An Ubuntu Friendly Printer Recommendation

[Liam Proven]

On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 8:32 AM, Amedee Van Gasse (u2s)
<amedee-ubuntu at amedee.be> wrote:
> On Wed, March 10, 2010 17:38, Liam Proven wrote:
>
>> #1 As a free (as well as Free/FOSS) OS, one of the core "markets" for
>> Ubuntu (& Linux in general) is people who cannot afford commercial
>> software. Inkjets are still quite a lot cheaper to buy than lasers.
>
> I have two pet theories on how well printers are supported in Linux.
>
> #1 Most Linux developers work in companies, and do their development on
> Linux there.
> Most companies use laser printers.
> Linux developers are more likely to get their hands on business-class
> laser printers than on consumer-class inkjet printers.

Good point.

> #2 Laser printers use more expensive parts that are better engineered,
> because of durability. Better engineered also means better documented. And
> better documented means better supported in Linux, if developers can
> access that documentation. Inkjet printers otoh use el cheapo parts from
> the lowest bidder. The same model of printer can have parts from different
> manufacturers. That makes it difficult for developers to have a standard
> interface for their programs.

Also a good point.

> These are just my pet theories, without any value, and they are in
> constant flux.
>
>> #2 Often people don't have a free choice of hardware: it's a case of
>> getting working what they already own, not choosing something new.
>
> The same is true for the people who write software to support the hardware
> in Linux. If they don't have that particular brand/model of
> printer/webcam/... then it is not possible to test.
>
>> #3 Also bending the value equation is that the bare inkjet is almost
>> extinct now: at the low end of the market (under £50-£100, say),
>> almost all printers are "multifunction" or "all-in-one" devices. I.e.,
>> they're also a scanner, a photocopier & possibly even a fax machine.
>> When the choice is an all-in-one versus a separate laser plus a
>> scanner, with no integration, twice the space, 2 power leads, 2 data
>> cables, etc., then trying to persuade people that they should spend
>> 2-3x as much, or more, on separate devices  becomes a *very* hard
>> sell.
>
> Why buy a multifunction for twice the price if you only need a printer?

You're missing the point. I recently was looking for a fairly
inexpensive Linux-supported inkjet printer to sell alongside my
company's range of Linux-based PCs for older users. Although I could
find dozens of models available, in the UK, after considerable
searching, we could only find *one* model that was an inkjet only.
It's not a case of a 2×-as-expensive MFP, it's that MFPs are now
largely the *only* type of inexpensive device at the bottom end of the
market.

FWIW, the single printer-only, a low-end HP, was less than £10 (about
€10) cheaper than an MFP. If that is the price difference, why
*wouldn't* you get a scanner too?

> And what is a fax anyway? Faxes went the way of the dodo in the last
> millennium.

Yes, faxes are getting very rare, it must be said.

-- 
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