10 ms·

Avoid HP at all cost and stick to Brother, Cannon and Epson. HP is a company that had the privilege of having their logo on a iPod but is a complete turd at the

Avoid HP at all cost and stick to Brother, Cannon and Epson. HP is a company that had the privilege of having their logo on a iPod but is a complete turd at the end of the day.

bayindirh 4y ago
Canon's Linux support is very poor. It has a proprietary printing language which needs a closed source daemon/filter to work, and it's finicky. How finicky? If it doesn't like the version of something it forks itself until it borks your computer. Used HP, Lexmark, Xerox, Samsung & Kyocera. All worked with Linux. Also, none of the HP printers I used created any problems during their lifetimes with me. One of them was very light duty, and I worn it down in 7-8 years, that's all.
- l8rlump 4y ago
  On Linux I use Postscript with a PPD from https://www.canon.com.au/support/sims-content?pid=e3b6d5519fe34c9a87119592a7f058cf&cid=E11E628835AA48CFA96E02B8634D5306&ctype=dr https://www.canon.com.au/support/sims-content?pid=e3b6d5519f... Most Canons also understand PCL6 too. I guess you've checked your own machine though.
  - bayindirh 4y ago
    The one I used understood neither PCL nor PDF. It wasn't an entry level device either. It was a networked office-class device. This was a work endeavor, so I don't have the machine handy, so I can't provide you a model number.
    - l8rlump 4y ago
      Feel free to provide it if/when you can.
    - the_third_wave 4y ago
      Would that Canon be something like the i-SENSYS MF9220Cdn [1] (who comes up with those names?) I just got for free (had to swap the black toner cartridge, for the rest it works just fine, it only has done ~12700 pages according to the counter...) which uses Canon's proprietary UFR II? There seems to be a Postscript-compatible version of the same hardware as well (i-SENSYS MF9280Cdn) so I guess I can always attempt to wrench that driver into this machine but for now it works quite well. Drivers are available for 'Linux 64-bit' and 'Linux 32-bit', x86/x64/ARM/MIPS. Everything I tried thus far - printing, copying, scanning to mail/file server using sheet feeder or flatbed, did not try the fax functions because who needs fax functions - works fine, toner for the thing is cheap (~€22 for a 6000 page cartridge) and the print quality is quite good. [1] https://www.canon-europe.com/support/consumer_products/products/fax__multifunctionals/laser/laserbase_mf_series/i-sensys_mf9220cdn.html?type=drivers&language=en&os=linux https://www.canon-europe.com/support/consumer_products/produ...
bpye 4y ago
Linux support for Brother printers is variable. brlaser kind of works for mine, but only with a patch, and some documents still end up producing a white page...
- aidenn0 4y ago
  Most of their laser printers have binary drivers available for linux
- andix 4y ago
  For laser printers there are always models that support PCL and Postscript. They work with any operating system and can be used with generic drivers. Usually they are a few bucks more expensive, but you will be able to still use them in 30 years, when nobody knows anymore what windows 11 was.
  - hakfoo 4y ago
    That's what I don't get: why is there still API "innovation" going on for printing? Especially for a bog-standard black-and-white laser, there's nothing that needs to be done now that couldn't be done with PostScript or PCL circa 1995. (Yeah, there's a bazillion stupid ideas for mobile-device connectivity and wireless setup, but those are tangential to "here is an IP address and port, feed it PostScript and pages come out") I could see a case for a minor "reverse channel" extension to allow for feature detection and probing consumable supplies, but that's something that should have been a documented, industry-standard API, and could be optional. I assume it represents two factors: 1. They believe there's enough "value add" in the software (enforcing accounts or consumable purchases) to carry its weight on the books. 2. The hardware is so phenomenally bad that they're relying on mountains of model-specific firmware and driver glue to make it even remotely resemble a functional printer. I suppose we missed our chance at the USB cutover-- we seemed to get a unified standard for HID and mass storage, but nobody wrangled the printer and scanner people.
    - bpye 4y ago
      We even got standards for audio and networking over USB - printing sadly, not so much.
anothernewdude 4y ago
I've found OKI to be pretty good too.
cma 4y ago
Apple (name also on thr ipod) does somewhat similar tactics with ram and storage pricing and storage compatibility. Maybe even more similar are iphone repair parts and the printer ink-DRM like restrictions on them.

