Hi.

If someone has experience of any of these: http://www.soundstore.ie/category/Printers/2218.2.0 could you recommend one that works fine with GNU/Linux?

Also, is having 4 carts (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) like so https://www.inkjet.ie/Officejet_6500 better than having 2 carts like so https://www.inkjet.ie/Deskjet_3050 or is it all the same when it comes to ink usage and price?

I am not at all an expert on this, but I don't have hardly any problems with HP printers under Linux. As for the 4 cartridge vs. 2 cartridge, 4 would theoretically yield higher quality images, but the cost would be relatively high compared to 2 cartridge printers. But then again, you have to decide what you're going to do with the printer. For normal desktop use, 2 cartridges should be fine.

This is one kind of item that I recommend people buy in person at a brick-and-mortar store. Check the return policy before you buy. Then, if it doens't work, try to exchange it for soemthing that will. Also, Google is your best friend for stuff like this.

Hello PhoenixAndThor. I would not print any photos, just documents and the odd web page etc.

It's not the number of cartridges that counts---it's the number of colors. The general-purpose inkjet printers typically have 4 colors.
Photo-quality printers typically have 6 or more.

For general-purpose printing, I think color laser printers are now a viable alternative to inkjet.

HP is particularly well-supported on Linux, but Epson is also very good

Never tried an Epson printer before, will have to check those out.

If you run out of Cyan with a four cartridge printer you only need to replace the Cyan. If you run out of Cyan with a two printer cartridge you have to throw away any unused Magenta and Yellow as well so it costs more money in consumables!

HP printer cartridges contain the printhead as well (bubble jet) while Epson tends to use fixed pizo electric heads, a blockage can be harder to clear. Also, Epson waste ink pads, internal to the printer, eventually fill up and the printer driver will tell you that the printer should be replaced.

So saying, both makes are pretty good. Now you know why the printers can be relatively cheap, it's because the revenue is in the consumables!

Play Bonny!