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On 29/11/12 14:01, Neil Winchurst 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! > > I am not a heavy user, I am not interested in these 'all in one' > types. Fax, scanner, forget it. A wireless printer would be quite > nice, but not that important. Just a simple colour printer to produce > reasonable text and very occasional colour prints. And, of course, one > which works happily with Linux. Is that too much to ask? > > Does anyone have any recommendations please? I would like to find one > before this current one decides that enough it enough. My researches > so far are sending me crazy ..... > > In desperation, > > Neil > Well, one thing you will find is that all modern consumer-orientated inkjet printers are absolute and complete disposable trash. Just seriously buy the first random cheap one you see in Tescos on special offer - it won't cost you much more than £50 and whether you like it or not, will come with a flatbed scanner, wifi access and probably a bunch of other stuff you don't want or need. But there you go, that's what SOHO printers are these days. Ink refills are a mafia-level extortion racket these days - the printer is the first hit for free to get you hooked, the refills will cost you an arm and a leg. Expect (primarily on windows via the awful, bundled hateful software) your printer to lie to you about running out of ink regularly. Take your empty ink cartridges to one of those refill places, which will save you a bit of cash. If you don't print much you shouldn't have too much of a problem though. The only important thing you *must not deviate from* is to buy a HP printer. Others do make perfectly good printers with linux support, but don't bother. Buy a HP, end of story. I don't think I've ever seen a HP printer that hasn't worked flawlessly under linux, the configuration tools are a breeze and you might even get stuff like JetDirect thrown in on some models (you're not going to need it, buy hey). Hang on a sec - (trundles to other room to check) - right, I've apparently got a HP Deskjet 3050A all-in-one sat in the office, which I think literally cost about £50 from Tescos when I happened to need a new inkjet in a hurry. It's nothing special, but works flawlessly on Linux and Windows, has wifi which I'm not using and decent print quality. Something like that will do you fine. Cheers PS: just saw Simon's email whilst I was typing this, and I agree with everything he said. Printers are awful these days, and the old HP Laserjets were fantastic. I have an ancient 2100 model sat under the crappy all-in-one printer which is completely indestructible, never needs the toner replaced and must have done at least half a million pages in it's 15+ years of life and is still used way more than the all-in-one. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq