1 yr. ago • 97%

Most uncomplicated Printer that just works™?

Hey, sorry if this isn't the right place to ask this (feel free to show me the way). I want to get myself a printer that can also scan. Main purpose is to not have endless sheets of paper laying around, but to scan Documents I recieve and then throwing them away so that I only have them digitally and can print stuff out only when I need them. Now I know that printers are the worst piece of hardware known to man and my needs not office-level.It doesn't have to have any more buttons or features than are needed to scan a doublesided document and print them, without clogging/eating paper, and print black and white text without complaining about being low on yellow ink.

So my question generally is: what is the most minimalist, non-bullshit printer/scanner that I could get? But since all my devices run Linux I figured I'd just ask this here. Are there any big issues I have to look out for? Brands to avoid? (i.e nvidia being a no go for a lot of linux users) Preferably

72 comments

I just have a simple Brother laser printer: It has never failed me. Not even sure what model it is but I imagine their scanners/MFPs are pretty similar.

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- The Brother printer I bought recently was easier to install on Linux than on Mac. I think that says something. Always works too
  
  6
- Agreed, Brother!
  
  I got a Brother MFC-L2750DW and networked setup was so simple. My every device I own detected it including my phone.
  
  Note I haven’t tried connecting it via USB, just network.
  
  5
- I've also never had any issues with my laser Brother printer.
  
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Another voice for the Brother laser printer, a truly dependable workhorse.

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- I have one and I forgot when I got it, it's just that old and it has never failed me
  
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Permanently Deleted

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- +1 on Brother, plus the generic toner is dirt cheap.
  
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- What's the make/model?
  
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  I use the hl2340d that has held up really well. Think I've had it like 6 years now
  
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  Permanently Deleted
  
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Anything Brother.

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- Absolutely!
  
  Not a multi function device, but a plain printer, but I have a Borther HL-2365DW connected via 2.4 GHz WiFi and that is detected as HL-L2360D. The printer works absolutely fine. It still has the original toner cartridge and it is used 3-5 times a year without any issues.
  
  Before that I had a HL-2030 that died after ~14 years.
  
  3
  
  To be fair, I have a 4P that I still use. But yah, my Brothers have always lasted a long time and toner/ink isn't crazy expensive. And they don't pull DRM shit like HP and get their peepees slapped time after time.
  
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I've had fantastic luck with a Brother MFC b&w laser. Aftermarket toner cartridges are $20 and last a ridiculously long time. The wifi is jank so I'd recommend keeping it connected to your computer via USB, but I was able to get it running on a CUPS server via a Pi easily enough, and brother does make Linux drivers available.

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- I have a Brother MFC Color Laser and everything here is true for the color version as well. I haven't had too many issues with wifi jank after I set a static ip both on the router side and the printer side, and then map the printer by ip port on the computer. However, it still acts up every now and then. I plan on fishing some ethernet to that corner of the office, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
  
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  My wifi jank was less related to routing as much as it would just... forget how to send data. Especially when scanning. I think it was a controller issue so YMMV depending on which model. USB is still vastly more reliable.
  
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BROTHER LASER PRINTER with a scanner combo. Literally don't bother with anything else.

/Thread

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Brother works incredibly well. Plug and play

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I got two Brother laser AIOs (MFC1910W) for my folks and myself.
All I had to do on Arch was install brother-mfc-1910w for printing, brscan4 for scanning and oh-brother for (occasionally) upgrading the firmware, all over WiFi.
I think more user-friendly distros come with these packages preinstalled, so it should just be a matter of opening the printer manager and waiting for it to show up.
Don't think they make the specific model anymore, but any Brother laser AIO should do.

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- When I used Ubuntu, I had to install the .debs off of Brother's site by myself. They provide .deb/.rpm packages.
  
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All-time classic Verge article on this subject:

https://www.theverge.com/23642073/best-printer-2023-brother-laser-wi-fi-its-fine

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- And here’s 275 words about printers I asked ChatGPT to write so this post ranks in search because Google thinks you have to pad out articles in order to demonstrate “authority,” but I am telling you to just buy whatever Brother laser printer is on sale and never think about printers again.
  
  Lmfao
  
  6
- I have a slightly different version of this printer (HL-L2350DW) and can confirm that it just does what it is supposed to do without any issues. It pretty much worked out of the box with all devices in my household and after about two years I am still on the toner cartridge it came with.
  
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- What an epic piece of writing!
  
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Get a Brother laser aio.

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My Brother HL 230 laser printer is so reliable. Had it for years and it never failed me.

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As others have said, Brother laser printers are great. I've had mine for ~10 years, it works better on Linux than it does on Windows, and the toner cartridges last an absurdly long time. I don't print heavily but I think I'm only on my third toner cartridge since I bought the thing.

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I recently ordered a Brother printer, and it just works. "Brother MFCL3730CDNRF1" At one point it was a bit tricky to add it to Cups, but after it, it worked flawless.

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Brother laser AIO, Just works, and if you don't really print that much, the starter toner feels like it'll last forever.

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A Brother laser. If buying today, I would get a document feeder, duplexing, and wireless. The $150ish version is fine for home use. Mine lacks wireless so we use special software to add it that adds a step. But it just works and only needs a new toner ever couple years at our printing pace.

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I like my Ender3 V2.

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If you want a simple colour printer and scanner, go for a Canon Megatank or Epson Ecotank. If you're only printing black and white, a Brother laser printer is good, just a touch more expensive than other equivalents. The OEM toner isn't cheap, in theory tho, they can last much longer without needing to print. The ink tank printers have far cheaper ink. Only downside is that it requires printing once a week to ensure that nothing clogs up. That said, these tank printers are smaller and lighter than Brother Colour AIO's.

