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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.

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.

chraebsli ,
@chraebsli@programming.dev avatar

I use Manjaro btw. with a HP printer.

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

mvirts ,

Got a basic brother laser printer from walmart for $100 a few years ago. The toner reset sequence actually works! only problem is the wifi died 6 months ago but it still prints great!

KpntAutismus ,

brother certainly has a good reputation, but i've been using an epson ecotank for a couple years now.

once the 18000 page self-brick counter goes off, i'll try to reset it. if that doesn't work, i'll definetely try getting a brother laser printer. i print B&W most of the time anyways.

acetanilide ,

I have a Brother but I think I must have bought a lemon. It prints SO SLOWLY (like it takes long pauses after every page). And it constantly loses connection with our devices. :(

InternetUser2012 ,

That's your settings more than likely.

InternetUser2012 ,

Not just a Linux user, anyone that needs a printer/copier.

Lev_Astov ,
@Lev_Astov@lemmy.world avatar

I'm a big proponent of buying government surplus office printers. I have this huge print center collater thing that came with more toner than I'll ever use in my life. $55

ptz OP ,
@ptz@dubvee.org avatar

Oh gods yes. Government surplus equipment is amazing when you can find it.

My state used to send all their decommissioned IT equipment to a warehouse where the public could buy it. It was a wonderland. My first few laptops all came from there (was poor and that was the only way I could afford one).

About 5 years ago, though, they stopped that and only send old furniture there. Anything electronic now goes to some 3rd party e-waste service where it probably ends up in a landfill in some poor country.

vox ,
@vox@sopuli.xyz avatar

tbh i like my canon mf3010, no useless crap, no wifi, it just prints and scans, there's no drm and cartridges last for a long time

raptore39 ,

Recently bought a Brother laser printer. We use Linux, macOS, Windows 11, Android and iOS in the house and it just works.

cyberpunk007 ,

Preach it. Same boat same result.

possiblylinux127 ,
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

Brother on Windows can be problematic

mojofrododojo ,

run a mixed network - have never had a single problem with my brother color laser from any device - win10, 11, mac, a bunch of different distros of linux.... android and ios phones.

what kind of problems have you had on windows?

possiblylinux127 ,
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

One particular model won't scan on Windows until remove some random file.

Obscure but it drove me crazy at work. I spent so much time on something that should of never happened

mojofrododojo ,

One particular model won’t scan on Windows

aaaah multifunction devices are the real satan.

alex_02 ,
@alex_02@infosec.pub avatar

As other have said, brother and canon are probably your best bet. Nothing fancy is really needed, but just print.

possiblylinux127 ,
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

Cannon will charge you an arm and a leg for ink. There are third parties but its a mixed bag with the DRM

IMALlama ,

Canon black and white laser. Our original toner lasted for years and years, well above it's rated number of pages. Not that we print a ton, but it was still impressive. The driver is a little flakey at times, but overall it's been a reliable wifi printer.

possiblylinux127 ,
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

Until they push out an update that makes you buy a new one. Not that a bad update is Cannon specific. I just know they pushed out a update last year that made the printer reject third party ink.

IMALlama ,

That's disappointing. We've had our MF229dw since 2016 and it's pulled zero schannigans.

takeheart , (edited )

I actually have a brother inkjet printer which works reasonably well under Linux. Inkjet printers in general are troublesome, so there's a cap on how well they can work under any operating system.

I could never figure out though how to receive faxes and the return receipts for sending them directly on the PC. There just seems to be a lack of modern, user friendly apps for this. I'm certain it's possible but the technical expertise is just beyond me.

And yes, I still use fax when communicating with government agencies. My country is a backwater when it comes to digitalization and faxes provide legal certainty just like registered mail. But unlike registered mail they cost next to nill.

ptz OP , (edited )
@ptz@dubvee.org avatar

Yeah, I've had printers with built-in fax before and those never worked right from PC (the fax part). I think the only time I had a working fax solution on my PC was a combo of one particular fax/modem card I had and whatever Windows Fax utility that came with windows 98. Other modems / software just didn't work at all.

DAMunzy ,

I loved my old HP laser printer. It was 5+ years old when I got it and it lasted another 10. Had a HUGE toner cartridge that was relatively cheap if you got the knockoffs.

I currently have a Ricoh multifunction SP C261SFNw. It's not bad. Black toner cartridge doesn't have anywhere near the amount of pages I'd like but sure beats the cost of ink!

ptz OP ,
@ptz@dubvee.org avatar

Is the Ricoh a home model? I only know of their business products which are both huge and $$$$ lol. Our office rotates between those and Kyocera depending on the refresh cycle.

DAMunzy ,

I'm guessing it's a small office model. It has duplexing and 500 sheet capacity. I only paid $189.00 for it back in 2019 on Amazon. At that price point I couldn't resist for home.

It's available now for $2,998.00 on Amazon from a company called Top Amazing Deals(SERIAL NUMBER RECORDED) which has (1081 ratings) 50% positive over last 12 months. I'm sure they are trustworthy!

thefool ,

We bought an HP laser printer a few years ago.. it drives me crazy in that when it goes to sleep mode, it never recovers, meaning you have to power cycle it to get it to respond again. Once it's power cycled, it's .. fine, although I curse it anyway since it's 2024 and how can they still make printers that still do this shit.

Anyway.

In Windows, on my wife's and kids' Windows PCs, it works most of the time but was a huge pain to set up with the stupid apps.

On Android, it works most of the time after setting up stupid apps.

On my Linux desktops, it worked perfectly out of the box on both of them. I couldn't believe it. One desktop is Manjaro and the other is Mint

Daxtron2 ,

Why are so many people still printing often enough to justify having a full printer?

First ,

Because having only half of a printer doesn't serve any purpose.

Daxtron2 ,

That's just what HP wants you to think. Think about, you only really need half a page at any one time. They're just up charging you so they can sell more printer!

ptz OP ,
@ptz@dubvee.org avatar

Because we live in the real world where you still need to physically print, sign, and return things. Lol, sucks, but that is life.

It's not often, and when the need arises, it's usually important, so a laser printer is there when you need it and works without fuss (or having the ink dry up during long periods of dormancy)

Daxtron2 ,

I just go somewhere to print those things. They don't happen often enough to justify the space a printer takes up

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