[SOLVED]I need a new Printer, but which way to go, your imput please

[Brickwizard]

Ok so in the last 20 yrs, I have had both Lexmark and HP, currently I have 2 HP's one 14 yr old photosmart [it scans but won't print anything] and an envy all-in-one about 5 years old [won't scan and will only recognise black ink] I am now fed up with HP and their policies
So I am looking for a replacement for home use, I have found 2 candidates Epson Expression Home XP-2205 and Canon PIXMA MG3650S
any of you have any experience with these [or similar models] are there any problems in setting up and getting working, my leaning is towards the Epsom.

Your comments and experiences welcome

Brian

 

[Dart]

After a few bouts with HP and others. I switched to Epson. I've had it for roughly three years now. It's a tank!
I went for the MFC-L3770CDW. It AIN'T CHEEP!!! It's an all in one, print/duplex, fax, copy, scan, wired/wireless. It was around $450 when I bought it, it's up to $500 now. But, after three years I rarely have had to change a cartridge. I don't print a who lot, but it does see a decent amount of usage. Just don't skimp on the cartridges and it'll just keep going. I know... I tried skimping and got bit. No damage, other than to the wallet. Ouch. There are some more reasonably priced models depending on your needs. Just my 2¢

 

[sphen]

We buy only laser printers. We prefer laser printers because the cost per page is low and they last a long time. Laser printers print well even if they have been sitting idle for weeks. They are expensive, but durable.

-> Laser printers are NOT a good choice for printing photos.

For photos, it is cheaper and better quality to print them using a service by mail or at a local store, like the big blue retail store or one of the local pharmacies. That is true for laser or inkjet printers.

. . . . .

Edit, added after reading @Dart's post above:

The "MFC-L3770CDW" Dart mentions above is a Brother model, not an Epson. Our current laser printer is a Brother "MFC-L8900CDW". We bought it in 2017. For us, it has been "a tank" too.

 

[kc1di]

I have hp's right now but did have a Brother Lazer printer in my last office before retiring and it work fine with Linux. Was just a solid machine. Don't remember the model # though. Good luck in your search.

 

[MattWinter]

Personally, I've never owned a printer I liked. We just go down to the library on the rare occasions we need to print something.

 

[bwingbob]

I have a Cannon PIXMA TS3300 K10509 all in one and it works fine on Mint and Pop_OS!. It is supported by Linux Zero config printing so it just shows up as available whenever its turned on.

We are not big printer users so we have only used it for light printing, tax documents etc. We use the scan function more than the print function. I caught it on sale at Christmas 5 or 6 years ago for $9 US, it has been a good investment.

Bob

 

[Thunderpants]

Another vote for laser printers. High reliability and minimal running expenses. Most HP and Brother models work perfectly with Linux.

 

[osprey]

Maybe worth a read:

CUPSDriverlessPrinting - Debian Wiki

wiki.debian.org

 

[bob466]

Ok so in the last 20 yrs, I have had both Lexmark and HP, currently I have 2 HP's one 14 yr old photosmart [it scans but won't print anything] and an envy all-in-one about 5 years old [won't scan and will only recognise black ink] I am now fed up with HP and their policies
So I am looking for a replacement for home use, I have found 2 candidates Epson Expression Home XP-2205 and Canon PIXMA MG3650S
any of you have any experience with these [or similar models] are there any problems in setting up and getting working, my leaning is towards the Epsom.

Your comments and experiences welcome

Brian

Have a look here...post 87 and 89.

https://www.linux.org/threads/mint-21-1-vera-looking-good-for-christmas.43163/page-5

 

[MikeWalsh]

@Brickwizard :-

My elderly Epson Stylus SX218 ( a fore-runner of the enterprise-class "WorkForce" series) must be getting on for 12 yrs old now. But I've been an Epson user since time out of mind. I've never used anything else; it prints, scans, copies, does everything I want from a printer. And it's built like a brick outhouse; some describe them as 'agricultural', but they DO seem to chug away for ever....and ever.....and...well; ya get the picture.

Drivers are a piece of cake to install, so long as ya do 'em in the right order....

WICreset for Epson, which allows you to reset the waste pad usage counter, shows that I'm only 42% of the way to needing to change the waste pad. I should get another 12 years out of it, at least! And everybody and his dog does cartridges for them; I get mine from Prink.co.uk.....£18 for a 16-pack (4 cyan, 4 magenta, 4 yellow & 4 black...)

