Isaac Bennetch on 26 Oct 2015 06:10:24 -0700


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Re: [PLUG] Need All-in-One Recommendation


Hi,

On 10/25/15 5:05 PM, Casey Bralla wrote:
> My Brother all-in-one has just died, and i need to replace it.
> 
> I've generally liked Brother equipment; it's inexpensive and __mostly__ works 
> with Linux. However, they make you download an rpm or deb file, and I have to 
> jump through some hoops to make them work on Gentoo.
> 
> I want an all-in-one that is already listed in the foomatic database.
> 
> I thought that HP would be safe, but I see very few AIO in the database at 
> OpenPrinting.org.
> 
> 
> This is for home use, so I gotta stay under about $400.
> 
> 
> Anybody have a recommendation?

As far as general HP compatibility with Linux compatibility I can't say
much, but anecdotally I have an HP Color LaserJet 2600n (which is not an
AIO, it's just a printer, but stay with me) that I'm very disappointed
with. It works with Linux (I do not recall how painful it is to get to
that state), and the first few dozen pages looked glorious. This is just
for home use, and we don't print a whole lot so inkjets aren't even in
consideration for me because they dry up too quickly between uses.
Apparently, this model of HP has an issue where it quickly accumulates
dust on the mirror, causing the print colors to fade and become streaky.

Long story (somewhat) short(er), in my researching that issue I found a
lot of other anecdotal reports against HP, saying that their quality had
turned for the worse some time ago, Linux support is weak, etc. The
clear winner in my research several years ago was Brother, they are
reported to have good build quality, print well, and have excellent
Linux support. Now it sounds like your experience was different when it
comes to Linux support, so that's definitely another factor for me to
consider when I'm shopping, but I've stopped recommending HP at this point.

Anyway, I don't know if any of that will be helpful, so I suppose I
should contribute something that will be: I found this wiki article
rather informative: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Printers

Regards
~isaac
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