[clug] Printer supplies - advice sought

[Brians]

I would like to add a some of points.

1) Some printers are better supported by linux and in my experience
HP is one. Later versions of Linux support more printers out of the box

2) Getting a printer that supports postscript is better for linux but
usually not on the lower end (cheaper) printer

3) Getting a printer with an ethernet port is better supported for linux
but usually not on the lower end (cheaper) printer but they are better
behaved, have a web based status and setup, support multiple computers
independently.

4) Getting ethernet & Postscript usually means a getting a slightly more
expensive printer and it is usually better built and has better paper 
handling
so generally less problems.

Value is better than cheap

Brian



Andrew Janke wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 8, 2010 at 12:02, Felix Karpfen <felix at spodzone.org.uk> wrote:
>   
>> I pre-date the throw-away society and it irks me to be required to select
>> from products with varying degrees of "built-in obsolescence".  It also
>> irks me that the cartridge in my Canon Printer held 18ml of ink, while
>> the HP cartridges are filled by HP with 7 ml of ink (and less in the
>> sample-cartridges that come with the printers).
>>     
>
> So you do what I do and buy a "cheap" HP Color Laser. The ink doesn't
> dry out and you don't have to worry about running "cheap" paper
> through it. On a side note I have never understood the logic of
> "saving" $2 (max) on cheaper paper and feeding it into your $150+
> printer (when you include the cost of ink) and wrecking it.   I have
> always spent the extra $2 or so and bought decent quality laser paper.
>
> Current page costs are around 12c a page in full colour and a frazzle
> less for colour. This includes paper, the printer (expected life of
> 10,000 pages) and HP genuine toner. I could use refills and get this
> cost down a bit but I have found very varying quality in refills in
> the past and have had them dump toner all over the printer, especially
> when printing onto thick (180gsm+) stock. Note that the above are not
> estimated costs based upon expected page counts but what I am getting.
>
> Current printer is a HP Colour LaserJet 1600 / 2600n.
>
>
> --
> Andrew Janke
> (a.janke at gmail.com || http://a.janke.googlepages.com/)
> Canberra->Australia    +61 (402) 700 883
>