Looking for the best 100% Linux compatible All in one printer !

[SokaMoka]

My Lexmark just died, and the only function that were working under Linux in it was the printing function, other than that it was worthless.
I need an All In One printer that will work for sure under Linux including scanning and one button copy functionality.
I need to order it today as I will be needing it a lot by the end of next week.
So start shooting me suggestions

 

[Nothinman]

My only printing experience is with good laserjets at work, but IMO all of those all-in-one printers are crap, I'm even surprised that the printing functionality worked in Linux since most of them are WinPrinters.

If I was you, my first stop would be to http://www.linuxprinting.org/

 

[SokaMoka]

Originally posted by: Nothinman
My only printing experience is with good laserjets at work, but IMO all of those all-in-one printers are crap, I'm even surprised that the printing functionality worked in Linux since most of them are WinPrinters.

If I was you, my first stop would be to http://www.linuxprinting.org/

Looks like a good place to start, I was first planning on getting an HP, but now I am split in between an EPSON and an HP they are almost the same price but I am tending more towards the EPSON from former experiences but I don't know much about their Linux support as opposed to HP's support.

And concerning the Lexmark All in one that I used to have, well it was a PITA to get it to work, I was running Fedora Core 4 back then and the only documentation that I found helpful was this one from gentoo-wiki and I had to work around the differences.

But I am sick of all of this I want to get something that I know will just get the job done and with all features that the printer has enabled and running.

 

[P0ldy]

You might want to check out Samsung printers. When I got mine (not an all-in-one), the manual actually came with instructions for setting it up in Linux. While I haven't done it, I assume they have better support in Linux because of it.

 

[cleverhandle]

Purely as a guess, I would think that HP multi-function units are more likely to work because HP has actually cooperated with OSS and created/contributed an official driver that handles many of their products. To what extent that driver supports the various multi-function options or how up to date it is I don't know.

 

[drag]

HP printers are the ones to aim for.

I have a HP PSC 1210v multifunction and it works very well. I just have to install the hplip stuff from apt-get. Yes it is a POS, but so are all printers in this class. Mine works almost perfectly. Paid something like a hundred bucks for it from walmart. Dirt cheap, the scanner is pretty nice, and the print quality is ok. I don't need a printer for much stuff, but when I do this thing fills the bill nicely.

If you are planing on doing lots of printing then avoid cheap models. They use ink fast with lots of printing and the ink is also more expensive. Nicer printers print faster and are cheaper on the ink. They have a list of recommended printer models in linuxprinting.org

Package description..
hplip - HP Linux Printing and Imaging System

HP does a very good job of supporting Linux for it's printers. Much better then anybody else out there.

Here is a list of all supported All-in-one printers with their features with the Hplip system.
http://hplip.sourceforge.net/supported_devices/inkjet_aio.html

They also have lists for other types of printers.

For Linux you have ppd files, which are postscript printer discription files.. these are basicly driver files. These HP all in ones are 'Winprinters', which mean that they unload logic normally found in the device in emulated form on the CPU. For these things you need to have HP's special daemon (background proccess) that provides for this. Next you have the CUPS printing system (which is generic for all Unix, OS X, and Linux systems) , and for scanning you have SANE (pretty Linux specific).

You can find lists of sane supported devices at http://www.sane-project.org/sane-supported-devices.html if you end up deciding to get seperate devices, which is recommended if you have high expectations. I only use my stuff once in a while and for that these All-in-ones are good enough.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

I have been quite pleased with my HP PSC2170 AIO. HPs drivers work very well (as they should) and they have pretty much all of the functionality of their Windows drivers.

Epson would be my only other choice.

 

[SokaMoka]

OK I think I found a good HP that fits the budget and is on the list of printing and scanning compatability HPLIP.
link
I am still not decided so feel free to suggest anything better.

 

[SleepWalkerX]

When I hear linux and printers, I think HP. They're taking a big interest in linux in general. So I guess I'd recommend anything HP really.

 

[SokaMoka]

Originally posted by: SleepWalkerX
When I hear linux and printers, I think HP. They're taking a big interest in linux in general. So I guess I'd recommend anything HP really.

Ya I think I am set on HP, the question now is are there any better HP printers than the one I am looking at (the PSC 1410) ?

 

[drag]

They have suggested printers at linuxprinting.org, as was noted above.
http://www.linuxprinting.org/suggested.html

they seem to like Epson stuff.. seems to do with the more advanced color management features they offer, for multifunction they say:

Multifunctions are generally a combination of scanner and printer, sometimes with a fax modem; they work as a copier, printer, fax machine, and scanner.

