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chraebsli ,
@chraebsli@programming.dev avatar

I use Manjaro btw. with a HP printer.

YES, it works! (I just don't print)

Blackmist ,

In fairness you should do this on Windows as well.

95% of home printing needs can be handled by a mono laser. If you need a photo, usually cheaper to print it online or at a supermarket. Only for larger prints might it be cheaper to do it at home, and you'd better be sure to use it often because most inkjets clog like a motherfucker when not in use.

ptz OP ,
@ptz@dubvee.org avatar

Yep. That's exactly what I do. I thought about a color laser, but even the Brother ones will not print if one of the colors is empty (or, at least at the time I was researching).

So I got a good mono one that covers 99% of my needs. For the few times I need to print in color, I just have that done somewhere for next to nothing. Typically those are photos, and what I get back are better than I'd have printed at home.

noobnarski ,

Yup, bought an old office mono laser printer (its from OKI) for pretty cheap, I got one that can do duplex scanning and printing with a document feeder because I dont want to scan every page individually.

Put new cheapo toner in it after a bit because it only came with a little bit and with that new cartridge it will probably last at least 10 years with my print frequency.

If I would have bought a new ink printer with those features I would have paid much more (investment and running costs) and I would probably need to unclog it every time I want to print something.

fine_sandy_bottom ,

Yeah I have an OKI. It's fine.

SuperApples ,
@SuperApples@lemmy.world avatar

most inkjets clog like a motherfucker when not in use.

If you have an inkjet printer, even an expensive one, you have to leave it plugged in and in standby mode so it can do it's regular cleaning cycle.

A good middle-range inkjet printer (like a Canon MB2700) can be economical and durable; unfortunately most people's experience of inkjet are the ultra-cheap ones sold in big-box stores, sold at a loss, to sell over-priced cartridges, and not left plugged in/don't have cleaning cycles.

chellomere ,

I have a 10 year old Canon MP280 still going strong. It's one of the ultra cheap ones, I believe originally sold for something like 20$ at a sale. The only problem it has nowadays is that it occasionally makes some ink blotches in a corner of the page.

superterran ,
@superterran@discuss.online avatar

Can confirm, bought a Brother MFP like five years ago with ink refills and I still have one left. Best $90 I ever spent

ptz OP ,
@ptz@dubvee.org avatar

Ooh, nice. Mine was $100 (on sale) eleven years ago. Still, $100 + two reams of paper have covered my printing needs for over a decade. Can't complain.

ODuffer ,
@ODuffer@lemmy.world avatar

Just get a HP Inkjet bro ^joke!

108 ,

made me realize I have had my brother printer for about 10 years now.

DelightfullyDivisive ,

Same. I bought a 4-pack of toner refills with it. I'm on the 2nd one.

arken ,

This has nothing to do with Linux. Do you want your printer to work? Are you buying a printer because you need to print things? It's simple.

ConstableJelly ,

Some of us buy printers because we have abuse and humiliation fetishes. My OfficeJet is the kinkiest product I own.

cley_faye ,

Against the original joke, I'd recommend a samsung one, but their printer division has been bought by HP so…

merthyr1831 ,

I inherited an Canon Pixma MG3600 from a friend who got a new printer of her own, and it's been impressively stable for years now.

A really solid printing experience on Linux; I'd say "plug and play" but I've got it set up for wireless printing and it worked immediately without plugging in!

I've not tried the scanner on Linux but it worked on Mac out of the box without proprietary drivers so I can imagine the same for Linux.

jack ,

Just print at your local university or shopping center. A personal printer is just not worth it

CafecitoHippo ,

A simple black/white laser printer for documents and more importantly, shipping labels. It would be annoying for anything that you're returning to have to print out the packing slip and label at the local shop. Then anything that you actually need color or quality printing, just send it out to get printed at the local shop.

jack ,

It's also annoying to buy expensive ink, debug printer issues and have the printer take up space in your home. Guess it's a matter of what annoys you more

Zink ,

Yeah that’s the crap a Brother laser printer makes go away.

Quill7513 ,
@Quill7513@slrpnk.net avatar

Brother, you just described why I bought a toner based printer. The ink is cheap AF, doesn't dry out, doesn't require frequent test pages, doesn't brick if I disable the ink subscription because I don't print that much, the drivers are all released GPL by the printer company, and it can just sit on a shelf I wasn't using anyway. I haven't looked at it in weeks and as an added bonus I dropped the print contrast to increase the longevity of the toner cartridge.

jack ,

Good for you

CafecitoHippo ,

I said to buy a laser printer and you're complaining about ink. Tell me you don't understand what we're talking about without telling me. I last spent $60 on toner in 2019 and the printer still works great. 5 years of printing when I need it is worth the cost instead of driving to staples every time even though it's literally 2 min away.

jack ,

Hm, looks like I equated laser printers with ink ones. I have no experience with laser printers, so they may actually be a lot better. Still, the upfront cost of printer plus accessories is not worth it for me when I print so rarely

Quill7513 ,
@Quill7513@slrpnk.net avatar

Driving 30 minutes into town every time I have to print something isn't worth it

jack ,

Don't you have a printer at work where you drive anyways?

