HP Printer died, what do you use/recommend on MX?

[FullScale4Me]

A LOT of people buying HP printers came into my store saying they wanted that brand. Highest price for hardware and supplies also the highest price per print. Post Covid it got even worse (compared to other brands). Many are offered with a locked-in subscription that you can opt out of in the first few months provided you do so via the HP (Windows) software app. HP also charges a premium for supplies as their printers age.

In terms of Laser printers, both HP and Canon use a captive to the print cartridge annealing assembly (read - extra cost). Brother offers a separate drum assembly, reducing this cost considerably (25% - 45%) per toner refill. My Brother drum in my HL-2380DW is rated at 13,000 prints with about 1,300 prints per toner cartridge.

A half truth was said about Epson earlier in this thread. Their Ink Tank printers (thousands of prints from a $15 USD a black bottle) are VERY reliable. They also have several models that use those tiny color & black cartridges that do nothing but drive up your per print costs. These are their reputation killers, pure junk with most not lasting beyond 2 years and many conking out under warranty.

HP 02 inkjet ink cost over $100 USD in 2022 for 3 colors and black for 500 prints. For $50 USD a full set of ink bottles for an Epson Inktank was under $50 USD for 3,000 to 4,000 prints!

All of the above is my personal opinion based on when I worked in retail office supplies (2014-2022). On several months in my store we sold >800 printers. We also took in e-waste for free, so I got to see a lot of failed printers. We carried ALL of the six major brands, not just unknowns.

[jj 5117]

I asked a similar question a while back. My main concern was driver support.

[dolphin_oracle]

I asked a similar question a while back. My main concern was driver support.

If a printer supports driverless printing then it is almost a no brainer.

[AVLinux]

@FullScale4Me

So if I follow you're leaning toward Brother for laser and Epson (tank models) for Inkjet? I did some Googling and it seems Brother provides Linux downloads of their drivers and apps. Is that drum assembly in the Brother lasers a User-replaceable part?

Getting lots of good recommendations, thanks folks!

[FullScale4Me]

Yes, the Brother drum is a user-replaceable part. Same access door as the toner snaps into the drum frame.

[Germ]

We have a Canon MG3600 series printer/scanner. Wireless or USB connection. Had it for a couple of years. About $50 depending on where you buy it. The ink cartridges are relatively cheap from Amazon. We don't do a lot of printing. Never had a problem with it.

[operadude]

@FullScale4Me

So if I follow you're leaning toward Brother for laser and Epson (tank models) for Inkjet? I did some Googling and it seems Brother provides Linux downloads of their drivers and apps. Is that drum assembly in the Brother lasers a User-replaceable part?

Getting lots of good recommendations, thanks folks!

I have been using an older Brother model (MFC-L2700DW series) black and white laser printer that I bought used a few years back, for less than $100. No problems for years (on all 3 main MX distros-- Fluxbox, Xfce & KDE).

To your point, yes, I was able to download (from the Brother website) the .deb package for the drivers for this model, even though I can use the printer without the drivers (a la post from d.o.).

To your other point, I have replaced the Toner cartridge, which I purchased online (either Amazon or Aliexpress). I have also purchased the Drum cartridge for this older model. As long as someone is selling these cartridges for this older model, I can keep using it with MX-Linux

I have also set it up successfully as a Network printer, connected from the basement to my upstairs router. No Problems Although, it did take some tweaking to set it up from on the user panel of the printer (finding the correct menu settings for getting the URI, & managing through CUPS).

Good Luck!

[asqwerth]

@FullScale4Me

So if I follow you're leaning toward Brother for laser and Epson (tank models) for Inkjet? I did some Googling and it seems Brother provides Linux downloads of their drivers and apps. ....

You will need to check the webpage for the specific Brother model you are looking at, to confirm that the model is compatible with Linux.

IF [note the IF] the model can run on Linux, then you will find the download link for the corresponding Linux driver in the webpage for that model. If you can't find any such driver in the download section/tab of that model's webpage, then there is no guarantee it will work with Linux.

[figueroa]

Open Printing web site is your friend: https://openprinting.github.io/

But, especially this page which I've been using for maybe 20 years: https://openprinting.org/printers

[JeffA]

Open Printing web site is your friend: https://openprinting.github.io/

But, especially this page which I've been using for maybe 20 years: https://openprinting.org/printers

Even that's not necessarily complete. I have a Brother HL-5470DW I'm happily using with MX-23 that I don't see listed on that site.