Suggestions on multifunction (printer + scanner) device

[i92guboj]

Hello.

I am thinking about retiring my hp 2600n.

It's been a long relationship (of hate, mostly).

After years of fixing problems, I no longer want to maintain this piece of crap. The cost per page has raised a lot lately, because this device spills out more toner than it fixes on the paper, and I am no longer willing to spend bucks on this thing. The quality of the printing has also reduced significantly, and, while that's not the biggest issue for me it's just another reason to flee away from hp.

I think I already said I don't want an hp printer not even as a gift, did I?

To sum it all up: I am looking for suggestions.

The must-haves:

• The printer must have an open driver, I don't want to be tied to the printer manufacturer to be able to update my box.
  
• So must the scanner, it must work with vanilla SANE. Again, I don't want to be tied to the manufacturer for this.
  
• I need to print from the network. I don't care WIFI or Ethernet. I have no idea if SANE has support to operate networked, that'd be nice to have if possible, but not strictly needed.
  
• Goal number one is economy.
  

The unimportant things:

• I don't care ink or laser, but I am looking for something economic (regarding paper and supplies, either cartridges or toners). I print 200-1000 pages a month, averagely. So I am guessing I need a laser printer, but let me know if you know of an economic ink printer that could serve me.
  
• I haven't decided if I need color yet, and it would certainly be good for my pocket to be able to live with a monochrome printer, and only one toner. But, in any case, I'd like to be able to scan in full color even if the printer is B/W only. So, if you know of a monochrome printer that can scan in full color, I am all ears.
  
• I need to copy docs without the intervention of a computer. A card reader is not required (it won't make any harm to have it, of course).
  
• I don't require a fax at all.
  

Brother has some interesting models, but it seems that the scanner part if not supported by SANE, and I would need 3rd party stuff to make it work, which I don't want.

http://www.sane-project.org/lists/sane-backends-external.html

I am looking around, but the amount of brands and models is overwhelming. So, if some of you could give me some advice it would ease my work a lot.

Thank you for reading, and for sharing any idea
_________________
Gentoo Handbook | My website

[ShadowCat8]

Well,

From my experience, it sounds like you are looking for an Epson.

One of the things that always impressed me about the Epson was that they were the first I knew of to come to the linux community and say "This is how you control the amount of ink being pushed through our print-heads." Not many manufacturers will allow you that granular a level of control.

And, I know that SANE also supports a lot of the Epson scanners out of the box, but I couldn't tell you which one would be best for your situation.

Though it's not as helpful as I prefer to be, I hope I gave you a good idea of a direction to look down.

HTH. Let us know.
_________________
"Intelligence is the ability to avoid doing work, yet getting the work done"

-- Linus Torvalds

[BitJam]

I just installed a Brother MFC-5895CW color inkjet printer. It cost less than $200 including shipping. It scans up to 8.5 x 11 but can print up to 11 x 17. It was recommended to me because the ink is supposed to be cheap but I have not verified this for myself yet.

I installed it as a network printer which allowed me to bypass Sane entirely for the scanner. It has a "scan to ftp" feature. I set up an ftp server (vsftpd) on my pc and created an account for the scanner. Now whenever I scan a document it will get automatically uploaded to my pc.

The drivers (still needed for the printer) are all GPL. I had a problem installing the drivers but I eventually got it to work.

It can work as a standalone copy machine and Fax but I have not bothered setting up the Fax.

[djdunn]

i would say definitely go laser, ink is expensive and junk really, it cost more at first but the price per page is incredible cheaper
_________________
Now, with penguins, (cuddly such), "contented" means it has either just gotten laid, or it's stuffed on herring. Take it from me, I'm an expert on penguins, those are really the only two options.

--Linus Torvalds

[BitJam]