[nmglug] printers

[Nick Frost]

On Feb 13, 2009, at 9:10 AM, Steve Katona wrote:

> Massive frustration with Ubuntu 8.1 & 7.1 with my HP LaserJet 1020.  
> Sometimes it will work for months and then I have to fiddle for a  
> long time, installing, uninstalling, downloading drivers--foo2zjs  
> and HPLIP for instance--now can't get it to work at all--works in XP  
> which I am going to leave today when my cd with 8.01 comes with the  
> book Beginning Ubuntu Linux by Thomas, 3rd ed.
>
> I'm ready to buy a new printer and asking for recommendation. BTW,  
> the Ubuntu forums are full of complaints and fixes on this printer,  
> most of which I've tried.

It depends on your requirements and budget.  I have one of these;

brother HL Series HL-5250DN Workgroup Up to 30 ppm Monochrome Laser  
Printer - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828113212

and I regularly do network printing to it from Windows, Linux (CUPS)  
and OS X boxen and have had zero problems (see quality notes below).    
However, my usage is light, I go through a ream every few months. It's  
fast and does auto duplexing.  Two family members elsewhere have them  
as well and like them.

However, if you are finicky about print quality, I would not recommend  
the Brother HL-5250DN as sometimes bits of toner dust off the  
page...but still perfectly legible, just not presentation quality  
prints.

Samsung has some printers that are reputed to be decent, but I have no  
experience with them.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16828112048

I have found the HP printers to have among the best print quality, and  
most of the models work very well for cross-platform (Windows, Linux,  
OS X)...but maybe the Laserjet 1020 was just a bad model.

If print quality is of importance I would probably suggest an HP  
network printer, but they are pricier.  There are also issues of duty  
cycle and volume if you are printing many reams of paper regularly.   
At my last job we had an HP2015DN and I printed from Linux and/or OS X  
regularly and it worked very well, a good workhorse printer with good  
quality output.

-Nick

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Nicholas S. Frost
7 Avenida Vista Grande #325
Santa Fe, NM  87508
nickf at nickorama.com
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