Any suggestions? Just for printing misc documents. I don't want it to be a pain in the ass like my epson r200. Ink should be reasonably price and not artificially stop cartridges from working like epson does.
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Best Cheap Basic Printer - Mac Friendly?
- Thread starter salilsundresh
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If you don't have a preference, I'd go with laser. They can be more expensive initially, but the lifespan and cost of of a toner cartridge compared to ink will usually even it out sooner or later--usually sooner. Brother makes a few relatively inexpensive lasers that I've been happy with (I had the HL-2140 but think there's a newer version of it now, and you can usually find one on sale for less than regular price if you wait long enough).
If you need color, you might want to keep inkjet in your consideration, as color lasers tend to be more expensive. Additionally, I find color, even photograph, output from them to be acceptable, but I seem to remember that some people don't.
However, for black and white printing--whether frequent or not--I highly recommend a laser. Most will be Mac-compatible, but it wouldn't hurt to check. USB or Ethernet is your best bet, the latter if you want network printing (although you can also use the first with an AirPort or other print-serving router).
If you need color, you might want to keep inkjet in your consideration, as color lasers tend to be more expensive. Additionally, I find color, even photograph, output from them to be acceptable, but I seem to remember that some people don't.
However, for black and white printing--whether frequent or not--I highly recommend a laser. Most will be Mac-compatible, but it wouldn't hurt to check. USB or Ethernet is your best bet, the latter if you want network printing (although you can also use the first with an AirPort or other print-serving router).
Ink is never reasonably priced, you might consider large bottle ink tank kit for your R200. But better yet a B&W Laser as suggested.
A good B&W laser is the way to go - I have a wireless Samsung I got from Office Depot last year for under 100 bucks, and it connects to all the devices on my network - PC, Mac, iPad, etc.
With the frequency I print, it'll take at least a year just to use the 1000 page starter that came with it...
With the frequency I print, it'll take at least a year just to use the 1000 page starter that came with it...
Brother 2270DW Mono laser very cheap very fast easy to setup on the network (ethernet) good drivers. Brother was the first with Lion drivers available at or just after Lion launch. I've been watching Brother and other printer manufacturers (their driver support pages) over the last few months too see which companies were on the ball and it wasn't Xerox, HP, Canon or Epson!!! This is my first Brother printer and I'll never buy another Canon or HP again due to their terrible product and driver support. BTW, from painful experience I've had to throw working printers in the rubbish due to these companies refusing to update drivers for new OS's at 5 years after product was first placed on market!! Brother seem to be updating their drivers for newer OS's for a much longer time and this is important to ppl who don't use the printer very frequently.
I'm all for enthusiastic, but some facts are in order. This Xerox owner upgraded his MacBook Pro to Lion on Day One. My Xerox printer worked with just with Lion as soon as I rebooted into Lion. I might also note that Lion does not have the peripheral compatibility issues that Snow Leopard had. Many devices that worked under Snow Leopard continue to work under Lion without the need to update their drivers.
In general, Brother has an excellent track record at supporting the Mac with prompt driver updates, being feature complete, and doesn't abandon their older models when new OS updates come around.
There is little change in the printing system between Lion and Snow Leopard because all the pain was inflicted when the latter was released, in terms of 64-bit compatibility, Intel native, etc.
But the point is, if there had been a similarly painful change, or if there is another one to come, Brother is not likely to be among those who drop the ball. Good luck getting the same consideration from HP, among others.
One must assess the situation based on more than just the last OS transition.
This sounds reasonable, but is completely irrelevant. The vast majority of MacOS and MacOS X upgrades did not break print drivers. However, the user who upgraded from Leopard to Snow Leopard receives scant comfort from the fact that earlier OS upgrades did not break the installed print driver.
As for you comment about Brother, Brother is to be commended for maintaining close support for its printers. drayon leads us to believe that Brother is the only printer manufacturer to do so. My point is that this is simply not true. When I upgraded from Leopard to Snow Leopard, new drivers from Xerox were waiting for me. When I upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion, my printer continued to work. I do not claim that Xerox is unique in this regard.
It's very relevant for any user such as the OP who expects to buy a product and have it supported on the OS of their choice, and for the long term and avoid a PITA.
And, in fact, the Leopard to Snow Leopard transition did break a lot of printers, for the reasons I already mentioned, as well as the removal of AppleTalk.
Drayon may have wrongly implied that Brother is the only printer vendor to have such support, but you're being similarly obstinate in defending Xerox.
And, in fact, the Leopard to Snow Leopard transition did break a lot of printers, for the reasons I already mentioned, as well as the removal of AppleTalk.
Drayon may have wrongly implied that Brother is the only printer vendor to have such support, but you're being similarly obstinate in defending Xerox.
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I didn't mean to suggest Brother were the only working printers. I seem to have been misinterpreted. So let me clarify. I was in the market for a new printer, I was looking at all the companies' support websites for drivers updated for Lion and out of all those companies Brother just happen to have Lion drivers up for download on time and before any other company. I also did several searches around the time of Snow leopard and Leopard and posts revealed Brother, again being prompt in their driver updates for the newest OS. This certainly bodes well for someone looking for a suitable printer along with the support that goes along with it. Also revealed in those searches were great reports from ppl with their Brother printers. The same couldn't be said for ppl with Xerox printers, posts often came back of ppl having to contact Xerox support because their driver didn't work or were waiting un reasonable times for update schedules.
I'm by no means evangelising one printer make over the other since I have no interest in these devices. The Brother was probably the best bang for the buck ($135AU) when I looked closely at all the other brands then considered their support and the reports from others with this brand.
I'm by no means evangelising one printer make over the other since I have no interest in these devices. The Brother was probably the best bang for the buck ($135AU) when I looked closely at all the other brands then considered their support and the reports from others with this brand.
This does b/w or color depending on the cartridge. Cheap too!
http://www.amazon.com/HP-Deskjet-Pr...e=UTF8&qid=1341027946&sr=8-8&keywords=printer
http://www.amazon.com/HP-Deskjet-Pr...e=UTF8&qid=1341027946&sr=8-8&keywords=printer
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