Looking for ratings of all-in-one printers for Linux (Ubuntu in particular)

[Doug]

On 07/07/2018 06:55 PM, Peter Flynn wrote:
> On 07/07/18 21:50, Kevin O'Gorman wrote:
>> I know there are probably multiple places where such ratings can be
>> found.  Not knowing which are reliable, I'm sort of asking for ratings
>> of the ratings, I guess.  Mostly, though, I want ratings of recent
>> models, from a Linux/Debian/Ubuntu perspective as opposed to the usual
>> Windows slant.
> I'm sure there are lots of places, but from the little I have seen, they
> tend to be "10 best printers" type sites. Well-intentioned but rarely
> with anything in them you can't get from the specs.
>
>  From a Linux point of view: I have been using HP since forever, and I'
> generally happy with them, ever since I dropped my first LaserJet II
> from a desk onto a concrete floor unpacking it, picked it up, knocked
> the dent out of the paper tray, and it worked perfectly for a decade.
>
> But there are a few bobbles to every printer:
>
> 1. CUPS for Linux in the distros naturally tends to lag behind with
> drivers, so I always download HPLIP and install that. One of the reasons
> for picking HP is that there is active Linux community support. But most
> of the time, Linux identifies the printer and installs it without problems.
>
> 2. CUPS drivers are Postscript PPD files that are cross-platform, so if
> you find yours is out of date, you should in theory be able to copy the
> relevant one from an up-to-date system (eg a Mac or even a Windows box
> if you can find out where they are hidden :-) and use it to update the
> entry in CUPS (http://localhost:631 or /usr/bin/system-config-printer)
>
> 3. CUPS and the PPD files have bugs. You may find that certain features
> of your printer simply aren't available on Linux because either the
> print dialog doesn't have facilities to handle them, or it does but the
> PPD file doesn't implement them. This is a PITA. Notoriously, A3/Tabloid
> size (twice the size of A4 or Letter) fails spectacularly on big
> printers and crops the print image to A4/Letter even though it's feeding
> the large size paper: I ended up hand-editing the PPD files to fix it.
>
> 4. By far the worst aspect are the applications' print dialogs, which
> are uniformly abysmal. They are RIDDLED with bugs, and they are pretty
> much all different, so sometimes you have to use a different application
> to print a PDF because the one you usually use doesn't provide for the
> feature you want. Chromium (mine is "Version 66.0.3359.181 (Official
> Build) Built on Ubuntu , running on LinuxMint 18.3 (64-bit)"), for
> example, has no A4 paper setting! It *does* have one called "Index card
> A4 8.27 × 11.69in" which is a stupendous piece of American bogosity, and
> I have no idea where it comes from, because none of my other
> applications have it: they all have regular A4. Evince cannot use my
> printer's double-sided capability, despite it being installed and
> activated, and available in every other application. Qpdfview can't
> change the quality setting because there is no such option in its dialog
> (used to be but it's not there now). Libre Office's dialog looks like
> something from the 1990s. GIMP's is pretty much the right thing, though.
>
> I'm using a HP OfficeJet Pro 7720 printer/scanner right now. Very nice,
> but they lied about the large paper: it can print both sides on
> A4/Letter but not on A3/Tabloid, which sucks. But it can apparently also
> work as a fax machine (what's a fax, Mom?).
>
> Ratings otherwise are not likely to be different between Win/Mac/Lin, as
> once it's installed and running, it should behave identically no matter
> what computer is sending it jobs.
>
> That's the theory, at least :-)
>
> ///Peter
>
You have to be careful of the model(s) you check on. I am very happy 
with an Epson
WP-4530, which I bought a few years ago. Then I wanted a printer that 
would print
B-size (17X 22 inches) so I bought an Epson WF-7110. What a disaster. 
The color
cartridges are very small, and don't last at all, I could never get the 
thing to calibrate
completely, and the calibration process is excruciating, since it 
doesn't have the controls
that the smaller printer has. And so I gave up at one point. Then I 
decided to look at
it again--I had installed the PPD file already. When I tried to access 
it again, it came up
error. Anyone who wants it in the Long Island area can have it for 
nothing. It's
effectively brand new. (The WP-4530 is a 4 mode color printer, print, 
scan, copy and FAX.
it is probably not available any more, but if it is, it's excellent.)

I also have an HP B/W LaserJet that works well, printer only.

For what it's worth, I run PCLOS, sometimes MINT, and only when 
absolutely necessary,
Window 10.


--doug