MX Linux Forum

Note: I've changed the title & purpose of this thread as will be seen not far down the page (post 4.) where details can be found. Sorry for being an air head! lol
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After years of not needing one, I finally have need of a printer, one that will do photos reasonably well. I like the ecotank design with its diminished running costs.

The ET-2750 looks good with its auto double sided routine too.

Anyone using one of these things?

I'm asking to be sure that there aren't any problems (scanning doesn't work & the like).

I looked at the openprinting website, but this printer wasn't listed.

Thanks in advance.

I've found a couple of links that may be helpful. First, a forum topic in French:
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=49932
(You can use the forum's translate function at the top)
and the wiki article about Epson printers:
https://mxlinux.org/wiki/hardware/print ... ers/#Epson
So it seems that they work, but if you want to use the scanner you have to install Epson's scanner driver and you have to specify the printer's IP address to access the printer over the local network.

Thanks for that JayM.

[edit:] I just checked the printers listed on openprinting.org epson-escpr driver webpage & the none of the ET-* printers were listed.

Though I don't think that, that rules out being able to use this printer.

I'd love to hear from someone who owns the printer? :)

OK, I now realise that the "tanked" ink jet printers have the same problems with drying out ink & such as the the cartridge ink jets do. I don't want that.

My usage will be regular for a short while, then it will be quite rare after that. So a laser is really the best choice in these circumstances. Sorry for zig-zagging my intent in this thread & all that.

A basic, cheap monochrome laser that works well with Linux that someone here can put there hand up & recommend would be very helpful.

Thanks for your help.

If your computer has a parallel port, a refurbished or new old stock HP Laserjet 4 series one can't be beat. They last practically forever and toner cartridges are still readily available as they're still used in many office and business environments. I'm pretty sure that parallel port to USB converters are available too. They may not be as inexpensive to purchase as some others but due to their longevity they may be the best bargain. The lowest price doesn't necessarily represent the best value for the money. They have a pretty good resale value too, so if you find later that you no longer need it you can flog it off onto someone else and get a good bit of your money back.

Just about the cheapest, most basic mono laser you can get is the Brother HL-1110. It's plug-and-play with Linux.

I had one for a year, then passed it on to another Linux user a couple of years ago. It gets fairly heavy use there, and has never let them down.

Chris

I have been using inexpensive wireless Brother lasers for years. They have drivers for Linux on their website. Just follow their directions and season to taste.

Speaking of the much beloved Laserjet 4, I once found myself needing to print across the network to a Brother laser printer when Internet access was down. I was using a fresh install of MX and could not download Brother drivers. I just used the vanilla Laserjet 4 drivers (in the OS) and pointed it at the printer's IP and low and behold, my print job came out.

I went right out and bought a lottery ticket, but alas, my luck had run out..

The Tramp

Thanks guys, good advice there. :)

I've owned LJ4 & 5 years back. They are great. You can expand their memory too & stick more paper feed trays underneath. They are built like a tank!

Something I noticed when I had a bit of a look around on a prime supply chain's website, is that so many things are just out of stock due to the interruptions caused by the virus. Something to get used to I guess...

HP, Samsung, Brother, that has a print engine that will do PostScript (BRScrpt) or PCL4/5/6 or Samsung's SPL. The low end of the market is constantly changing. I'm currently using or supporting an HP LaserJet 3055 and a Samsung SL-M3320ND and a Brother L2540DW. I paid about $150 for the LaserJet 3055 about 10 years ago on clearance, and about $100 for the SL-M3320ND about 3-4 years ago. The school bought some of the L2540DW and they just turned out to be decent with the PXLMONO driver. Just be especially concerned about what standards the print engine emulates, and or manufacturer provided Linux drivers with good reviews from Linux users.

Also, before you pop for the purchase, check out the availability and pricing for 3rd party toner cartridges.

Thanks figueroa.