EssentialCoffee ,

You mean my house?

jack ,

Ok, when you also don't have family which leaves the house more regularly than you, then yes, maybe you should buy a Brother™️ printer...

If your job is doing paperwork then it may also be a good investment

PriorityMotif ,
@PriorityMotif@lemmy.world avatar

Most people don't work in a comfy office with access to a printer.

Quill7513 ,
@Quill7513@slrpnk.net avatar

I work remote. About once a month I have to print a shipping label or something for drop off. Having a printer in the house greatly increases turn about on that and important papers

TheRTV ,

It depends on your usage. I don't need one and have a public library down the street. So a printer is something I will most likely never buy

KpntAutismus ,

i our household it definetely is. selling stuff on ebay or returning packages is most of what we use it for, and 200-300€ plus 10-20€ in ink bottles every year or so will eventually be cheaper too.

not saying you have to buy one for yourself, it's just worth the money for many people.

n0m4n ,

I had the same dilemma.

What worked for me was to buy an old, refurbished, commercial HP laser printer, without the subscription "features". I paid $75 and have saved that much in ink costs, just this year.

archomrade ,

I just dragged out my wife's old college hp inkjet printer, and I was delighted to discover that it doesn't even have a networking function on it. No wifi and no ethernet. It's not even 10 years old.

Of course, to use it I have to be within usb-cord range, but small sacrifice for a printer that won't hold itself hostage over outdated credit card information.

umbraroze ,

My father had a Brother laser printer. It outlived him. (...Anyway. Have you ever had to do Windows tech support for family? Not always nice. Ever had to do Windows printer tech support? Hoo boy. Ever had to do Windows printer tech support when the printer is hooked through a Centronics-to-USB adapter? Uggh. ...though I was kind of surprised that Windows 10 still had built in drivers for the damn thing.)

Me, I bought a Canon laser which technically has Linux drivers but damn me if I ever got it to print more than the CUPS test page. ...actually I'd rather not talk about CUPS. I have too many bad memories about it. (You can't escape the Printer Madness just by using Linux, oh no.)

baseless_discourse ,

I always suspect printing/scanning is easier on linux because by default linux don't have a firewall by default (also driver is always included).

I was trying to setup a firewall on linux, the printing and scanning is as painful as windows if not worse. So now I just turn off the entire firewall if I want to print/scan. Fortunately, I rarely print or scan.

elliot_crane ,

My father had a Brother laser printer.

So it was an Uncle laser printer?

(I’m sorry I’ll see myself out)

GTG3000 ,

Laser printers are great, althought I've got me a Pantum because I don't anticipate printing more than one page a month.

AusatKeyboardPremi ,

This is the first I am hearing of this brand.

How does it fare when compared to, say, Brother?

dandu3 ,

I've looked into them when buying a new printer. They're the cheapest laser you can buy, but the refills include the drums, which makes them way more expensive. They're also extremely small for a laser.

I ended up buying an epson ecotank, which is a lot slower than a laser, but it's still on the original ink after 800+ pages and it's never been problematic even if I leave it for a couple months without printing. Doesn't seem to clog up like others have reported

GTG3000 ,

Yeah, the reason I got this one is basically "I couldn't find a cheaper one".

GTG3000 ,

I don't have a Brother to compare it to, but it works just fine to print and scan documents.
I got it set up on wifi because I wanted to shove it into a corner where it won't get in the way, and it's working perfectly fine.

Although their android app sucks.

AusatKeyboardPremi ,

Thanks for sharing the recommendation as well as your thoughts on it.

I wanted to shove it into a corner where it won't get in the way

That is the kind of printer I am looking for as well. :-)

Landless2029 ,

I'm not even a linux user. Just here to learn. Windows is my daily driver for work and play...

Still all my printers are brother lasers.

My oldest is around 10 years old still running on the same toner... Picked out of the trash from an office move even.

Fedizen ,

A brother laser printer a solid pick

Meron35 ,

Brother has already started to enshitify, Kyocera is an alternative company that does simple laser printers, with easy and cheap to source generic toners

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