What printer should I get?

Problems and successes with specific brands/models of printers
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infromthepound
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat 13 Jun 2009, 01:29

What printer should I get?

#1 Post by infromthepound »

Hi All,
My curent HP Oficejet R65 is starting to play up, and as it needs ink, I thought I should maybe replace it. I like it for the size of the ink cartridges it has.
My son says go Laser, Harvey Norman tried to sell me an expensive wireless HP inkjet with supposed large cartridges.
I need multifunction and colour, I don't need fax, and is wireless possible with Puppy (Phat Slacko, and occasionally Legacy, depending on which computer I use).
Any advice gratefully accepted,
Thanks, John

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rcrsn51
Posts: 13096
Joined: Tue 05 Sep 2006, 13:50
Location: Stratford, Ontario

#2 Post by rcrsn51 »

I am loathe to recommend printer models. But I am a big fan of owning two printers - a laser for cheap BW work and a multi-function for colour and scanning. The laser will pay for itself by not having to buy ink.
is wireless possible with Puppy (Phat Slacko, and occasionally Legacy, depending on which computer I use).
Yes. Most recent printers are networkable in Linux. Read here for more info.

Are you currently using the HP Oficejet R65 in Puppy? With which driver?

I have not looked at printing in Legacy OS, but I suspect that it has an old version of CUPS. I don't know how compatible it will be with recent printer drivers.

infromthepound
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat 13 Jun 2009, 01:29

#3 Post by infromthepound »

Yes. Most recent printers are networkable in Linux. Read here for more info.

Are you currently using the HP Oficejet R65 in Puppy? With which driver?

I have not looked at printing in Legacy OS, but I suspect that it has an old version of CUPS. I don't know how compatible it will be with recent printe
r drivers.

I realised later that if a printer has a network port, then I can use it that way.
I am not using the R65 with Linux, there is no LPT port on the motherboard, so I have to use an add on card, for which there appears to be no Linux driver.
At the moment I save from Puppy to a USB stick , then start "Doze, coppy back and print from that. Messy, and another reason (Excuse) for a new printer.
JB

p310don
Posts: 1492
Joined: Tue 19 May 2009, 23:11
Location: Brisbane, Australia

#4 Post by p310don »

My best advice when looking at a printer is to look at the cartridges / ink costs and availability.

Harvey Norman specials are often really cheap to buy, and really expensive to run, as is the case with most cheap printers.

I have Samsung laser printers at home running off both puppy and windows and they do a great job, but, at work we use Kyocera Laser printers (on windows, but linux drivers available), and they are much much cheaper to run, although they are only black and white.

When buying a printer, I have found office supplies places, besides officeworks, have good knowledge and advice.

No matter where you go though, when you mention Linux printing, they salespeople almost universally have no idea...

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RetroTechGuy
Posts: 2947
Joined: Tue 15 Dec 2009, 17:20
Location: USA

Re: What printer should I get?

#5 Post by RetroTechGuy »

infromthepound wrote:Hi All,
My curent HP Oficejet R65 is starting to play up, and as it needs ink, I thought I should maybe replace it. I like it for the size of the ink cartridges it has.
My son says go Laser, Harvey Norman tried to sell me an expensive wireless HP inkjet with supposed large cartridges.
I need multifunction and colour, I don't need fax, and is wireless possible with Puppy (Phat Slacko, and occasionally Legacy, depending on which computer I use).
Any advice gratefully accepted,
Thanks, John
Consider your usage patterns...

I don't use mine often enough, so an Inkjet dries up on me. I don't need color, so I don't really need an inkjet for color... I've been quite happy with my older HP LJ b/w...

There are color LJ, but I couldn't tell you much about them -- other than they don't generally have photo quality (unless things have changed since I last looked). So if you need photo, you may want an inkjet.
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infromthepound
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat 13 Jun 2009, 01:29

#6 Post by infromthepound »

I ended up having a Xerox 203A laser given.
It works perfectly with Puppy, but won't install with 'doze7, all the drivers have been removed or altered by Xerox
JB

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rcrsn51
Posts: 13096
Joined: Tue 05 Sep 2006, 13:50
Location: Stratford, Ontario

#7 Post by rcrsn51 »

What Puppy printer driver did you use? Did you install a package or did you select a built-in Gutenprint model?

There was another thread about the Docuprint 203A but it was never resolved.

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