[GLLUG] New printer needed

[DL Neil]

On 17/10/14 08:14, Mike Brodbelt wrote:
> On 16/10/14 17:05, Alain Williams wrote:
>> * Low usage
>> * I want colour - picture quality not needed
>> * Multi function (print, scan, copy). Fax nice but not mandatory
>> * Works with Linux (CentOS 6)
>> * Consumables that do not cost the earth
> 
> I had about the same equation a while ago. I bought a HP Photosmart
> 7520. Fast printing, enclosed multi feed paper tray that takes A4 +
> smaller photo paper, decent quality for mid range photo printing, and
> the consumables are substantially cheaper than the Epson model it replaced.
> 
> Linux support has been fine, and one reason I chose it is that HP have
> been pretty good with supporting free software for quite some time now.
> Canon have been much less helpful. The printer pretty much just works
> with CUPS out of the box, and the wifi support means no long USB cable,
> and easy printer sharing. Scanning support is fine, though TBH I haven't
> used SANE much with it - I find it simpler to go stand in front of it
> and scan directly to an SD card. I only need to use SANE for high res
> scanning, and my typical use case is to scan a document and email it to
> someone - for that the automatic settings are simpler and faster.

+1 on Epson -> HP (although the world has moved-on)
-1 on Canon's state/atmosphere
+1 CentOS
The phrase "oh brother" has always summed them up for me - but others
have had happier experiences.

Have had a HP Photosmart 7510 for a couple of years now. Works well. Did
not perform a careful cost analysis - printer ink IS more expensive than
champagne (but the objective is NOT to splatter champagne over paper nor
to drink-away one's HP consumables).

>From VirtualBox I have some funnies with the system (not) recognising
the printer's built-in duplex function. Such may be complicated when I
move to another (less familiar to me) distro. Windows VMs seem to
happily share the dvc/queues/etc.

hplip, hpijs, and a GUI 'manager' are available within the CentOS repos.
My (lazy?) habit is to use hpsetup rather than cups directly, although
it rarely 'finds' the printer, so I'll manually enter a fixed IPaddr
into both DHCP and the dvc (thereafter all management is by DNS name).

Scanning 'just works'. I do prefer the software route, but for 'quick
stuff' utilise SimpleScan which (IIRC) is not in the standard repos.
Even the CO is happy with this pkg which readily enables multi-page
PDFs, page-level error deletion, cropping, and other simple stuff. The
GIMP and xSane happily handle more exacting tasks (but I am not a
graphics professional). The auto-feed facility is not currently working
- but then I've ignored the ?issue, not having a need.

Haven't looked at the 7520's specs (per Mike) but this is also A4 -
single feed (eg if you are (also) into 'recycling paper') is a bit of a
hassle. It has an extra, dinky tray/cartridge which carries 4x6
'postcard' photo paper. So running-off a photo for Mum to take home with
her is quick-and-easy - and probably doesn't even require a PC or s/w.

This model does not have fax. It is (encrypted) wi-fi (is USB but no
Ethernet) - an advantage as my switch was over-full. It offers Internet
Printing but it seemed to 'phone home' a lot, monitor Twitter, make
party plans with the wine fridge, or something; so I turned that off and
enabled the conservation auto-shutdown.

Ink arrives in FIVE cartridges: 3x color, 1x black, and 1x Photo Grey.
This is preferable to a combined color cartridge, particularly if you
have a color logo or similar which demands more of one ink. The grey is
not just useful in photo printing but seems to be employed for 'color'
documents also. Accordingly I tend to configure the default to
Black/mono printing. Supplies are readily available. The cartridges seem
to be used in several other models. There are "non-genuine" ink
suppliers too. ICC and color consistency tools are available for those
who want to go whole-hog.

My nose and chest are suspicious of laser-jets (mine is a small
office/room). My back less than fondly remembers the original LJs and
LJ+s. However modern lasers are impressive and don't seem any less
speedy to produce the first copy. They usually out-strip ink jets when
it comes to multiple copies though. Have no real experience of color
lasers on the desktop.

-- 
Regards,
=dn