For a working multifunction device, consider the Epson Stylus CX (4-ink) and RX (6-ink photo) series which simply work as separate USB printers and scanners (Gimp-Print/Gutenprint or PIPS plus SANE backend "epson" or Epson's (not completely free) IScan, kernel 2.4.21 or newer needed); or one of the HP OfficeJet or PSC devices supported by HPLIP (or the older HPOJ if your distro does not have HPLIP yet) such as the PSC 2xxx series with flatbed scanner, the PhotoSmart 26xx/27xx series with flatbed scanner and card reader/PictBridge, or the OfficeJet 6xxx/7xxx/9xxx series with fax, scanner with automatic document feeder (ADF) or combined flatbed/ADF scanner.

The free software support for other brands is very bad, for several devices you get only the printing part working, as it is compatible to a print-only-device for which a driver is available. The built-in scanner works only in very rare cases, as for example for the Lexmark X70 and X73. Some manufacturers offer proprietary drivers which also cover scanning, like Brother.

I figure what they offer will provide best balance between price, ink prices, and speed. Otherwise cheap is good. The one you selected is identical to mine.

What they recommend is something like this:
HP photosmart 2610

Which is probably 3-4 times as more expensive. If your like me who only needs a printer every once in a while then get the cheapy. If you plan on doing many prints a week or a day then get the nicer one. The cheapies blow through ink, which is expensive. I've heard of people who go to sales to buy cheap printers just for the ink and throw the printer away. So check on prices for ink.. Especially with photographic stuff you won't regret getting the nice model. But for my purposes the 1210 PSC works fine (yours selected is just a slightly newer version)

 

[SokaMoka]

Originally posted by: drag
They have suggested printers at linuxprinting.org, as was noted above.
http://www.linuxprinting.org/suggested.html

they seem to like Epson stuff.. seems to do with the more advanced color management features they offer, for multifunction they say:

Multifunctions are generally a combination of scanner and printer, sometimes with a fax modem; they work as a copier, printer, fax machine, and scanner.

For a working multifunction device, consider the Epson Stylus CX (4-ink) and RX (6-ink photo) series which simply work as separate USB printers and scanners (Gimp-Print/Gutenprint or PIPS plus SANE backend "epson" or Epson's (not completely free) IScan, kernel 2.4.21 or newer needed); or one of the HP OfficeJet or PSC devices supported by HPLIP (or the older HPOJ if your distro does not have HPLIP yet) such as the PSC 2xxx series with flatbed scanner, the PhotoSmart 26xx/27xx series with flatbed scanner and card reader/PictBridge, or the OfficeJet 6xxx/7xxx/9xxx series with fax, scanner with automatic document feeder (ADF) or combined flatbed/ADF scanner.

The free software support for other brands is very bad, for several devices you get only the printing part working, as it is compatible to a print-only-device for which a driver is available. The built-in scanner works only in very rare cases, as for example for the Lexmark X70 and X73. Some manufacturers offer proprietary drivers which also cover scanning, like Brother.

I figure what they offer will provide best balance between price, ink prices, and speed. Otherwise cheap is good. The one you selected is identical to mine.

What they recommend is something like this:
HP photosmart 2610

Which is probably 3-4 times as more expensive. If your like me who only needs a printer every once in a while then get the cheapy. If you plan on doing many prints a week or a day then get the nicer one. The cheapies blow through ink, which is expensive. I've heard of people who go to sales to buy cheap printers just for the ink and throw the printer away. So check on prices for ink.. Especially with photographic stuff you won't regret getting the nice model. But for my purposes the 1210 PSC works fine (yours selected is just a slightly newer version)

Well drag , I think you and me are in the same boat, I need a printer that would be able to serve me should I ever need to make a copy of a certain document , scan a couple of papers and stuff like that , most of the time I leave heavy printouts for college as I have an unlimited quota and I can print whatever the hell I want

But this one I want to have at home and know that when I need to print something real fast I will have something I can rely on for light stuff, that thing you showed a link to is way over what I am willing to pay moeny for. the PSC 1410 seems to be the sweet spot in terms of Linux support (as I already have HPLIP installed on all my systems which are Fedora COre 5 BTW) and functionality.

 

[SokaMoka]

OK ordered the HP PSC 1410 from Newegg.com I hope it all works out good (scanning, printing & copying )