Time for 2025 printer research!
Have been stalling getting a new printer since this HP has been doing me fine since way back. But of course we need to prepare for the inevitable firmware updates and subscription raises that will lock us in.
What I’ve heard is best:
- Laser Printers
- Brother branded
Recently though, Brother started doing the funky like all other printer companies. This stopped me last time when I was about to buy one.
I won’t get into the details as to where I’ve found and read this information because it’s in the back of my mind.
And since I’m really just here to ask: WHAT KIND OF PRINTER YOU GOT, LINUX USERS?
Preferably under $200.
EDIT: Scanning + Printer + Copier combo is the ultimate goal, but whatever else works too. Preferably wifi connected. But I can make some Ethernet cables.
BTW the Brother scare about them adding DRM that was in the news a while back turned out to be false, it was just a random guy on Reddit with a bad third-party cartridge, and Brother replied that they do not block third-party cartridges.
That said, I’m not a huge fan of their weird PPD installer on Linux that installs some random, undocumented crap
Brother, brother.
I have a Brother l8900cdw and it is a beast. Does everything well, third party toner is cheap, and I love that I can use it with Paperless to save my scans straight from the homescreen. Doesn’t make pretty pictures, but it was a panic buy during peak covid and printer shortage, and it has served well since (don’t need pictures anyhow, just text and simple graphics). Only drawback is Wake on Lan doesn’t work well, fixed by just scheduling a reboot at 10am every day.
Other drawback is my wife asking me to move it up or down 15 stairs. It sucks to pick that bastard up.
I have the same printer and it works great on Linux.
Brother HL-2270DW, $60 on craigslist, still lots of them out there.
+1 for used Brother models. Mine is a MFC 27XX YY, which has decent Linux support and accepts third-party toner without complaints.
I have a very similar Brother - HL-L2370DW. Just works with any Linux distro I’ve tried out of the box. Has wifi, USB, and ethernet, black and white laser, duplex printing. No copier functionality. Third party toner cartridges are readily available.
I have a cheap brother USB printer, the HL-L2300D. I got it for $80 refurbished. I get wifi printing with my phone through cups on my attached computer. You do need to install the ppd files from brother for optimal performance iirc.
I’ve run my business for over 25 years, and I haven’t had a printer in over two decades. I have needed to print something less than half a dozen times since making the decision to not replace it. Instead I print to PDF and if I need actual physical paper, I’ve put a PDF on a USB flash drive and taken it to my local office supplies store to print on demand.
I have a scanner, it’s been used perhaps a dozen times in the same period.
In other words, have you considered not buying a printer?
Another potential route: your public library. Mine prints for 5¢ per page and has a web interface for uploading documents from anywhere and printing them when you go in.
Along this vein, a used e-reader with a large screen has cut down my printing needs by about half. Don’t have to burn out my retinas on a backlit screen, but don’t need to print out and carry stacks of paper either.
I’ve got 2 Brother printers that work just fine with Linux Mint, the Brother L2640 and L2685. They’re both black and white toner cartridge printers that use either wireless or a USB cable connection. I print maybe a dozen pages a day on both printers and replace the cartridges ever 4-5 months or so. I can get third party replacement toner cartridges on Amazon for around $25 for a 2-pack. Replacement drums are about $25-30 every 3 years or so.
I’ve had Brother laser printers for over 15 years with my Linux machines and they’ve worked beautifully.
I have an ancient Brother laser printer that I’ve had for like 15 years. It weighs a ton, is about the size of my entire desktop computer, but it’s also never broken or fucked up in the slightest (despite having a drink spilled on it and a cat throwing up directly into the mechanisms), works on every Linux machine I’ve ever plugged it into and is still only on about it’s 2nd or 3rd toner cartridge. I genuinely think it’s going to outlive me and I’ll have to bequeath it to somebody one day.
I use Brother HLL2350DW Monochrome Compact Laser Printer with Wireless and Duplex Printing. I was pretty nervous about getting a monochrome printer because I thought “what if I need color!”, but I haven’t needed color once.
I’m on Arch btw (aspiring Guix user) and I have to use this printer driver to get the printer working: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/brother-hll2350dw
It can connect to wifi and supposedly supports driverless printing… but I haven’t been able to get that to work. (I haven’t dug too deeply.)
I don’t mind installing the driver and connecting my laptop to the printer with a USB cable. The rest of the printing experience is great! I bought this thing over 2 years ago and it’s still works like new. Zero maintenance, zero toner “ink” replacements, the printed pages are crisp.
I recently bought my parents HLL3280CDW Color Printer with Laser Quality Output, Duplex and Mobile Printing & Ethernet. Everyone says laser printers suck at printing in color, so I wanted to try one out… and people online are way overexaggerating how bad the color printing quality is. It’s actually pretty damn good. I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between an inkjet and laser color printer. Maybe if they were right next to each other and I was looking for differences, but for most people and most use cases, I don’t think anyone will notice. (Unless you need to print photos? idk.)
I’d say the biggest drawback these Brother laser printers have might be the size. My monochrome printer is not the smallest. And the color scanner/printer/copier printer I got my parents is pretty big. Ink cartridges are tiny compared to the huge toner rolls these printers use. I think the size bothers my parents a little, but I keep telling them to remember the shitty ink cartridges drying out all the time and needing constant maintenance.
Anything but inkjets, unless you are keen on printing photos. The amount of time I’ve saved on maintenance since I switched to a laser printer is astounding. Currently using an old Brother MFP I bought for $30 at the local thrift store, then $30 for a two-pack of third-party toner on eBay.
As for wireless printing, I set up an old thin client as a discrete print server.
+1 for thrifted laser. Just look for replacement toner before checking out.
Brother HL 2030, and the scanner is a Mustek 1248UB, both chosen for their Linux compatibility at the time. And most likely both discontinued.
Mustek 1248UB
I remember buying one of those from ‘Electronics Boutique’ over 20 years ago. Before they nuked all the extra PC peripherals and renamed it ‘EB Games’
