Roman Korcek wrote: > I disagree... according to www.linuxprinting.org their suport is fine. > Let me quote, > "As for the DeskJets, HP recently released an open-source driver kit > for the bulk of its modern consumer DeskJet line. After finishing a > lengthy patent search, with version 1.0.1 they made it free software > by removing the "for usage with HP products only" from the BSDish > license. So HP is near the top of the heap in terms of free software > support for its inkjet devices (Free software driving Epson Photo > printers still produces better color quality)." > (taken from http://www.linuxprinting.org/vendors.html#hp ) > I personally haven't tried their HPIJS driver yet, but I think HP is > on a good way. Epson might have better quality (under Linux), though.
Just feel like putting my $.02 in: Ink jet printer manufacturer's mostly follow the razor blade business model. They practically give away the printer (in some cases) but charge outrageously for the ink cartridges. I consider HP especially bad at this (but maybe Xerox is even worse -- the cartridge my uncle got with his printer looked big, but I had occasion to take it apart (destructively), and the ink reservoir is on the order of 1/10 the size that you might have expected -- but you can's see that until you peel the paper wrappings off the cartridge. The way to get around the problem is to refill cartridges. Some companies (like Hewlett Packard) make that very difficult. Canon (in most cases) makes it fairly easly. I'm now using a Canon BJC-3000 with cartridges that are very easy to refill. For a while, I carried a portable Canon printer (that could be battery powered) -- don't remember the model, but its cartridges were even easier to refill -- take the cartridge out, turn it upside down to expose the sponge, and drip ink unto the sponge. (The Canon BJC-3000 has a sponge exposed at the bottom, but the recommended refill procedure is to inject ink through a hole, then reseal the hole to make it airtight. 16 oz. of ink for $10 goes a very long way (although $10 is still a high price, it's a whole lot cheaper buying it that way than buying 16 oz. in prefilled cartridges. When my uncle went to buy a printer, I gave him a list of a few that looked like they could be refilled through the sponge like the Canon. He chose the Xerox which has been a disappointment -- it's not as easy as I thought it would be. I recommend Canon. (Disclaimer -- I have never tried to do a photo quality print, so I have no basis to judge whether Canon is good or bad for that purpose. For ordinary text, with some graphics and colors, the model I have works great. They do have more expensive printers that are intended to be photo quality.) Randy Kramer
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