Avoid HP at all cost and stick to Brother, Cannon and Epson. HP is a company that had the privilege of having their logo on a iPod but is a complete turd at the end of the day.

bayindirh 4y ago

Canon's Linux support is very poor. It has a proprietary printing language which needs a closed source daemon/filter to work, and it's finicky. How finicky? If it doesn't like the version of something it forks itself until it borks your computer. Used HP, Lexmark, Xerox, Samsung & Kyocera. All worked with Linux. Also, none of the HP printers I used created any problems during their lifetimes with me. One of them was very light duty, and I worn it down in 7-8 years, that's all.

l8rlump 4y ago
On Linux I use Postscript with a PPD from https://www.canon.com.au/support/sims-content?pid=e3b6d5519fe34c9a87119592a7f058cf&cid=E11E628835AA48CFA96E02B8634D5306&ctype=dr https://www.canon.com.au/support/sims-content?pid=e3b6d5519f... Most Canons also understand PCL6 too. I guess you've checked your own machine though.
- bayindirh 4y ago
  The one I used understood neither PCL nor PDF. It wasn't an entry level device either. It was a networked office-class device. This was a work endeavor, so I don't have the machine handy, so I can't provide you a model number.
  - l8rlump 4y ago
    Feel free to provide it if/when you can.
  - the_third_wave 4y ago
    Would that Canon be something like the i-SENSYS MF9220Cdn [1] (who comes up with those names?) I just got for free (had to swap the black toner cartridge, for the rest it works just fine, it only has done ~12700 pages according to the counter...) which uses Canon's proprietary UFR II? There seems to be a Postscript-compatible version of the same hardware as well (i-SENSYS MF9280Cdn) so I guess I can always attempt to wrench that driver into this machine but for now it works quite well. Drivers are available for 'Linux 64-bit' and 'Linux 32-bit', x86/x64/ARM/MIPS. Everything I tried thus far - printing, copying, scanning to mail/file server using sheet feeder or flatbed, did not try the fax functions because who needs fax functions - works fine, toner for the thing is cheap (~€22 for a 6000 page cartridge) and the print quality is quite good. [1] https://www.canon-europe.com/support/consumer_products/products/fax__multifunctionals/laser/laserbase_mf_series/i-sensys_mf9220cdn.html?type=drivers&language=en&os=linux https://www.canon-europe.com/support/consumer_products/produ...

bpye 4y ago

Linux support for Brother printers is variable. brlaser kind of works for mine, but only with a patch, and some documents still end up producing a white page...

aidenn0 4y ago
Most of their laser printers have binary drivers available for linux
andix 4y ago
For laser printers there are always models that support PCL and Postscript. They work with any operating system and can be used with generic drivers. Usually they are a few bucks more expensive, but you will be able to still use them in 30 years, when nobody knows anymore what windows 11 was.
- hakfoo 4y ago
  That's what I don't get: why is there still API "innovation" going on for printing? Especially for a bog-standard black-and-white laser, there's nothing that needs to be done now that couldn't be done with PostScript or PCL circa 1995. (Yeah, there's a bazillion stupid ideas for mobile-device connectivity and wireless setup, but those are tangential to "here is an IP address and port, feed it PostScript and pages come out") I could see a case for a minor "reverse channel" extension to allow for feature detection and probing consumable supplies, but that's something that should have been a documented, industry-standard API, and could be optional. I assume it represents two factors: 1. They believe there's enough "value add" in the software (enforcing accounts or consumable purchases) to carry its weight on the books. 2. The hardware is so phenomenally bad that they're relying on mountains of model-specific firmware and driver glue to make it even remotely resemble a functional printer. I suppose we missed our chance at the USB cutover-- we seemed to get a unified standard for HID and mass storage, but nobody wrangled the printer and scanner people.
  - bpye 4y ago
    We even got standards for audio and networking over USB - printing sadly, not so much.

anothernewdude 4y ago

I've found OKI to be pretty good too.

cma 4y ago

Apple (name also on thr ipod) does somewhat similar tactics with ram and storage pricing and storage compatibility. Maybe even more similar are iphone repair parts and the printer ink-DRM like restrictions on them.