Hi folks,
Can someone advise me, please, on what make of printer will work well with Linux (Mint 17). A few years ago, I bought a Cannon all-in-one - and couldn't make it work. I actually bought a printer driver from a third-party, which got the printer going - but not the scanner. I gave the Cannon away, and bought an HP which worked out of the box. Problem is, after a year or so the printer failed to pick up the paper - so I have spent 3 or 4 years shoving every piece of paper in by hand. The HP (a b209a) will now no longer print. I have tried cleaning the print head (following YouTube posts) but to no avail. I have just visited HP's site, hoping to purchase a new print head - but nothing doing. So it's got to be a new All-in-one, but it certainly won't be an HP(!) in case I get another "Friday Afternoon" one. The Cannon is still working beautifully on my son-in-laws Windows XP box - most galling! Any advice will be gratefully received.

John.

Hi John...

HP's are one of the best brands for Linux due to their level of support, so it might be a good idea to stick with them. Here is a site that has some all-in one's that are compatible with Linux, including Mint. Just check on the "Supported distributions" list on the left hand side of the page (of the printer your interested in) to make sure. This site also has a warehouse in the UK.

Regards...

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I agree with ardvark71. HP printers are, more often than not, plug and play with Linux. The HPLIP driver package (which is usually pre-installed for you) recognises the printer and you are up and running in no time.

To scan, you might have to install a scanning application like SimpleScan (see https://launchpad.net/simple-scan) but other than that, it's again a plug-and-play experience.

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Thank you, gents,

You've confirmed what I really knew. But this machine has been so frustrating that I hoped someone might come up with a viable alternative. I think that I'll leave the thread open for another couple of days, in the hope that I don't have to purchase another HP.

Thanks again,

John.

Hi John...

You're welcome, let us know what you decide on and how it works.

Regards...

I'm using an HP 3522 (a Walmart special) wirelessly without any problems. For scanning, I point my browser to the printer's web interface (in my case http://192.168.0.109) tell it to scan, and then download the image to my computer.

I have had an excellent experience over the years with Brother printers. Recently I bought a Brother DCP-L2500D printer/scanner. Works perfectly. I just downloaded the drivers from the Brother site and I was off to the races. Both printer and scanner doing exactly what they should be doing.
jdk

I'll add a vote for HP. I also had good luck with an Epson, but that was a long time ago.

I would suggest avoiding Lexmarks. Based on my own experience and much that I've read here at LQ, they appear to be quite cranky with Linux.

I have no experience with Brother printers.