Which goes to show how little use it gets in real terms. I probably print just enough to prevent print-head clogging/drying-out (which I've never suffered from....yet.) It'll copy as well as it did when new; scan a sheet and it'll spit out a copy. Who needs photocopiers, huh?

I used to use Epson's own IScan! utility. But in recent years, it's become more problematic; I keep getting an 'out-of-memory' error when I go to specify where to save an item??!? (What, with 32 GB of the stuff???) I gave it up as a bad job; I now use the KDE Project's 'Skanlite', which frankly just works better...

Perhaps I've just been lucky with this particular one. Couldn't say. But, it "works" for me. I'm well satisfied with it.....and it's certainly paid for itself, over & again.


Mike.

 

[Brickwizard]

Thanks for the input, I would love a laser printer, but for the amount I do, It would be an extravagance,
In the end, I went for the Epsom as I use more 120/160/200 gms presentation paper than anything else [I make my own greeting cards]
Thanks for the warning on setting it up, I have downloaded the Linux driver for it, did hit a sticky point, one dependency is no longer available since about 2017, after extensive searching I finally managed to find a downloadable copy on a Red Hat site as a deb file,
all ready for its arrival [hopefully on my morrow].

 

[MikeWalsh]

@Brickwizard :-

Heh. Yah, I'm another that does his own greetings cards. I 'assemble' mine using modifiable templates at Canva.com, then download 'em & print 'em off.

I'd forgotten all about that dependency! It's the "lsb-release" thing, yes? Where did you find it, BTW? I ask because, although I use a "date-sensitive" set of drivers that date from around the time the printer was built, I have tried to update the drivers before now, and ran into that same issue myself.....and there's no indication in the terminal read-out as to where you can actually obtain "lsb-release". So, a 'pointer' would be appreciated!

What is it, anyway?


Mike.

 

[KGIII]

Hmm... 'lsb_release' just prints out information about your distribution. For example, 'lsb_release -a'.

 

[ML_113]

on a Red Hat site as a deb file,

Did I read it right... ?

 

[charlie.corder]

Good morning @Brickwizard , or afternoon where you are,
I also am done with HP stuff.
I'm on Linux Mint 21.1 vera.
Bought a Canon Pixma MG2500 a couple of months ago. No problem with any part of it. Plugged it in and it worked, without any further attention.
I have a very nice HP Laser Jet as a doorstop. Never have been able to get the darned thing working. I have tried on various Linux distros. HP does not work well for me.
For printers, Canon. For computers, Dell.
OG TC

 

[Brickwizard]

Well I'm getting there, after 4 hrs buggering around with the printer i picked up last night, I took it back because it had a fault, no trouble swapping it, new one 15 mins and up and printing well, only thing I can't get working is the scanner but that can wait, I can finally do some printing

 

[MikeWalsh]

@Brickwizard :-

Heh. Some years back, Epson downloads would consist of a printer driver, a scanner 'data' package, and a scanner driver. The way that Epson & Avasys between them had written things, you had to install the scanner 'data' package before the scanner driver, because the driver package needed to 'read' certain items from the 'data' package before it would complete installing.

Nowadays, the scanner driver appears to be an all-in-one 'combo' thing, so I'm not quite sure how this now works. I'm guessing the older 'data' package might have installed lsb-core as part of the package, 'cos this seems to be the one thing current drivers constantly complain about being 'missing'. Either that, or the need for reading from 'lsb-release' is a more recent requirement.

It's anybody's guess. But, while my older 'date-sensitive' drivers keep working for me, I'll keep using them. The only Puppy that's given me any issues so far has been Fossapup.....and luckily, those were quite easy to work around.

What's the issue with the scanner ATM?


Mike.

 

[Brickwizard]

Final report
After another couple of hours sorting the SANE dependencies, the scanner now works, Its a lot slower than the old HP scanners, but I can put up with that,

thanks to all

 

[Dart]

Edit, added after reading @Dart's post above:

The "MFC-L3770CDW" Dart mentions above is a Brother model, not an Epson. Our current laser printer is a Brother "MFC-L8900CDW". We bought it in 2017. For us, it has been "a tank" too.

Yea... That's what I get for multitasking. LOL
I was working on a problem with my sisters's Epson... And it stuck!