I have a customer who would like a All-in-One Printer. Preferably a wireless model.
I have browsed the HCL.
Are you using a All-in-One wireless or otherwise.
Can you please specify + Comment on functionality.
Thanks
I have a HP Photosmart c4580, wireless printer/scanner/copier.
It’s a pain to setup under openSUSE and Ubuntu 64bit (finds the printer easily, but will not give you permission to add it, even after asking for the root password!), but under PCLOS it’s a breeze.
Everything works perfectly, and the HP system tray tool is fantastic, giving you ink levels and the ability to scan.
They print well and are quite cheap too, this one cost €99 I think.
I use the HP Photosmart Premium - C309a.
Take a look at this thread starting at post#18
This is an all in one wireless printer that has multiple capabilities:
- wireless printing to paper from Mac, Windoze, Linux PCs (including double sided printing),
- wireless printing to CDs (ie label on CD) from Mac, Windoze, Linux PCs,
- wireless scanning from Mac, Windoze, Linux PCs,
- wireless fax from Mac, Windoze, Linux PCs (I have not tested this)
- local copy
- local scan to a USB stick (I have not tested this)
- local scan back to a PC (tested for Windoze PC, not tested for Mac, and someone claimed to me it did not work for Linux - but I have not tried to setup)
If you go to the HP web site, you will see they have newer versions of this printer (ie different model numbers), and my C309a is relatively old. Two key things that I wanted in the C309a which some of the other HP Photosmart Premium wireless printers do not have is the capability to print doublesided on paper, and also the capabilty to print single sided on to a CD. That requirement drove the price up, but given the number of CDs/DVDs that I burn, that capability was invaluable for me. And the double sided paper printing saves time (and paper).
I also liked it having separate cartridges for different colours, with 2 separate black cartridges, and 3 non-black colour cartridges. I am not convinced this saves a LOT of money, but I think it saves a bit. I do note these cartridges are likely more expensive than Canon/Epson equivalents, but I tend to expect that with HP. I view this “extra” expense as part of what I pay for HP printers that “just work” with Linux. But I do not know how an MS-Windows user could justify the typical extra “HP” expense.
This printer works well for me.
It also has a USB interface that we have never used at home. But speaking of the USB, I note my boss at the office has the same printer, but the wireless stopped working for him, and he now uses only the USB (until he can figure out why the wireless does not work). He and his wife use a mix of Windoze PCs and MacIntosh PCs. They have young children at home who may/or-may not have “tuned” the wireless into its current non-functionality.
I setup up everything initially on this printer at our place using only the wireless, with WPA encryption on our home LAN (we have Linux/Windows PCs). Connecting to openSUSE Linux was very fast for me, although I suspect my “solid/average” experience helped me do this LAN setup in 10 minutes or so on Linux. It took MUCH MUCH longer to setup for an MS-Windows PC (45 minutes to an hour).
When we print/scan, if the printer detects something funny, it sends a message to my wife’s Windows PC. I get no such messages (as we have setup) on my Linux PC, but that may be a setup issue. My wife’s Windows PC is NOT needed for this printer to work with Linux. It works fine with NO MS-Windows PCs.
From a Linux PC I’ve scanned dozens of documents successfully from (using xsane over the wireless LAN). Printed dozens of CD labels on the CD (from GIMP over the wireless LAN), and printed hundreds of doublesided pages of paper from many different applications. I have also used this multi-function printer as a standalone copier on occasion (its no photocopy machine replacement as it is much slower than a normal photocopy machine).
I read a lot of the bad reviews. Many could not get the network to work. My assessment is that is due to weak technical knowlege by those with the problem (my boss is not a PC technical person). I note many users complained this printer was noisy, as it would on occasion cycle it self. I did NOT find that noise annoying, and I did not consider it loud, but I note some people go ballistic at the drop of a pin for noise, so that noise criticism needs to be taken in context with the views of the person complaining. I read one user complain they went thru the cartridges too fast. I do go through the cartridges fairly fast but I do not consider it excessively fast consumption.
Of course there were also many good reviews of this printer, and I like this printer.
Note for HP Linux compatibility one should check this site: HP Linux Imaging and Printing
Great help so far, thanks a million.
I’ll link my friend to here.
I have an HP C7180 All-in-one which is configured wirelessly have been using it since openSUSE 10.1, easy to set up, works flawlessly. As you can see from earlier posts HP is probably the way to go.