Discussion:
Need recommendation for good MFP
Dan Egli
2014-09-30 08:47:00 UTC
Permalink
Hey Pluggers,

In the next couple of months I'll be buying a new printer. I'm looking for
some recommendations for a printer that can be used for my system. The
features I'd like to see are:

Multi-Function (required, fax isn't important as I won't use the fax
feature if present)
Color (required)
Laser (preferred, but Inkjet is not completely out of the question)
Duplex [dual-sided] print capable (required)
Multi-paper tray support (preferred, not required)
Ethernet and/or Wi-Fi connectable (preferred)
Good Linux Support (obviously required, especially in the scanner portion)
An Auto-Document Feeder on the scanner would be a nice plus, but hardly a
requirement. :) Especially as I'm not 100% sure I could tell the scanner
via Linux/SANE to scan multiple pages via the ADF. :S

I've used HP printers in the past, to good effect. But I have never used
one of their MFPs, let alone a color laser, so I don't know how they stack
up on that field. The chatter on the list several months ago about HP
putting page counters in the cartridges to force people to change the
cartridge even when it's not quite empty worries me though. As far as
inkjet printers, my experience has been exclusively Canon and HP. Of the
two, I found HP of a superior print quality, but found the Canon printer
was nicer in that it let me replace each color independently rather than
just a "color cartridge".

I don't plan on printing very many photos or anything, so I don't
anticipate super expenses on the color ink/toner. It would be awesome if
the separate colors could be replaced independently, but somehow I doubt
that's going to be likely in a laser system, which just sucks (but I freely
admit I could be wrong). It will mostly be for printing documents, plus web
pages and the like. Maybe a few photos every year on the outside.

I can afford to spend a bit on this printer if I need to, but I would still
prefer to keep the price as low as I can, as I'm sure everyone can
understand. I can easily spend $250, and if absolutely necessary, I think I
can stretch that to $400. But $400 is my absolute maximum! Less is greatly
preferred, as long as print quality and ink/toner usage doesn't suffer
because of it.

Any recommendations are appreciated.

--- Dan

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Tod Hansmann
2014-09-30 14:26:41 UTC
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Post by Dan Egli
Hey Pluggers,
In the next couple of months I'll be buying a new printer. I'm looking for
some recommendations for a printer that can be used for my system.
Look at Brother for your needs. I've never seen a Brother people weren't
still happy with years later, though I'm sure they're out there. They're
probably the best bang for your buck in most categories, and a couple MFPs
of theirs have treated my various employers' well over the years. I hope
they have something you'll be satisfied with in your requirements.

Cheers,
-Tod Hansmann

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Levi Pearson
2014-09-30 15:08:08 UTC
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Post by Tod Hansmann
Look at Brother for your needs. I've never seen a Brother people weren't
still happy with years later, though I'm sure they're out there. They're
probably the best bang for your buck in most categories, and a couple MFPs
of theirs have treated my various employers' well over the years. I hope
they have something you'll be satisfied with in your requirements.
Yeah, I have a Brother color laser MFC and it works great. I haven't
actually used it from Linux much as I rarely print anything myself, but it
has built-in WiFi and auto-discovery via mDNS, and I think I have printed
from Linux before.

If you are not printing color very regularly, I would strongly suggest a
laser, as you don't get dried ink issues and never have to run ink-wasting
cleaning cycles. I realize they work great for some, but I hate ink-jet
printers with a passion.

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Joel Finlinson
2014-09-30 19:39:58 UTC
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Post by Tod Hansmann
Look at Brother for your needs. I've never seen a Brother people weren't
still happy with years later, though I'm sure they're out there. They're
probably the best bang for your buck in most categories, and a couple
MFPs
Post by Tod Hansmann
of theirs have treated my various employers' well over the years. I hope
they have something you'll be satisfied with in your requirements.
I've installed 5 or 6 of these units in the past couple of months:

http://store.hp.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/us/en/hp-laserjet-pro-200-color-mfp-m276nw

They've been working well.

