Cheap printer advice

[J.B. Nicholson-Owens]

Simon Windsor wrote:
> It is best to choose a good, simple device and a multi-function printer.
> I personally would recommend Epson C64/80/84 inkjets and Brother lasers.

I recommend picking the multi-function devices carefully because I've come
across some that don't work well.  A guy I know has an HP OfficeJet R40 and
the scanner doesn't work because SANE can't talk to it.  I don't know what
the problem is at the relevant low level, but when I fire up XSane on his
Red Hat 9 box, XSane can't see his HP OfficeJet R40.  Microsoft Windows
could use it as a scanner as well as a printer (it might also work as a fax
machine).

I don't know if multi-function devices are generally more supported than the
HP OfficeJet R40, hence I suggest caution in buying one of these
multi-function devices.  I also like to scan while printing, so I got a
separate printer and scanner.  A little more expensive, perhaps, but it all
works right out of the box for me on RH9 and FC1.

Happy hacking.