On Tue, Jan 09, 2007 at 11:14:21AM +1030, Tim wrote:
> On Mon, 2007-01-08 at 12:51 -0600, Les Mikesell wrote:
> > Printers that accept postscript natively have always made life easier
> > on Unix-like system where everything else requires output
> > transformations.
>
> First time I tried to get printing working on Linux, I rapidly came to
> that conclusion. However, trawling through all the local computer
> vendors, none had any that did, and few knew anything about it. They
> were all Windows people - you install your XP drivers and it prints...
>
> Even when you look on-line, it can be hard to find a decent printer (one
> that you can afford, or even just manage to get supplied to where you
> are). They might list Linux compatibility, in some vague manner.
> Likewise, they might mention Postscript, again in a vague manner. Some
> don't give any clues about what printing language they use, others are
> misleading. I've got a couple of laser printers (and old and dependable
> HP LaserJet 4L, and an old and unreliable Kyocera FS-400), which I've
> seen reports that at least one of can handle Postscript, directly, and
> others that say they don't.
Yeah, printing can be a REAL pain in the tush.
For the last several years I've been using an old Lexmark Optra color 40,
an inkjet with builtin postscript. it had its idiotsyncracies,... it
was slow to print complex jobs (slow rendering engine, I assume), ink
was incredibly pricey (typical of all inkjets I believe), and no matter
what I did, how many pins I stuck in the toy doll or how many prayers
I uttered, it simply WOULD NOT print on envelopes, despite what the
manual said.
It finally got to where it wouldn't feed paper properly anymore, so armed
with a huge wad of Amazon gift certificates this recent Christmas,
I looked thru lists of usable low-priced laser printers (isn't
Linuxprinting.org wonderful?) that were also available on Amazon. I
settled on a Brother HL2070N which was incredibly cheap, even with free
shipping, and Brother makes linux drivers available as open source so I
figured what the heck. I got it, plugged it in, turned it on, plugged in a
USB cable and voila: a dialog asking if I'd like to configure it. nothing
could be easier, it "just works". And it prints envelopes, too! :)
--
---- Fred Smith -- fredex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -----------------------------
I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me.
------------------------------ Philippians 4:13 -------------------------------
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