[clug] Printer opinions

[Peter Ortner]

Burn Alting wrote:

> I need some advice/opinions on printers.
>
> My old LaserJet 4 is starting to show it's age by munching on paper
> every so often. I think it might be time to retire it. Ploughing another
> $200-$300 odd into it, to fix it, seems to be the price of a decent mid
> range inkjet printer.
>

I own a Saumsung ML4500, which appears to be much like a Lexmark E210.
Although they are "WinPrinters", in that they are dependant on host based
rendering to drive them (but they can print plain text themselves), they
work fine with Linux. As long as your computer didn't come from the ark,
you should have little trouble with these printers. They are both supported
by a stock RedHat 7.3, which is nice.

I noticed last weekend that Hardley Normal are flogging the Lexmark E210
for $299.

>
> So, I'm looking for Linux friendly printers. A new laser would be great
> but it's price tag is a little to much for the amount of printing I do.
> So I think I'd like a decent "mid-range" colour inkjet printer. Most of
> my printing will be straight black text but it would
> be nice to have the option of printing nice colour stuff (and photos) as
> well.
>

I *used* to own a Canon BJC-3000. My opinion is that inkjets are a nice
idea, but the annoying frequency that one had to replace the cartridges
meant that it was an expensive beast to run. Add to this the new set of
heads ($120) every six months, and the laser was a no-brainer.

OTOH, the printers you are looking at are better than the Canon BJC-3000.

FWIW, I print approx 2000 pages per year.

>
> On looking around the web (and linuxprinting.org) it would appear that
> good printers would be either the Epson C82 or HP's DeskJet 6122 or HP's
> Photosmart 7150. Does anyone have experience/opinions on these three
> printers?

I don't, but I think you can guess what sort of printer I like. :)