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Any Printer Working 100% Out of the Box?

Need help with peripherals or devices?
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Regev
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Any Printer Working 100% Out of the Box?

#1 Post by Regev »

Hi :)

Any printer I could use that would work on Debian 100% out of the box - without messing with page alignments, color profiles, etc?

I'll be printing A4 size pages only, maybe a dozen a month.

Thanks <3

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4D696B65
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Re: Any Printer Working 100% Out of the Box?

#2 Post by 4D696B65 »

https://openprinting.org/printers

I have had best results with HP printer/scanners. I stopped using them when I ran out of kidneys to sell to pay for the expensive ink.
I run a brother now, sometimes it works other times nothing. I use the usb slot and control panel on the front to control it. Or I print from my phone.

arochester
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Re: Any Printer Working 100% Out of the Box?

#3 Post by arochester »

Generally it's not difficult to set up a printer and not as complicated as you suggest.

I have HP Colour Laser and Brother Monochrome Laser, both thrift shop purchases.

https://lescahiersdudebutant.arpinux.or ... ig-printer

sgosnell
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Re: Any Printer Working 100% Out of the Box?

#4 Post by sgosnell »

I've never bothered with page alignment nor color profiles. Install CUPS and get on with life. You will probably have to change the page size, since most printers come with letter-size as default, but that's a feature built into any printer on any OS.
Take my advice, I'm not using it.

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Re: Any Printer Working 100% Out of the Box?

#5 Post by Bulkley »

The problem with any peripheral hardware, including printers, is that most are manufactured by companies that couldn't care two hoots about Linux. It usually takes several months for Linux developers to invent drivers for the stuff. So, from a buyer's point of view avoid cutting edge new; buy last year's model. 4D696B65, above, linked to Open Printing. Check with that list before you throw hard earned cash at a product.

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Re: Any Printer Working 100% Out of the Box?

#6 Post by arid »

Since I go months without needing to print anything, I have always bought the cheapest HP printer I can find at Wally World(Walmart). Now about $40.

Do my printing, pop the ink cartridges out of the printer and seal them up in a baggie so they don't dry out until next time.
When they do run out of ink, I dump the printer and get a new one which is usually the same cost as new ink cartridges.

I use the HPLIP software since it has always worked for me first time, every time and even the cheapest HP printers have wireless which I always use.

Sure, you can screw around with all kinds of settings but you don't have to and I never do. Prints perfectly.

Of course, that's all on sid. :mrgreen:
There's no drama in my sid......

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NFT5
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Re: Any Printer Working 100% Out of the Box?

#7 Post by NFT5 »

HP M177fw colour laser/scanner/fax which is hard wire networked. Prints out of the box on every installation and we can print from any device desktops, notebooks, tablets and phones. I like to install the HP GUI, but that's just my preference since it sits in the system area on a panel, letting me know if anything needs doing. To make installation easier system-config-printer is a great little tool.

Gave up on inkjets years ago due to the ink drying out problem and the fact that replacement ink cartridges were more expensive than buying a whole new printer. Colour lasers are really no more expensive to buy (if you shop around) and they go much longer on a cartridge set with ink drying out, nozzles clogging up all things of the past. Print quality is better too, with the only exception being photos.

Before the HP I had a similar Samsung. It too, worked out of the box after loading the driver which is readily available online. Only issue with the Sansung was that the cartridges had a little electronics board that had to be countered with each change.

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Re: Any Printer Working 100% Out of the Box?

#8 Post by golinux »

I have always used cheap HP deskjet printers but as noted cartridges dry out easily and are expensive. A month or two ago I wanted to print and there was no ink flowing. I tried some of the tricks posted on the web - hot water soak, vacuum suction and canned air into the hole on the back - and finally got it working but a bit of a pain. Good idea to store them in a baggie between prints.

Before I did triage on the cartridge, I thought I would just get a new printer but they are more expensive than they used to be (even at Wally World) and they are ALL Alexa compatible. Yikes! Everything here is wired but still the thought of that capability in my environment really creeped me out. What were they thinking!! "Dumb" appliances rule!!
May the FORK be with you!

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Re: Any Printer Working 100% Out of the Box?

#9 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

deadbang

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Re: Any Printer Working 100% Out of the Box?

#10 Post by shep »

Printer decision choices:
  1. Laserjet vs Inkjet vs Tank vs Dot Matrix vs Thermal
  • Color vs B/W
  • Networking: Wifi vs Ethernet vs None. USB or NIC cables will usually get your job to the printer faster than wireless b/g/n.
  • Printer Language: Postscript, PCL5/6, ZjStream/foo2zjs, GDI
  • Paper Handling: Duplex, photopaper
  • Consumables Cost
IMHO, a PCL6 based, B/W Laserjet should the cheapest per page. If you want to avoid PCL pre-processing, add Postscript-emulation capability.

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