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.

  • paequ2@lemmy.today
    6·
    22 hours ago

    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.