Which printer would you go with?

dswissmiss · Guru Joined: 23 May 2004 Posts: 498 Location: New York

Hi,

I want to go buy myself a cheap printer soon (for college papers and such) and am trying to decide between one of these two (other suggestions within the $60 to $80 pricerange are welcome though). The most major issue is easy linux support.

Either the Epson Stylus C66

Or the Hp 3845

Thanx a lot
Dswissmiss

MetatronX99 · n00b Joined: 24 Jul 2004 Posts: 70 Location: Warren, MI

I've got an Epson c62 running perfectly with cups.

Go Epson, that way you dont have to mess with HPJIS drivers.
_________________
GCC 3.4.2-r2
Glibc 20040808 +NPTL +Prelink
Linux 2.6.9-rc2-love4
~x86 System

lotharnion · n00b Joined: 13 Sep 2003 Posts: 8

If you are going to be writing a LOT of papers, you'd do better to spend more money buying a laser. Yeah, it's nice to get a printer for $60, but you'll spend a lot more $ buying the ink cartridges all the time.

When i started college, a long while ago, I bought a laser. I changed the toner cartridge when I finished my MS degree 6 years later. I'd bet you could do the same. So, say $400 max for a nice PS laser, amortized over 6 years, or $60 plus a heck of a lot of $ in ink. You'll do better with the laser in the long run.

Dell, for example, sells a PS laser for $300 -- the 1700n:
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/print_1700n?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
_________________
Something wicked this way comes.

torchZ06 · Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 2:59 pm Post subject:

dswissmiss · Guru Joined: 23 May 2004 Posts: 498 Location: New York

well, not that many papers, plus i can use laser printers at uni if i need to. I print about 5-10 pages a week max, but i'll certainly consider your advice.

micmac · l33t Joined: 28 Nov 2003 Posts: 996

Hi,

I found myself searching for a family printer some weeks ago and someone in a German Linux forum said I should consider buying a HP DeskJet 5652. Well, I did, and it's awesome. Runs very well with Gentoo using foomatic and hpijs drivers (foomatic in case we want to have other printers as well). It's a very good printer, and one thing I like very much is the duplex unit. With this it can print both sides of a paper automatically. Best thing is it's already included.

I know it's not a cheap printer but you might want to consider this one as well.

Laters
mic

Figaro · Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 6:09 pm Post subject:

I definitely recommend the laser.

The only way an inket makes sense (unless you *need* color) is if you plan to throw the printer in the trash when the cartridge runs out. It's cheaper to buy a new printer than to pay for ink carts.

Check out TechBargains.com, they've got a link for OfficeDepot where they're selling the Samsung ML1740 laser for $68 after rebates. I got this same printer a few months ago and have been very pleased with it.

[KaRP] · Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 6:27 pm Post subject:

Hi,

I've got a Brother HL1430 (laser printer). Now in Spain it costs around 150-180¤. Works perfectly with cups!
_________________
[KaRP]
AthlonXP1700+@2200MhZ
2.6.9-gentoo
Powered by Gentoo LiNUX