New Printer?

[AussieJohn]

Hello Mysti. That is how I was able to find the reference to the model check I did earlier in my previous post.

 

Good to spell out the method.

 

Cheers. John.

 

PS. I also think it is disgusting that CANON virtually forces you to pay a quite greedy third party such as Turboprint to run CANON printers on linux.

 

JB

Edited March 2, 2006 by AussieJohn

[sunshine13]

Hi Clevedonal

Just to say I have a epson r200 running on mandriva 2006 and everything seems to work ok.

Mandriva installed the drivers and they seem to work fine for me. I print cd s more than photo's so this was the best option for me and I have been getting my ink from choice stationary for some years now with no problems.

To print cd s download the cd covers from the internet and then open them with gimp, make sure you select the right printer (not default) then you get the option to print to 5 inch cd then you are away.

I have found copying cd s using K3b and printing with gimp easier than using nero and epson cd creator in windows xp. :D

 

Hope this helps

[iphitus]

I'll have to disagree entirely with everything said about HP thus far.

 

We've had 4 hp inkjets, a deskjet 660C, deskjet 5550, photosmart 7550 and I forget the model of the fourth, it's similar to the deskjet 5550 though. All of them still work, even the 660C which we bought for our 486 far too many years ago. That's a real testament to their build quality.

 

At his workplace my father uses HP exclusively and he has had no problems, he's got a range of multi function devices, lasers and inkjets ranging over years of HP's products. At least 50, if not more. Thus far, he's yet to have a dud.

 

I hear shocking things about HP's support in the US. Which is a real pity, as their support here in Australia is awesome. One of the multifunction devices my father used had a problem with it's firmware, HP came onto site, and replaced the firmware card the next day, free of charge.

 

As for criticisms of HP's drivers. I disagree again. HP have the most developed drivers out there from any of the printing companies. kudos to them for actually releasing and developing their own linux drivers unlike other vendors whose printers drivers been developed by the community through documentation provided by the manufacturer, or there are no drivers at all.

 

James

[tyme]

you can try using mandriva's hardware compatibility database to look for a printer that's fully supported.

[Gowator]

Canon has the best printers, and scant to nonexistent Linux support.

Epson has exhellent Linux support, and their printers are quite good for the price.

HP - I wouldn't bother at all... crap hardware as well as the worst customer support on planet earth. The fact they do deliver half baked Linux drivers doesn't help at all.

Verdict is, go Epson, or if you don't mind shedding some extra 30$, the Canon+ Turboprint commercial driver (checkout their compatibility list first) is a good candidate.

The choice is yours.

I have to disagree here. IMHO Canon has some good printers but definitely not the best. The best printers, from a professional point of view (e.g. large-scale printing) are made by Xerox, HP and Agfa. From those, only HP has decent support for Linux.

 

Btw, I have a HP 1020 LaserJet next to this box and it works well, although the USB detection is a bit buggy (I have to upload the firmware manually after activating the printer... this sucks. But the print-result is okay).

The problem is that 99% of the HP hardware is good but they build in one part to fail.

The laserjet L-series engine and workings is the same as the professional models, they just build in a part which will wear out. On for instance the 4L-6L series this is just one wheel made of very soft plastic, if you have a brother with a laser-cutting jig and can make a replacement wheel the printer will work nearly forever for home use (guess who has a brother :wink:)

 

HP professional printers on the other hand are firmware sabotaged. Usually when you switch one on a hidden series of keystrokes allows you to access a special menu that only HP certified engineers have access to.

This is basically a sabotage setting when you can program in an error message after X copies or Xtime and the machine will stop working until you call out a HP engineer who will simply reset the counter.

 

I hear shocking things about HP's support in the US. Which is a real pity, as their support here in Australia is awesome. One of the multifunction devices my father used had a problem with it's firmware, HP came onto site, and replaced the firmware card the next day, free of charge.

HP Europe support is the same. Wait until your father wants to change a printer to a non-HP one and the engineer see's. Its largely the same with HP sacientific equipment like Mass-specs, only HP certified engineers with the book of secret codes can perform certain service actions or clear them.

Of course so long as you maintain HP service contracts the support is excellent

 

As for criticisms of HP's drivers. I disagree again. HP have the most developed drivers out there from any of the printing companies. kudos to them for actually releasing and developing their own linux drivers unlike other vendors whose printers drivers been developed by the community through documentation provided by the manufacturer, or there are no drivers at all.

 

Those who remember Windows 3.1 etc. remember the HP provided drivers which were rather incidious. They replaced the Win31 PrintManager with a HP hacked version which albeit added some advanced support but also prevented other printers working properly or constantly caused hassle when installing other HP stuff, for instance if you deinstalled the driver you ended up with no printmanger at all or still the HP one ...

 

In many ways this is just a reflection of HP history as a scientific instrument maker. Like the old IBM they sell service and support contracts, not printers/scanners or mass-specs. They are just tuned into this business model where they expect 100% cxontrol of the environment and no competition.

Like the Mass-specs, you have to run a HP-UX network and use HP software like the LIMS (lab information management service) all of which is 'extra'. you can't just buy the mass-spec because its part of a set of packages.

 

In other words HP likes to position itself as a "business partner" not as a equipment providor but they meddle in the mass market of PC's.

See a Aussie case here http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/0,39023165,39150193,00.htm

 

This is because HP doesn't 'sell printers' any more than a drug dealer sells syringes. It just sells ink and aims to do this by a monoply or near monopoly. HP owns more than 50% of the US ink-cartridge market ..

 

Its interesting that an IBM subsidiary Lexmark are in the same game

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,109282,00.asp

 

The bottom line is if HP made cars you would only get them serviced at a HP dealership otherwise the engine would cut out. You would have to buy HP fuel and HP coolant and oils...

This isn't acceptable in the car market

At the other end it is established practice in scientific equipment contracts.... (HP's origins)

 

Where do PC's lie?

Well IMHO in the middle, a home PC is just an appliance, you don't expect to have to buy brand X washing powder for your washing machine or special Sony CD's for your (oops lets scrap that line :wink:)

On the other hand business often just lease PC's and many want intergrated support contracts.

 

HP is stuck in the middle, its like a company started making launderette washing machines and then branched into home ones. It still has problems letting go of having its engineers not also act as salemen... and in relinquishing control to the person buying ther product.

 

Look at it like MS in reverse, they are trying to bulid into the lease model with MSCE's and complete control of the environment having come from completely the opposite environment.

[scarecrow]

AsGowator said, HP support in Europe also blows bigtime, and the worst example is probably my country (Greece).

I still have a 12-year old Deskjet 320 portable printer which up to date REALLY works fine (errr, not really: unable to find replacement cartridges since quite some time), but that does not mean the current models aren't badly made and/or serviced.