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- I will also add, the new Brother laser toners, can be a bit iffy with their chip. They're not as easy to refill (or use aftermarket toners) as the used to be, not impossible, but it's not as easy. Nothing wrong with Brother tho, when it works, it works well, and reliably. It's not like HP, where the cheaper printers require a ink subscription service (and in my experience, tend to break more easily).
  
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Brother laser printer. They are oaks.

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I've used a Brother business AIO Inkjet for some years without any problems.

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I'm happy with my Epson ET-2820. It is a wireless inkjet printer, but it uses ink from bottles what is not that expensive. The printer hasn't dried up, yet.

The device works with the generic CUPS "driverless" printer driver, so no configuration on Linux computers to print. Scanning worked out of the box, too with sane.

tl;dr: most flawless working printer I ever owned.

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Look for PCL6 support.

You won't even need a driver, because it already speaks a standard protocol.

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I am happy with my Epson consumer device, it works out of the box.

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Fortunately for me, both my printer and scanner have worked flawlessly with Linux from day one (notwithstanding some CUPS shenanigans where it had problems finding USB printers, but that has nothing to do with the printer). Unfortunately for you, that means they are both fairly old already and probably not available as those specific models anymore.

My scanner is a Canon Canoscan LiDE 220. It's a fairly small model with a scan area just barely bigger than an A4 page. That suits me fine as someone who rarely actually scans stuff, as I can just stash it somewhere when I don't need it and pull it out when I do.

My printer is a Brother HL5340DL. It's about as big as you would expect for a personal laser printer (so not exactly handy anymore, but most people should be able to make it fit). It's ten years old now, cost somewhere around a hundred Euros when new, survived two moves and still works flawlessly, including the duplex function. When setting it up in CUPS, I found the generic PCL drivers to work much better than the Brother-specific ones. Just as a hint for others.

When looking for a scanner, check the SANE database: http://www.sane-project.org/sane-mfgs.html

Edit: I forgot something, my scanner does not work "flawlessly" after all: If I scan at low or medium resolutions, the scan results get messed up. It looks like the scanner software gets confused about how long exactly each scan line is supposed to be and puts the line breaks in the wrong places. That's probably a bug in sane-backends, but I have never followed up on that one, because my workaround is simple and works fine for me: Just scan at 1200 dpi and then downscale stuff. Still a bug though, and saying the scanner works flawlessly would be wrong.

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- The one thing I can't seem to get CUPS to do is share my printer with the LAN. I had it for a while where it would show up on the Macs, but then would vanish. It's my only gripe.
  
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HP is a awful company with a well deserved terrible reputation, but their linux support is great. I have a combo printer/scanner that works without a single issue.

All you gotta do is install..hplip i think it is? and plug the printer in.

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I’ll be sticking with my HP Color LaserJet for now. I’ve updated it to the latest firmware before they introduced Instant Ink (and toner, I guess) and will keep it until either it or I can’t be repaired and die.

After that, I don’t know, Brother?

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Personally I'd keep them separate unless space is an issue.

For a scanner I like my Cannon LiDE 110 It just works with simplescan. For printers, any laser that supports PCL or Postscript should be fine. I'd recommend Lexmark or Brother. For black-only, I like my Lexmark B3340. I have a couple of older HP color lasers but honestly don't really use them except for printing trail maps every now and then. For color pictures (and the maps) I now use a Canon Selphy CP1300.

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Our Samsung color laser AIO was getting flaky, especially for net access. I replaced it with an Epson EcoTank AIO and it's been absolutely hassle-free.

I was apprehensive at first, because using inkjet printers back in the 90s was just painful. But so far, never had clogging and hardly ever had a paper jam. I'd say the running costs are comparable or lower than laser.

Color laser printers always run out of yellow because they inline a yellow fingerprint. AFAIK this isn't the case with inkjets. So savings and additional privacy there.

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- Part of my job is working on printers and a word of warning, Eco tanks have a pretty common clogging issue if you're not printing regularly. Usually a few cleanings will take care of it or a power cleaning if they don't, but it's still something to be aware of.
  
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Brother printers and CUPs just work. It really doesn't get much easier.

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preferably not too expensive (just a minimalist small printer/scanner that just works)

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I've had my MX490 for 2 years and i think it works pretty well. Generally speaking, the CUPS setup is far easier with Airprint printers so if you're interested in that I'd pick up a printer that supports AirPrint. Arch wiki has more info on set up it needed

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I know this isn't what you asked but just have the documents sent to you electronically and cut out the middleman while saving some trees! You can also send them electronically if required. Paper is so 1980's.

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- Thanks for the tip! I'll make sure to do this where possible :)
  
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Everyone is saying Brother, and I'll echo that. I want to add that I'm fond of their EcoTank line; there're all-in-one scanner/printers, but also they refill with liquid ink (as opposed to cartridges) and are super cost-effective as a result. I really like our's, and we've had it for two years; the next time I run out of ink on the Canon inkjet we (also) have, I'm just going to replace it with another EcoTank instead of buying more cartidges.

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- EcoTank is Epson, and Canon also has a similar MegaTank line. Unfortunately Brother has no tank-based printer (that I'm aware of).
  
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  Oh! Shit, you're right! Sorry.
  
  That said, it worked OOTB with our Linux machines, incl scanning.
  
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@Cinnamon3431
Brother MFC machines are what I've always used without issue in linux. Brother offers linux drivers for both print and scan on their site and they're fairly simple to install.
@linux

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HP Laserjet is the best and simplest printer I've owned.

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- Brother is pretty analogous and you can refill the toner cartridges!
  
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Probably a good old fashioned printing press. Unfortunately, I don't think they're compatible with Linux.

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