On 07/14/2014 10:58 AM, Richard Lyons wrote:
On Mon, Jul 14, 2014 at 14:38:46 +0100, Brad Rogers wrote:On Mon, 14 Jul 2014 14:13:22 +0100 Richard Lyons <richard@the-place.net> wrote: Hello Richard,I see that HP and OKI both claim to offer Linux drivers, for example.With HP, by and large, you don't need to install their own drivers. Here, I install hplip and drivers (from the repos).Yes, but in fact the printing side is usually manageable -- the main problem being that CUPS mysteriously finds more and more copies of the network printer, and it is difficult to know which one to choose when setting up a new printer. The difficulty comes in persuading SANE to even see the machine on the network. Samsung have an excellent universal installer -- but when it fails on some distros, you are borked.I used to use a Business Inkjet 1200 without problems, and currently use an Officejet 6700 multifunction device (print/scan/fax). Okay, so not a laser, but even so....It is beginning to sound as though HP is the only safe way to go.
If you do happen to find a current multi-function laser printer (colour or b&w) that works just with the drivers and installers available in the main repository, please let us know.
I purchased an HP M127fn (b&w MFP) a couple of weeks ago thinking that this would be a safe bet -- just because it was an HP. But I got it home, checked the hardware compatibility lists, found absolutely nothing that even vaguely resembled the model number, and then chickened out and took it back to the store without opening it. I don't know for certain that it wouldn't have worked, but the HP Web site was kind of dodgy about providing specifics. I got the impression that I would have had to download software directly from them -- and that's in the best-case scenario.
I didn't really need the thing (already had a working inkjet MFP) and just didn't want to go through the possible hassle of using anything outside of the repos. The HP MFPs I've used have been extremely easy to install and to get all functions working -- just by using the hp-setup utility. But they've all been older models.
Good luck! Good luck.