I like that they have separate toner for each color (yellow, red, blue, and
black).

One benefit that is very nice: easily configured to scan to the desktop via
the network (push or pull).

Wireless printing is also available. You can print to the device's email
address from any other device (ipads, droids, whatever).

I was pleasantly surprised. I like and recommend Brother MFP laser
devices too.

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Daniel Fussell
2014-09-30 19:56:28 UTC
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Post by Joel Finlinson
http://store.hp.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/us/en/hp-laserjet-pro-200-color-mfp-m276nw
They've been working well.
I like that they have separate toner for each color (yellow, red, blue, and
black).
One benefit that is very nice: easily configured to scan to the desktop via
the network (push or pull).
Wireless printing is also available. You can print to the device's email
address from any other device (ipads, droids, whatever).
I was pleasantly surprised. I like and recommend Brother MFP laser
devices too.
Be aware that HP semi-recently stopped using their own JetDirect OS and
PalmOS on printers and started using Windows Embedded. It caused me a
bit of grief when some of the standard SNMP OIDs I depend on where
changed and/or ceased to exist in their new agent.

;-Daniel

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Paul Seamons
2014-09-30 15:12:35 UTC
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We have a Brother MFC 9560CDW - got it at costco online.

Copy/Fax/Scan, color laser, duplex, bed and sheet fed scanner, usb
print/scan, copier, wifi enabled, only 1 paper tray, custom sheet
feeder, we only use Linux and android in our house (drivers are just
great), you actually can use brscan to tell the scanner to use the adf.

Cartridge prices are reasonable.

Paul
Post by Dan Egli
Hey Pluggers,
In the next couple of months I'll be buying a new printer. I'm looking for
some recommendations for a printer that can be used for my system. The
Multi-Function (required, fax isn't important as I won't use the fax
feature if present)
Color (required)
Laser (preferred, but Inkjet is not completely out of the question)
Duplex [dual-sided] print capable (required)
Multi-paper tray support (preferred, not required)
Ethernet and/or Wi-Fi connectable (preferred)
Good Linux Support (obviously required, especially in the scanner portion)
An Auto-Document Feeder on the scanner would be a nice plus, but hardly a
requirement. :) Especially as I'm not 100% sure I could tell the scanner
via Linux/SANE to scan multiple pages via the ADF. :S
I've used HP printers in the past, to good effect. But I have never used
one of their MFPs, let alone a color laser, so I don't know how they stack
up on that field. The chatter on the list several months ago about HP
putting page counters in the cartridges to force people to change the
cartridge even when it's not quite empty worries me though. As far as
inkjet printers, my experience has been exclusively Canon and HP. Of the
two, I found HP of a superior print quality, but found the Canon printer
was nicer in that it let me replace each color independently rather than
just a "color cartridge".
I don't plan on printing very many photos or anything, so I don't
anticipate super expenses on the color ink/toner. It would be awesome if
the separate colors could be replaced independently, but somehow I doubt
that's going to be likely in a laser system, which just sucks (but I freely
admit I could be wrong). It will mostly be for printing documents, plus web
pages and the like. Maybe a few photos every year on the outside.
I can afford to spend a bit on this printer if I need to, but I would still
prefer to keep the price as low as I can, as I'm sure everyone can
understand. I can easily spend $250, and if absolutely necessary, I think I
can stretch that to $400. But $400 is my absolute maximum! Less is greatly
preferred, as long as print quality and ink/toner usage doesn't suffer
because of it.
Any recommendations are appreciated.
--- Dan
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Chris Wood
2014-09-30 15:59:41 UTC
Permalink
Post by Dan Egli
Hey Pluggers,
In the next couple of months I'll be buying a new printer. I'm looking for
some recommendations for a printer that can be used for my system. The
Multi-Function (required, fax isn't important as I won't use the fax
feature if present)
Color (required)
Laser (preferred, but Inkjet is not completely out of the question)
Duplex [dual-sided] print capable (required)
Multi-paper tray support (preferred, not required)
Ethernet and/or Wi-Fi connectable (preferred)
Good Linux Support (obviously required, especially in the scanner portion)
An Auto-Document Feeder on the scanner would be a nice plus, but hardly a
requirement. :) Especially as I'm not 100% sure I could tell the scanner
via Linux/SANE to scan multiple pages via the ADF. :S
I've used HP printers in the past, to good effect. But I have never used
one of their MFPs, let alone a color laser, so I don't know how they stack
up on that field. The chatter on the list several months ago about HP
putting page counters in the cartridges to force people to change the
cartridge even when it's not quite empty worries me though. As far as
inkjet printers, my experience has been exclusively Canon and HP. Of the
two, I found HP of a superior print quality, but found the Canon printer
was nicer in that it let me replace each color independently rather than
just a "color cartridge".
We had an HP color laser MFP at my last company that I purchased
(about $700) and it was a disappointment compared to HP high volume
black and white lazer printers. After only a couple of months it
started putting lines on the paper. The ink was expensive and ran out
fast. It was not as well built as my black and white Brother MFP at
home. If I had anything nice to say about the HP was that it could be
configured to scan files to a folder on a network server (including
using a login with active directory) and it could be configured to
scan to email via SMTP.

