Best printers for Linux

[Fabio7891]

Hi everybody !

I would like to change my old printer. Which are the best and Linux-friendly companies who sells printers ?

I don't want become crazy for get drivers

[NietGiftig]

Without making an advertisement for brother, they have usually Linux drivers for their printer/scanners in their downloads.
I have have a brother that works, scanner & printer.
just my 2cents

[Hoser Rob]

Hewlett Packard is the company I've seen recommended most, by far. Not necessarily their computers but defintiely the printers.

Nevertheless before buying a printer I'd be searching ubuntuforums and askubuntu for reported issues, on the ubuntu release that my Mint is based on unless you run LMDE.

[Spearmint2]

The HP Photosmart series work great. I've had them work from the D110 to the 4770 model.

Here's mine, but the Epson is gone now.

PrintersInLinux.png

[kreemoweet]

HP puts out a printer support software package specifically for Linux called "HPLIP". Most major Linux distributions have that package in their repositories.
There can sometimes be a bit of lag between the introduction of new HP printer models and its inclusion in HPLIP support. It's fairly easy to check
if any particular HP printer is supported by HPLIP by visiting its website: http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/index.html

[bodhin]

i was just going to say the re: hplip. and it works. my wife bought some higher end netwrok printer scanner and it works no problems. just not a fan of HP but that is what she bought. my canon's pooped out and their support is zero. I also hear what someone above said about brothers being good. but after mine went my wife bought hers becuaue of the scanner and fax functions so i use that.

[srq2625]

I've had great success with HP MFDs. In the most recent case, the MFD was so new that the hplip available in the repo was not new enough and I had to go the HP site to download the latest they had there. Doing this made setting up the printer and the scanner a very simple job - even on my Debian based SolydX and LMDE installs (I have more than one install).

One thing I have noticed with the two HP printers I've had, when connected to the home network via WiFi, they tend to have problems (as in frequently falling off the network - don't know exactly why as networking is not my thing) with DHCP. To fix this, I just assign them a static IP and all is right as rain.

[CebuCat]

I cannot recommend Canon. Canon don't do Linux printer driver software although there are third-party drivers available if you search hard enough for them. However, in my experience with the Canon IP2770 the third-party driver is very limited and does not exploit all the features of the printer. Not the fault of whoever had a go at writing the driver software, it's the fault of Canon. Just don't buy!

[Fabio7891]

Thank you to everybody.
So HP is the most suggested and quoted.

Right now I got a Brother DCP-130C and is super crazy.
I have installed all the drivers correctly, but even if I set the quality to maximum, the print is so so bad !
I have tried everything and I have contacted also Brother, but they haven't a nice customer service for Linux users.

[jimallyn]

Another vote for HP. Their HPLIP drivers cover just about every printer they have ever made, and HPLIP comes pre-installed in most Linux distros. Brother is also a good one, as is Epson. I will have to agree about Canon: stay away from them.

For your Brother printer, these instructions should get you up and running:

https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/15

[turtlebay]

I also say HP. About 7 or 8 years ago someone locally was going to dump an old HP Laserjet1022 because he couldn't find any Windows drivers for it. I now use it all the time and it works beautifully with Mint 17.3 and 18.1.
I also use a all in one HP Officejet 6310 also with both systems.

[bodhin]

i run a more complex distor on 3 other laptops. so i had to manually install hplip drivers - did it through synaptic, but also possible through terminal. not knowing command line stuff it works that way - with 2 laptops running mint. when you coose printer and start the selecting printer you have connected or network - from there it auto finds it and also fins the driver and then you are golden. but this may not work with all printers as i have said. this was a higher end HP print.scan/fax wireless network deal.

[JoeFootball]

I have an 5+ year old Samsung SCX-4623F (laser, black/white) which has worked effortlessly (for my needs) with Linux Mint as far back as I can recall.

Joe

[lmuserx4849]

Hi everybody !

I would like to change my old printer. Which are the best and Linux-friendly companies who sells printers ?

I don't want become crazy for get drivers

My philosophy on linux and hardware is to search for "official" sites (such as they are) that list supported, tested hardware. These may be independent organizations or distribution web sites. Then visit the manufactures web site and read forum comments. Also look for hardware reviews. Sometimes if you go to Best Buy and look at the box, it will show Tux and say Linux compatible.

Here's a few links:
- Printer Compatibility Database
- Printers @ubuntu community
- Ubuntu wiki
- HP Linux Imaging and Printing

I currently have an HP Officejet all-in-one. It works nicely. There is one oddity, which is documented in the manual and impacts not only Linux but Mac too. The bottom margin is 12mm or 0.47", and on Windows it is 3.3 mm or 0.13", which is the same as the other 3 margins.

[stanley83]

I'm using Brother MFCJ470DW I got it from Impressions in the local shopping mall. Works good, usb2 and wifi. I'm pleased that I did not take the special offer 10 ink refills for 100$ because Impressions are not in the local mall and phone inbox is full. Drivers for printer, scan okay and it does copies and fax great. Yes you get the drivers from the website. Ian.

[catweazel]

I have a Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CP225 colour laser. The printer was very cheap, and non-original refill cartridges are also very cheap. It prints great quality and all I do to install it is plug it in. I use Mint 18.2 KDE.

[bjmh46]

Previously ran nothing but HP, including a recently retired 18 yr. old dj-1120. Flawless operation on linux (various distros) since new! I have now moved to Brother wireless, both laser (HL-5370DW) and multifunction inkjet (MFC-J4620DW). HP ink prices have gotten crazy, and Brother ink is not only cheap, but the printer barely sips ink. The laser is also cheap to operate, but has a couple of quirks with linux. My workaround is to install 2 different drivers and use brgen-ml1 for web printing, and the built-in driver for everything else--clumsy but works for me! I'd stick with a company that supports linux.

Bob

[k-314]

BROTHER DCP-1512 here.

Driver support is OK. Worked under PCLinuxOS, DEBIAN and now LM18.2

[Danishmint]

I made to elderly printer work perfect in linux - after a firmware update. One was HP and the other a Brother.

[Who_G33K]

Brother MFC-J470DW

Goes very well...much better than the "mostly works" status found here: https://www.openprinting.org/printer/Br ... C-J470DW
I'm using Sarah Cinnamon.

There are a few quirks:

Requires all colours to print.
And all cartridges to print B&W

As a colour printer it works well.
As a B&W printer...needs education (control panel setting) and further instruction (always check preferences before printing). Even thought it's meant to print in B&W, somehow it defaults to colour. Maybe it's just my 'puter.

Don't print off a PDF while it's online
Save it first, and then it works fine. Otherwise it prints it all teeny-weeny and all docs on one page.