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On 29 November 2012 14:01, Neil Winchurst <barnaby@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > I have had my current printer for a long time (Epson Stylus Photo 810) and > it is starting to tell me that it is getting a bit tired. So I have been > looking around Google for a possible replacement. Now I am completely > overwhelmed by it all. Reviews are not much help. As for the cost of the > ink, that is sometimes ridiculous to the extent that one reviewer discovered > that replacing all the ink came to more than the cost of a new printer! Right. Let me get my soapbox, sure I had it around here somewhere.... Printer manufacturers have what I think are the most dishonest business practices of almost any industry I've been involved with. It's shocking and you are right to do your homework first. Not just ink prices, but ink cartridges that "expire" within a timeframe, regardless of how much ink or how good they are. I have not yet met a manufacturer that deals honestly and transparently; it could be the industry is so steeped that such a company couldn't compete when printer prices are often so low in purchase price, yet come with half-full (or less) inks. It's incomprehensible to me that the process of taking sheets of paper and putting an image on them hasn't been nailed yet. What man can do is amazing in many aspects of life, but we seem unable to build a machine that takes a piece of paper and squirts some ink on it so that it's reliable, maintainable and can use refillable containers. Well, maybe the manufacturers can make such a thing, but we as customers would still buy the "but it's five quid cheaper!" ones. So I won't recommend *any* printers! That said, I have to use them and buy a few for work. Canon are "meh, ok". Brother are "Awful, but not as awful as many" and do have reasonable CUPS support. HP have good linux support, but have some of the worst business practices and most expensive inks. (Although I have a fondness for the old Laserjet 4) Lexmark were always the worst of the worst and horrendous to support under linux, so much so I've not even looked at once for a decade, so they may be better now. Epson - as good as any of the others, but not as good as the FX-80. Now /there/ was a printer that did the job well! And almost goes without saying, once you have decided on a model, do a quick check for linux compatibility before shelling out. I very often specify network printers - both wifi and wired, they're reasonably priced now and offer more flexibility in sharing and placing especially in a family/workplace scenario. Many network printers support the universal HP Jetdirect which aids configuration too. Simon -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq