[OT] printing question

[Bob McConnell]

On Behalf Of Andrew Gould

> Time to buy a new printer.  I don't print much from FreeBSD; but the
need
> occasionally arises.  Most of my printing is done while using Mac OS
X.  The
> Epson Artisan 800 is looking awfully nice; but it's not in the Linux

I can't help with the setup issues, as I don't use printers from those
systems. However, I do have a recommendation for you. I recently
purchased a new HP CP1518ni Color Laser at Sam's Club for less than
US$300. It has the Jet Direct network interface, includes Postscript and
has worked flawlessly on my home network. HP provides Linux drivers in
their hpiplib package. Once it is on the network, setup can be completed
from a browser.

The four toner cartridges run about US$70 each at Staples, but will
print around 2200 pages, which is many times the number of pages for the
equivalent cost in ink cartridges. We expect the overall cost to be
significantly less than a DeskJet with all of the refills it would eat.
I suspect we will have covered the difference in the printer prices
before we burn through the 700 pages the original cartridges should
provide. Plus the pages don't smear when we handle them with damp
fingers.

HTH,

Bob McConnell