Re: [edlug] Printer recomendations

["Ed" <epo1@xxx.xxx.xxx>]

I would suggest approaching the problem from the direction of lifetime costs. 

All printers should have Windows support and most recent ones will have some degree of Linux support. Presence of parallel ports can be gleaned from specs and quality is a subjective matter.

So start by considering how much ownership will cost you over say 3 years. Calculating the likely cost of printer and ink/toner will be illuminating (paper costs can be taken as fixed in all cases). Bear in mind that most name printers are said to deliver best photo results with their own brand of paper.

E.g. ISTR HP assume a life of 3000 text sheets for an inkjet cartridge costing £25-30, this can be assumed to be VERY optimistic, possibly out by a factor of 3 or 4 if you print code listings or pages filled with text. Some printers let you exchange black ink separately from the colour ones, some don't. 

Don't be tempted to use refilled cartridges, DIY jobs are invariably hit and (often) miss, store refills leave you with no control over quality, e.g. did they fill it up? how many times has it been filled previously ...

Having found some candidates look for Linux support.

Your volume is relatively low so the costs may not differ that much but the best general advice is to get a cheap laser printer for bulk text output and a decent inkjet for occasional color work.

Ed
-----Original Message-----
From: "Grant, Andrew P (UK Edinburgh)" <andrew.p.grant@xxx.xxx.xxx>
To: edlug@xxx.xxx.xxx
Date: Tue, 04 May 2004 09:59:43 +0100
Subject: [edlug] Printer recomendations



Hope you can help me here.

Last night my elderly home H-P deskjet died and I am looking to replace it.


Requirements & Priorities
a) Linux / MS Windows compat - hence the question here
b) Parallel port - used via jetdirect box and network not server shared.
c) Cost of running
c) Quality
c) Cost of Purchase

I have always used H-P printers but am open to suggestions.

Used at home as only printer on 3 machine network by 3 people.
Difficult to estimate work load average say <100 pages per week, slow speed would be an irritant but speed is not critical
Used for mainly documents + occasional colour pictures from a digital camera.

I have looked at the linux printing database but I was looking for some real experience and ideas/sugestions.

Thanks in advance

Andrew Grant

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