[clug] Printer supplies - advice sought (linux Digest, Vol 85, Issue 19, message 7)

Rodney Peters rodneyp at pcug.org.au
Thu Jan 7 23:15:28 MST 2010


On Friday 08 Jan 2010 10:17:15 linux-request at lists.samba.org wrote:
> Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2010 10:07:38 +1100
> From: Lana Brindley <lanabrindley at gmail.com>
> To: Felix Karpfen <kfelix at tpg.com.au>
> Cc: CLUG List <linux at lists.samba.org>
> Subject: Re: [clug] Printer supplies - advice sought (linux Digest,
>         Vol 85, Issue 19, message 7)
> Message-ID:
>         <6dd9c83d1001071507n5bf8c324lb7bdc5f966873bb8 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
> 
> (Adding the list back in, I suspect Felix didn't intend to send this
> just to me. Apologies if that isn't the case, Felix).
> 
> My comments below ...
> 
> 2010/1/8 Felix Karpfen <kfelix at tpg.com.au>:
> > On Fri, 8 Jan 2010 07:34:19 +1100
> >
> > Lana Brindley <lanabrindley at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> 2010/1/8 Felix Karpfen <felix at spodzone.org.uk>:
> >> > For the record, the cost of buying a ream of printing papers from
> >> > HP is greater than the cost of my latest printer (HP D2560) from
> >> > ebay.
> >>
> >> Maybe the better question is - which printer do I buy instead?
> >> especially if the paper is more expensive than the printer ...
> >
> > I expect that you are correct.
> >
> > My problem is - which printer? I run the current Debian stable and make
> > no attempt to update it (or install alien packages). ?So my
> > printer-shopping starts with the drivers that my current version of
> > Debian supports and then goes on to find a retailer that still stocks
> > the printer that goes with the driver.
> 
That could become an exercise in futility because the consumer models turn 
over several times a year. The CUPS group of packages are not too dependent on 
release levels of the dependencies.  I suggest upgrading CUPS to a recent 
release - just be wary of foomatic-rip v 4.x, which reportedly has problems 
with raster printers (which most low end models are)

Which printer depends very much on functional requirement as well as cost & 
driver support.  

+1 to Andrew J suggestion of colour laser for low maintenance and not 
requiring specialty papers.  Indeed, if you don't require colour then mono 
laser is a lay-down mizarre.  The consumer grade models from Brother, HP & 
Samsung are economical for typical home printing rates.  Sorting out the 
drivers can be a bit tricky because http://openprinting.org has trouble 
keeping up with the plethora of new models, many of which end up working OK 
with existing drivers anyway.

> I would suggest finding several that you like the look of and are in
> your price range, and then researching them to check for drivers. That
> could be arse-about though, I guess.
> 
> L
> 
> 
> -- 
> Cheers! Lana
> 

Rod


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