8 ms·

After similar shenanigans from HP, I went to Brother laser printers and haven’t looked back since.

by dv_dt 5y ago

sillyquiet 5y ago
Yep. Have had a Brother HL-2270 (b&w laser printing) for years, and couldn't be happier with it, especially coupled with a PI-based CUPS server for AirPrint capability and the like. The only thing I miss about not having an inkjet is color printing and at-home photo printing, but there are so many on-demand online print shops nowadays, I can't say it's a big deal.
- willswire 5y ago
  Pi-based CUPS is the way to go. I developed an image for balenaOS to manage a fleet at the previous enterprise IT company I was with. https://github.com/willswire/balenaPrint https://github.com/willswire/balenaPrint
- ghaff 5y ago
  It was going to cost me $100+ to refill the inks on my large format HP inkjet photo printer. I took it up to the attic a few months back from whence it will likely go in the trash in a few years. I have the same Brother printer and it just works for occasional B&W printing. The rare color photo prints I want are easily handled (better) online and, while I'd like to print a color map or something now and then, it's not worth having an inkjet printer that will be used so seldom the ink will dry out.
  - KingMachiavelli 5y ago
    For that purpose a color laser jet works just fine although are are much more expensive.
    - ghaff 5y ago
      If I were in need of a new laser printer I'd probably consider color at this point, but it's not worth replacing my existing B&W printer for a once in a blue moon color print.
  - dylan604 5y ago
    why waste the effort of taking it to the attic to just add to the clutter? Reminds me of the users that put things in the trash can/recylce bin but don't empty it "just in case".
    - mlyle 5y ago
      If you need a large format color print in the next year or two before it rots, you can change your mind and buy the ink and avoid buying another $700+ large format printer. Option value.
    - ghaff 5y ago
      Because I have the space, it takes a minute, and maybe (though probably not) my needs will change some day. I'm not going to argue it's completely rational but I do occasionally dust things off that I have put into storage. I do go through the attic every now and then and toss stuff that hasn't been used for ages.
  - BeFlatXIII 5y ago
    Occasionally needing to print musical scores on large-format papers is what keeps me chained to inkjets. The price bump from inkjet to laser is significantly steeper for wide-format printers compared with letter/a4 printers. IIRC, instead of $90 vs $150, it's up to $200 vs $700.
lotsofpulp 5y ago
I do not understand how the other printer brands are even in business when Brother is an option. I feel like their reputation for being the best in the consumer space would have spread far and wide by now. I have been able to scan all of my documents with their MFC line directly to my Dropbox (or box or drive or onedrive) account for over 6 years now, AND Brother Web Connect automatically OCR’s them.
- 13415 5y ago
  They can be surprisingly hard to get in some areas of the world. For example, I live in Portugal and larger shops like Worten, Fnac, El Corte Ingles have anything but Brother printers. Even IT providers for business and PC shops rarely have them in stock. You can mail-order them from Brother Portugal but not many people know that and will do that. It's quite mysterious and I'd like to know the reasons.
- lazide 5y ago
  There are a lot of people out there that haven’t figured out the scam yet, and new ones minted every day. And those brands will sell 5 of these rip-off inkjets to someone at high margin before they figure it out and buy a brother once - for 1/5 of the total profit to brother.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    But between Consumer Reports, Wirecutter, the 18 million review websites, Costco, I feel like such an obviously superior brand and product should have had its reputation widely known by now, like Toyota/Honda.
    - kube-system 5y ago
      I think you highly overestimate the amount of research the average person does on a printer purchase. Yes, some people will buy a CR magazine or ask their friends/relatives opinion for a $30k car, but will they do that before buying a $60 printer?
dreamcompiler 5y ago
Same here. The other problem I found with HP was software: Their drivers were ridiculous multi-gigabyte downloads and they would often be buggy and either bring my Mac to a crawl or just outright crash. This was several years ago; it might be better now, but I swore off HP because of it.
- yarcob 5y ago
  HP accidentally revoked a code signing certificate recently. Since certificates are regularly checked for revocation by macOS, suddenly all HP printers stopped working on macOS. It took a few weeks until everything was fixed again for me, I had to reinstall drivers from Apple and HP multiple times. But my mom still hasn't gotten her HP inkjet to work since then. Add to that the fact that they sent firmware updates that caused printers to stop working with 3rd party ink -- I'm never buying anything from HP again.
- dv_dt 5y ago
  Hp has had bad printer driver software for decades
dukeofdoom 5y ago
I went with a Brother Laserjet after reading a recommendation comment here. Amazon has cheap cartridges for it, too. The only issue I've had is wifi network connectivity. When it was plugged in worked flawlessly. This is a buy it for life product.
GordonS 5y ago
I did the same thing. I battled with colour HP, Canon and Epson inkjets for so many years, then eventually snapped 2 years ago and bought a mono Brother laser MFD for a ridiculously cheap £150 - wow, no more buying ink every month, no more "head cleaning" or "head alignment" every.single.time I want to print something, no paper jams, no stress when you just want to print one damned page! Just... a perfectly working device! And the ink lasts ages too - the smaller cartridge that came with it lasted a year, then I bought a standard sized one that's still going strong. I really can't rate Brother highly enough - zero issues, everything works perfectly. My only mistake was not switching to a mono laser printer sooner!
14 5y ago
Me too but almost makes me want to buy a second one and just put it in storage in case the day comes when Brother too succumbs to corporate pressure to “improve products”.

