Most of this site argues for bottle-fed ink. This printer is the honest counter-argument: roughly eight times the cost per black page, and still the right buy for a great many home offices.
Cost to run
The DCP-L2640DW takes the TN830 toner family. The high-yield Brother TN830XL high-yield toner cartridge is rated at 3,000 pages at ISO/IEC 19752 and was $98.29 on Brother’s own store when we checked — about 3.3¢ a page.
The standard Brother TN830 standard-yield toner cartridge is rated at only 1,200 pages at $60.99, which is about 5.1¢. Buying the small cartridge to save money costs you roughly fifty percent more per page. It is the most common and most avoidable mistake on this printer.
| If you print | Toner over 3 years | Total with the printer |
|---|---|---|
| 25 pages a month | $29 | $239 |
| 75 pages a month | $88 | $298 |
| 200 pages a month | $236 | $446 |
Supplies only in the middle column; sticker price plus supplies in the right one. Mono pages at the manufacturer’s rated yield and the supply price we read on 27 September 2026. Real cost runs higher because rated yields assume 5% page coverage. The full method.
Compare the right-hand column with the ET-4800 at the same volumes and the shape of the decision becomes obvious. At 25 pages a month this printer is cheaper overall despite costing eight times as much per page, because three years of toner at that volume is a small number. At 200 pages a month the tank printer has pulled clearly ahead.
The starter cartridge, stated plainly
Brother ships this printer with a starter toner rated at 700 pages. That is disclosed on the specification sheet, so it is not a trick — but it does mean the printer’s real first-year cost includes a cartridge sooner than the headline yield suggests. Budget for a TN830XL from the start and the machine will not surprise you.
There is a second consumable too. The DR830 drum is rated around 15,000 pages and is replaced separately from the toner. Most households will never reach it. Anyone printing a couple of hundred pages a month should count it in the sum, and almost no laser roundup does.
The third-party toner question
Brother is the brand most often recommended by people who want to use compatible supplies, and in early 2025 that reputation came under public challenge: allegations circulated that firmware updates were disabling third-party toner. Brother denied it directly, telling Ars Technica that “Brother firmware updates do not block the use of third-party ink in our machines”, while noting it performs a genuine-supply check during troubleshooting and cannot guarantee print quality with other supplies.
We report that as what it is: a dispute, with a documented corporate denial and real user reports on the other side. The full account, with sources. The reliable way to guarantee supply choice is still a bottle rather than a cartridge.
Who should buy something else
- You print in color. Buy a tank printer. Color laser toner is expensive per page and a four-cartridge machine is a different budget.
- You print a lot of pages. Above roughly a hundred pages a month, the tank printer’s eight-fold advantage per page starts to be real money. Check your own volume.
- You never scan. The HL-L2460DW is the same engine and the same toner for less, without the scanner.