[plug] finding a midland person who can advise me re printers compatible with Linux and Ubuntu 7.4

[Paul Antoine]

For those on the list seeking a very cheap laser printer, I have a 
Lexmark e120n which I bought from, of all places, Australia Post.  They 
had a special back in October last year which if you ask nicely will 
*still* be honored offering the *networked* (ethernet 10/100 and USB2) 
e120n PCL6 compatible laser printer with 1/2-full cartridge for $129. I 
got it with an additional 5000 sheet cartridge for $199 all up.

Pretty good value for money, completely Ubuntu/Linux friendly, and 
easily shared on a family/SOHO network.  Printing occurs at 21 pages per 
minute I must say I'm hugely impressed.

When I asked the very friendly folks at the Broadway Fair Australia Post 
shop in Nedlands they told me there are plenty (130+) left in the 
warehouse and that they'd get one in for anyone wanting one. I bought 
mine in July so they *may* have gone, but it didn't seem like they were 
moving quickly.

Regards,
Paul

Bret Busby wrote:
> On Wed, 17 Oct 2007, Peter F Bradshaw wrote:
> 
>>
>> Hi Diana;
>>
>> On Thu, 11 Oct 2007, Diana Rose Yoka wrote:
>>
>>> Dear anyone, hope this email finds you well and happy.
>>> I'm in the process of writing my family history and
>>> will eventually need a printer and scanner. I have a
>>> USB (thumb) drive but it deleted my files, so
>>> fortunately I put a basic draft on a floppy which has
>>> been put into the desktop..hope this makes sense to
>>> you, I'm in my 60's and an older girl is capable of
>>> learning new tricks. warm wishes diana carew-reid
>>
>> I can recomend the Canon "Canoscan LiDE 25" as a scanner. It is
>> avaliable for about $100 and is compatible with "Sane" - which is the
>> Linux subsystem for scanners.
>>
>> WRT printers my recomendation is not to buy one at all. Unless you are
>> in a situation where you need to use a printer every day they are more
>> trouble than they are worth. When you are ready to print to paper it is
>> easier to format the output (possibly in the form of PDF files) and take
>> that down to a secretarial service.
>>
>>>
>>
> 
> Since this thread has been revived...
> 
> I have an HP PSC 1410 (I don't know whether they are still available - 
> printer/mutipurpose things seem to be brought out one month, and gone 
> the next month), and, using it with Debian 4.0, it works well, so it 
> should work okay with Ubuntu 7.4.
> 
> It is more or less "Plug-n-Play", and scans well with xsane, as well as 
> printing.
> 
> That would probably do the job for you, if you can find one to buy. I 
> think this one cost about $60, at a Tandy shop, or at Big W or K-mart. I 
> have two of them - one was bought at a Tandy shop, and, the other was 
> bought at Big W or K-mart.
> 
> In looking at the MCG web site (www.mcgtech.com.au), a similar-looking 
> unit is the HP DJF2180 for $61. I do not know whether that would work 
> with Linux. I have also seen advertisements for the Deskjet F380, which 
> looks similar.
> 
> I do not know whether your Ubuntu is installed on a desktop computer or 
> a laptop computer, but, if it is installed on a laptop computer, the 
> easy thing would be to take the computer (with the Ubuntu disks, if you 
> have them, for printer drivers), to a shop that sells one (or both) of 
> these printers, and tell the shop assistant that you want to find 
> whether the printer will work, both as a printer, and, as a scanner, 
> with your computer. As Ubuntu 7.4 should be very much plugnplay for such 
> things, if the printer/scanner will work with it, that should be able to 
> be found,by plugging it into the computer, which should automatically 
> detect the device.
> 
> I also have a cheap laser printer - a Samsung ML2010 that I bought from 
> PLE (www.ple.com.au) in Bentley, for around $120. That also works 
> without any significant problems (although I had a slight problem 
> initially, with its driver installation - the problem and solution 
> should be in the list archive). On the printer box, and in the 
> brochures, Samsung makes a point of advising that it is compatible with 
> various Linux districubtions, which to me means that Samsung is saying 
> "Hey, our printer works with Linux, and we support Linux".
> 
> One thing that occurred to me, as a fellow genealogist - are you looking 
> for an A4 printer, or an A3 printer?
> 
> I know that an A3 printer is quite a useful thing to have, in genealogy, 
> and, I had one at one stage - a cheap Canon bubblejet printer 
> (unfortunately, it was a GDI printer, and, at that time, GDI printers 
> did not work with Linux), that Canon discontinued, as it was about as 
> expensive as an A4 inkjet printer - about $300 at the time.
> 
> I think that HP has an A3 printer, for around $300, now, but I do not 
> know much about its compatibility with Linux.
> 
> One place that I suggest that you look, is the web site at 
> http://openprinting.org/printer_list.cgi . You would need to find a 
> printer that sounds good to you (for price, functionality, etc), get the 
> brand and model number, and have a look on that web site, for what it 
> says about the printer model.
> 
> My Samsung laser printer is rated as Perfect, from memory, and, the HP 
> PSC1410 is rated as Mostly (as in most of the functionality works), from 
> memory, so you should be able to easily find a desirable printer with 
> one of those ratings.
> 
> I hope that this is helpful.
> 
> -- 
> Bret Busby
> Armadale
> West Australia
> ..............
> 
> "So once you do know what the question actually is,
>  you'll know what the answer means."
> - Deep Thought,
>   Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
>   "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
>   A Trilogy In Four Parts",
>   written by Douglas Adams,
>   published by Pan Books, 1992
> 
> ....................................................
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