Title. I’m annoyed. It’s 18c a page, and $9ish shipping, but still.

It’s been a looooooong time since I’ve done anything with printers, so I don’t know what my options are.

Really I only have 2 requirements

  1. works well with Linux
  2. ink prices are sane

any suggestions?

    • CandleTiger@programming.dev
      61·
      12 days ago

      If you’re going to buy a printer (any printer) for very infrequent use, make sure to protect it from dust.

      I just threw away my Brother Laser (stored in a very dusty location) because of dust all through the works making streaks on every print.

      I started with a series of white dots on each page, and in order to fix that I cleaned the whole outer case, blew out the toner cartridge area with canned air, and installed a new toner cartridge.

      Result: white speckles on each page AND several big black streaks down the whole page. 😡

      I’m sure somebody who knows how to clean them properly could have resuscitated the thing but I ended up contributing to e-waste instead.

      Better to keep it in a cabinet with doors, or store it inside a pillowcase or something for the 18-month duration between prints.

      • swearengen@sopuli.xyz
        4·
        12 days ago

        so that’s why it does that.

        5 years in with no cover and I go a few months between prints but I notice the odd streak here and there. Dust makes sense.

    • bulwark@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      12 days ago

      Same, I’ve had the same brother color laser printer for 15 years running on linux, and I think I’ve bought ink maybe 4 times.