After similar shenanigans from HP, I went to Brother laser printers and haven’t looked back since.

by dv_dt 5y ago

After similar shenanigans from HP, I went to Brother laser printers and haven’t looked back since.

Yep. Have had a Brother HL-2270 (b&w laser printing) for years, and couldn't be happier with it, especially coupled with a PI-based CUPS server for AirPrint capability and the like. The only thing I miss about not having an inkjet is color printing and at-home photo printing, but there are so many on-demand online print shops nowadays, I can't say it's a big deal.

willswire 5y ago
Pi-based CUPS is the way to go. I developed an image for balenaOS to manage a fleet at the previous enterprise IT company I was with. https://github.com/willswire/balenaPrint https://github.com/willswire/balenaPrint
ghaff 5y ago
It was going to cost me $100+ to refill the inks on my large format HP inkjet photo printer. I took it up to the attic a few months back from whence it will likely go in the trash in a few years. I have the same Brother printer and it just works for occasional B&W printing. The rare color photo prints I want are easily handled (better) online and, while I'd like to print a color map or something now and then, it's not worth having an inkjet printer that will be used so seldom the ink will dry out.
- KingMachiavelli 5y ago
  For that purpose a color laser jet works just fine although are are much more expensive.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    If I were in need of a new laser printer I'd probably consider color at this point, but it's not worth replacing my existing B&W printer for a once in a blue moon color print.
- dylan604 5y ago
  why waste the effort of taking it to the attic to just add to the clutter? Reminds me of the users that put things in the trash can/recylce bin but don't empty it "just in case".
  - mlyle 5y ago
    If you need a large format color print in the next year or two before it rots, you can change your mind and buy the ink and avoid buying another $700+ large format printer. Option value.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    Because I have the space, it takes a minute, and maybe (though probably not) my needs will change some day. I'm not going to argue it's completely rational but I do occasionally dust things off that I have put into storage. I do go through the attic every now and then and toss stuff that hasn't been used for ages.
- BeFlatXIII 5y ago
  Occasionally needing to print musical scores on large-format papers is what keeps me chained to inkjets. The price bump from inkjet to laser is significantly steeper for wide-format printers compared with letter/a4 printers. IIRC, instead of $90 vs $150, it's up to $200 vs $700.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

I do not understand how the other printer brands are even in business when Brother is an option. I feel like their reputation for being the best in the consumer space would have spread far and wide by now. I have been able to scan all of my documents with their MFC line directly to my Dropbox (or box or drive or onedrive) account for over 6 years now, AND Brother Web Connect automatically OCR’s them.

13415 5y ago
They can be surprisingly hard to get in some areas of the world. For example, I live in Portugal and larger shops like Worten, Fnac, El Corte Ingles have anything but Brother printers. Even IT providers for business and PC shops rarely have them in stock. You can mail-order them from Brother Portugal but not many people know that and will do that. It's quite mysterious and I'd like to know the reasons.
lazide 5y ago
There are a lot of people out there that haven’t figured out the scam yet, and new ones minted every day. And those brands will sell 5 of these rip-off inkjets to someone at high margin before they figure it out and buy a brother once - for 1/5 of the total profit to brother.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  But between Consumer Reports, Wirecutter, the 18 million review websites, Costco, I feel like such an obviously superior brand and product should have had its reputation widely known by now, like Toyota/Honda.
  - kube-system 5y ago
    I think you highly overestimate the amount of research the average person does on a printer purchase. Yes, some people will buy a CR magazine or ask their friends/relatives opinion for a $30k car, but will they do that before buying a $60 printer?

dreamcompiler 5y ago

Same here. The other problem I found with HP was software: Their drivers were ridiculous multi-gigabyte downloads and they would often be buggy and either bring my Mac to a crawl or just outright crash. This was several years ago; it might be better now, but I swore off HP because of it.

yarcob 5y ago
HP accidentally revoked a code signing certificate recently. Since certificates are regularly checked for revocation by macOS, suddenly all HP printers stopped working on macOS. It took a few weeks until everything was fixed again for me, I had to reinstall drivers from Apple and HP multiple times. But my mom still hasn't gotten her HP inkjet to work since then. Add to that the fact that they sent firmware updates that caused printers to stop working with 3rd party ink -- I'm never buying anything from HP again.
dv_dt 5y ago
Hp has had bad printer driver software for decades

dukeofdoom 5y ago

I went with a Brother Laserjet after reading a recommendation comment here. Amazon has cheap cartridges for it, too. The only issue I've had is wifi network connectivity. When it was plugged in worked flawlessly. This is a buy it for life product.

GordonS 5y ago

I did the same thing. I battled with colour HP, Canon and Epson inkjets for so many years, then eventually snapped 2 years ago and bought a mono Brother laser MFD for a ridiculously cheap £150 - wow, no more buying ink every month, no more "head cleaning" or "head alignment" every.single.time I want to print something, no paper jams, no stress when you just want to print one damned page! Just... a perfectly working device! And the ink lasts ages too - the smaller cartridge that came with it lasted a year, then I bought a standard sized one that's still going strong. I really can't rate Brother highly enough - zero issues, everything works perfectly. My only mistake was not switching to a mono laser printer sooner!

14 5y ago

Me too but almost makes me want to buy a second one and just put it in storage in case the day comes when Brother too succumbs to corporate pressure to “improve products”.