• Treczoks@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    A Canon printer. Not just a simple one, but a big (wide) one with real ink tanks, about 20 years ago.

    Under Linux, I could only access basic printing services with that, and this only by using a default driver not made by Canon that happened to work. So I contacted Canon to get a proper user manual to create a proper device driver for this (something I could have done without problems), and basically got the answer that they would not support this, as “open source is theft of intellectual property”. They also had some very choice words about Linux in general.

    I assumed I just got an asshole on the phone, so when I attended Cebit a short time later (back then the biggest trade fair in Europe for things like that), I went to the Canon booth, explained my issue, and basically got the same reply. So I sold the Canon printer and bought an HP one. At least HP supported Linux and supplied working drivers. Sadly, they have really gone down the drain since that, so the next printer will be a different brand again…

          • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Well, the question for me back then was printing wide, so the selection was quite limited from the start. And laser was completely out of the equation, as anything printing wider than 21cm was industrial (size of a bus and price of a house) back then.

      • 50MYT@aussie.zone
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        5 months ago

        I have a brother color laser + scanner. Love it.

        I’ve had it for 8 years now, and so far it’s only on its second set of toners etc.

        The only warning I give to brother printer owners is don’t leave them on. The capacitors in them aren’t the best and your printer will either not turn on without a long power off, or like mine it will turn on and off randomly all day and night.

        So now I only turn it on at the wall when I need it, and unplug it after

      • UnrefinedChihuahua@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        5 months ago

        I grabbed an HP 3055 that my work was throwing out almost 10 years ago, along with two spare laser cartridges.

        We don’t print much, but I’m still on the initial cartridge it came with.

        It also has been set up in an often dusty, sometimes smokey garage, and hasn’t had an issue yet.

    • Caveman@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I got an HP printer and it’s prints reliably when connected via USB but that’s about it.