SX PARTS CATALOG

PRINTERS AND CONTROLLERS
Brother HL Series

BROTHER HL-8V PRINTER

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Model Information

Brother's answer to the challenge of the HP III

GENERAL INFORMATION

Brother International positions its products to be compatible with HP, but with a little more value for about the same price. The HL-8V is Brother's answer to the challenge posed by the LaserJet III, which was a dramatic leap in technology over earlier LaserJets. Amazingly, Brother engineers were able to clone all of the features of the LaserJet III, add in their extra features, and it bring to market within a year after the LaserJet III was introduced.

The HL-8V has the added feature of 64 shading patterns as compared to the eight patterns offered by the LaserJet III. These shading patterns can be used to produce some attractive effects, but few drivers exist that take advantage of this capability. Brother has also maintained compatibility with its earlier products by including Diablo 630, Brother Twinwriter, IBM Proprinter XL, and Epson FX-850 emulations.

FONT INFORMATION

The HL-8V has 12 scalable typefaces from 3 different families. The LaserJet III has only eight scalable type faces from two families. The font cartridge slots are compatible with the HP III, so any of HP's scalable PCL 5 cartridges should work in the HL-8V.

Bitmapped Fonts

The HL-8V has eight different versions of Brougham, which is a fixed-point font similar to Courier. Brougham differs from Courier in that its strokes are of variable thickness like those of a serif typeface. It comes in two sizes: 10 point (12 pitch) and 12 point (10 pitch). All four of the normal variations of Regular, Bold, Italic, and Bold Italic are resident and they can be rotated from portrait to landscape. Letter Gothic 16.66 pitch (8.5 point) is also available in the same variations. Counting them using HP's convention, the HL-8V has a total 32 bitmapped fonts.

REFURBISHED PRINTERS AVAILABLE

The Brother HL-8V has been discontinued, but The Printer Works can build them from parts at special request. Refurbished printers are in like-new condition and come with a full-one-year warranty. For a price quote, select the printer's part number in the ordering information table.

Controller Notes

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The only serious problem with the HL-8V controller is that there is no easy path to PostScript. If you want PostScript capability, you'll have to replace the controller board. Brother offers its HL-PS controller as an upgrade kit.

Supplies and Accessories

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You can check prices or order these items from the ordering information table below.

TONER

The Brother HL-8V uses the same toner cartridges as all other SX-based printers.

FONT CARTRIDGES

The scalable PCL 5 font cartridges made by Hewlett-Packard for the HP LaserJet family can be used by the Brother HL-8V. When you want to increase your printer font collection, see our catalog page on Font Cartridges from Hewlett-Packard.

PAPER HANDLING

The Brother HL-8V printer uses the same shaped paper trays and high-capacity feeders as all other SX-based printers. All versions are physically interchangeable, but there are slight color differences. (See also Diagram 300.)

MEMORY

The controller board can be upgraded with the same memory boards as are used with earlier models. A new memory card, expandable to 4 MB, has been added. Font cartridges manufactured by Brother are rather obscure products, rarely seen at computer stores. Brother printers are compatible with most HP font products, which are listed HP sections of this catalog.

The Brother HL-8V uses unique memory boards. Long-term availablity is questionable. Several third-party suppliers made clones, and some old stock may still be available. Please check with our sales department for current information.

Ordering Information

Model Information | Controller Notes | Supplies and Accessories | Text Only

For price and ordering information or to place the item in your shopping cart,
select a Part Number in the table.

Model Information | Controller Notes | Supplies and Accessories | Text Only