[svlug] good cheap Linux-compatible printer?

[Daniel Gimpelevich]

On Wed, 16 May 2007 22:01:18 -0700, Chris Miller wrote:

> On 5/16/07, Sami Juvonen <sami at juvonen.org>
> wrote:
>> On Wed, 2007-05-16 at 19:25 -0700, Daniel Gimpelevich wrote:
>> > Avoid inkjets. Avoid Epson printers. And of course, avoid Epson inkjet
>>
>> That's a pretty sweeping statement. Could you cite some facts to support
>> your argument?
> 
> Here's the facts.
> 
> At my house, we have two printers: an HP OfficeJet G55 (inkjet) and a
> Brother HL-5140 Laser Printer.  We have to buy more ink for the HP about
> every month.  The ink costs $40 a cartridge.  The Brother laser went for
> ONE AND A HALF ****YEARS***** before needing more toner.  The toner was
> $120.  12+6 months * $40 = $720 for ink for the inkjet.  As opposed to
> $120 for the laser.  What about initial costs of the printer?
> 
> Brother: $300
> HP: $60
> 
> The Brother printer more than paid for itself within 1.5 years.  That
> statistic speaks for itself my friend.  Do yourself and your wallet a
> favor - get a good laser printer and spare yourself the hole in the
> wallet.
> 
> The other advantage to the Brother HL-5140 is that it has a built-in
> networking port, so there's no need for an external print server. Local
> machines can just connect and print so long as they can get past our
> hardware firewall.
> 
> Just some food for thought...

The above is the explanation for the "avoid inkjets" part. The "avoid
Epson" part is not as easy to get someone who's never owned one to
understand, so I won't attempt to condense such a rant into a mailing
list message. BTW, when I said my Epson inkjet cost more than a good color
laser, I was referring _only_ to the initial cost of the printer itself!
However, that was 1999. Anybody who buys any inkjet today has to be a
stubborn fool whose head is firmly in the sand.