It features a fast print speed of up to 17ppm, 16MB of standard memory, PCL®6 and BR-Script31 emulations, and up to 2400x600dpi print quality.
The HL-5050LT also features 550-sheet paper capacity with two 250-sheet paper trays and a 50-sheet multi-purpose tray. With its PC and Mac® compatibility and long list of standard features, the HL-5050LT is your best choice for high-quality personal graphics laser printing.

Estimated Street Price: $299.99*
* Street pricing may vary.
1 PostScript®3™ language emulation.


and there is a $50 rebate offer.


It doesn't say it can distinguish between the two trays. Maybe you could go into a local store and ask for a demonstration?

Reply by ts/ca on 5/11/05 8:45pm
Msg #37227

Thanks Sylvia, I have tried that. I went to several stores but they don't have one in the stores but tell me I can order it through them. Anyone else know?

Reply by Angela Espinosa on 5/11/05 8:55pm
Msg #37230

Hi,

I bought my Brother 5150DLT w/a 2nd tray. Like you I went round and round w/the same question. Here's what I do.

I get my docs in PDF or Word. It can decipher between letter and legal. When I get docs that one co-operate (like Secure Send it) I just put legal paper in my letter size paper tray and print out 2 sets of legal docs.

Hope this helps.

Angela

Reply by Angela Espinosa on 5/11/05 8:57pm
Msg #37232

oops

I wrote: I get docs that one co-operate (like Secure Send it) .

I meant, when I get docs that won't co-operate (Meaning will not print legal) I put legal size paper in the letter size tray and print two sets of legal docs.

Angela

Reply by ts/ca on 5/11/05 9:10pm
Msg #37234

Re: oops

Thanks Angela, I don't know if the 5050 will decipher though. And would the HP1320 t and tn be able to decipher with i.e." Secure Send It" that you mentioned or is it the program that won't decipher. Anyone know?

Reply by Angela Espinosa on 5/11/05 10:33pm
Msg #37241

Re: oops

Pretty sure that it does...a notary friend of mine has the 5050 and she's been a Notary for 9 years!

Reply by missy_socal on 5/11/05 10:47pm
Msg #37246

I just bought a Brother 5150 DLT...

...and it works great, so far. I've only printed out two loan packages on it, though. :-)

It distinguishes between the trays, and printed that last fat 100 page Full Spectrum loan in about 7 minutes.
It holds 250 sheets in each tray, and I have legal on the top, and letter on the bottom.

Reply by MI_Notary on 5/12/05 9:36pm
Msg #37427

Re: Missy & Brother 5150 DLT

I have the same printer but guess I missed that feature. I got mine from Dell when they were having a special a few months ago. I agree it is a great printer and low cost!! (even better if I can get it to distinguish between the two types of paper. I will look at my book again. However, care to share any info on how to get it to do this??

Reply by Jon on 5/12/05 1:11am
Msg #37259

ts,

I have a 5050lt, the 5100 series is the newer model(more ppm, ect).

This is the way it works:

If the program tells the printer which size of paper is needed(i.e PDF), it will automatically pull the correct size. If the program does not(i.e. Swiftview), it won't. The solution is to load legal in tray 1 and letter in tray two. Then go to 'properties' and set the size for each tray. If the program tells the printer the doc size it will pull automatically, if it doesn't, it will pull from tray one and print on legal.

There are some printers that pull the correct size based on the document content, but they are usually more expensive. Using the printers you listed, the 1320tn runs about $600 and the 5150LT runs about $300(not taking into account rebates, internet specials and the like).

I have a 5040 and was looking for a lower tray, and found the 5050lt on ebay for $86 including shipping. The cheapest I had found for the tray was about $125, so I figured if the printer doesn't work, at least I got my tray(not to mention the drum unit). Fortunately, it works great and now I have a back-up printer. I am very happy with the Brother printers and have no reservations about reccomending them.

Reply by ts/ca on 5/12/05 12:30pm
Msg #37338

Thank you Jon. You have been so helpful. I just ordered and feel comfortable with my decision. Thank you too, Missy and to all of you.

Reply by Jon on 5/12/05 12:48pm
Msg #37344

Your welcome.

What did you decide to get?

Reply by ts/ca on 5/16/05 11:44am
Msg #38028

I got the 5050. but now I'm second guessing again because it doesn't print on both sides of the paper. How will I knowif the docs have printing omon the back side? It is on backorder so I can still cancel. Should I get the 5170dnlt for an extra $!50?