I'll only be printing to make pages to put on physical noticeboards re. stuff I'll have for sale. Once that is done, I be printing rarely, which makes the cost per page less relevant.

I'm finally getting the last (& majority) of my stuff out of storage & putting it in the new (old) larger place that I now call home. Quite a bit of stuff I have I no longer require, therefore my need for a printer.

I should be able to get rid of most of it without having to resort to https://www.gumtree.com.au/ .

Don't forget to post on Craigslist too.

Craigslist doesn't work in Oz unfortunately.

Beyond that, due to the good advice that I've received in this thread, I've had a look on Gumtree & found that there are Brother & HP printers there for good prices. It is likely the way I'll go when one springs up close enough to where I live.

Toner cartridges for Brother printers are about half the price of those for HP printers. Part of the reason for the price difference is that HP laser cartridges come with a replacement printing drum while Brother replacement cartridges only contain toner. Eventually with Brother lasers you will have to replace the drum unit which can cost about $120.00 U.S. However, even when you factor in the cost of the replacement drum, over the life of the printer Brother Lasers are cheaper to run because of the substantially lower toner cost.

Thanks j2mcgreg, for more very worthwhile advice. :)

The wireless Brother DCP-L2540DW works very well with Linux and cartridges are cheap, available at Costco or as a 'Replacement' on Amazon, eBay, etc.

I found a Brother MFC-L2713DW mono 4-in-1 printer. In one of the two major electronic superstores that I checked. Only one of them had any laser printers & the one that did only had 2 models, both of them Brother & both of them mono. Ink jet printers were more common, but not a great range there either.

Anyway, I've installed it via RJ45 type network cable, it on one of my Win7 setups & am about to start down the road to getting it functioning on MX. I'll let you know how it goes... :)

I just wrote an in depth post on the installation & troubles involved installing the Brother printer, code pasting & all of that. When I submitted it I found that I had timed out, which would have been due to my testing as I was writing.

I REALLY don't feel like doing all of that again! :(

If you have issues with your brother MFC, open a new thread, and I'll see if I can help. I've had 2 Brother MFC's since 2011, and they have been fine.

Once in a while when there is a new release of your distro (or inevitably as Manjaro and other rolling distros roll along) the newer packages or setup in the relevant distro may cause issues with the original drivers provided by Brother. But by that time there should be a working open driver in foomatic ppd package of your distro, which would work with the said Brother unit.

And my 2nd Brother MFC, bought in Jan this year after the first one died after 9 years of faithful service, works OOTB with MX19.

OK, will do, thanks for your help asqwerth. :)

I have an old HP LaserJet 4Plus and I agree, the thing is built like a tank and has delivered rock solid service for many years.

But it does have some issues: the most critical is a well-known and annoying tendency to jam or spit out pages with an accordian-like pleat. I think this happens when the rollers in the paper path aren't kept clean. But it might also be an indication that the toner cartridge needs replacing; I've never pinned down the exact cause.

Mine also lacks two-sided printing, and that along with the jamming issue has me thinking about a new printer -- probably one of the HP LaserJet Pro's like the M118dw or M203dw.

I ended up buying an M203dw. CUPS detected it on my home network and, other than selecting it as the default printer, automatically took care of all the setup. Very Linux-friendly.

But I can see why this one sells in the $100+ range. Lots of plastic parts that feel flimsy or brittle, and that probably foretell a useful service life much shorter than my old 4+ tank achieved.

The reason I started this thread was to get some good advice on laser printers & Linux. Which I got & bought a Brother MFC-L2713DW early June 2020. It has done everything I've asked of it (that said, I've never needed to use the scanner).

I didn't bother going the extra mile with driver installation. My easy solution for any software that doesn't want/know how to print via the drivers that are installed, is to just copy the content that I do want to print to Libreoffice & print it from there. :)

Libreoffice gives me such easy control of size & placement of content (images or whatever) & is WYSIWYG (as lasers should be anyway).

So I have Brotherly love.