I would echo what another person said about inkjet -- they dry up and
clog if you aren't regularly using them.
--
Chris Wood
-=-=-=-=-=-=-

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Joel Finlinson
2014-09-30 19:43:54 UTC
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Post by Dan Egli
Hey Pluggers,
<snip>
We had an HP color laser MFP at my last company that I purchased
(about $700) and it was a disappointment compared to HP high volume
black and white lazer printers. After only a couple of months it
started putting lines on the paper.
I had this problem and after trying many different things to solve it,
the solution (after talking to HP tech support) was to plug the device
directly into the wall plug (not into a power strip or a UPS first). Once
it was plugged directly into the wall, the streaks disappeared.

Joel

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Troy Wolfe
2014-09-30 19:48:28 UTC
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All laser manufacturers recommend direct wall plugs from what I have seen.
Post by Joel Finlinson
Post by Dan Egli
Hey Pluggers,
<snip>
We had an HP color laser MFP at my last company that I purchased
(about $700) and it was a disappointment compared to HP high volume
black and white lazer printers. After only a couple of months it
started putting lines on the paper.
I had this problem and after trying many different things to solve it,
the solution (after talking to HP tech support) was to plug the device
directly into the wall plug (not into a power strip or a UPS first). Once
it was plugged directly into the wall, the streaks disappeared.
Joel
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Gabriel Gunderson
2014-09-30 16:37:55 UTC
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Post by Dan Egli
Any recommendations are appreciated.
I recommend against a multifunction printer.

It goes against one of the core Unix philosophies: Make each printer
do one thing well.


Sorry, I don't try to be unhelpful; it's just the thing that comes
most effortlessly to me.



Gabe

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Tod Hansmann
2014-09-30 19:12:25 UTC
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Post by Gabriel Gunderson
Post by Dan Egli
Any recommendations are appreciated.
I recommend against a multifunction printer.
It goes against one of the core Unix philosophies: Make each printer
do one thing well.
Sorry, I don't try to be unhelpful; it's just the thing that comes
most effortlessly to me.
He was born that way. We try to help him cope. Every day's a struggle.

-Tod Hansmann

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Paul Seamons
2014-09-30 20:00:11 UTC
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It does do one thing well - it handles all of my dead tree interactions.

Paul
Post by Tod Hansmann
Post by Gabriel Gunderson
Post by Dan Egli
Any recommendations are appreciated.
I recommend against a multifunction printer.
It goes against one of the core Unix philosophies: Make each printer
do one thing well.
Sorry, I don't try to be unhelpful; it's just the thing that comes
most effortlessly to me.
He was born that way. We try to help him cope. Every day's a struggle.
-Tod Hansmann
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