Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Printers are extremely complex from a mechanical point of view, which means that a quality one would cost many hundreds of dollars, even thousands.

Yet people do not want to spend $1000 on a printer, so compromises need to be made.

Expensive printers, like those found in printer shops, work just fine day after day and are cheap to operate. But they can cost $10k.




This is why I tend to split the difference and go with a SOHO printer, that is a step up from consumer-grade but doesn't break the bank. Currently it's an HP M1536dnf, which had great amazing Linux support, and still going strong after almost 12 years: no maintenance, and only a light surface dusting once in a while.

Unfortunately, the end is in sight for this device: my Chromebook doesn't support scanning on it. I've already permanently mothballed its POTS FAX feature, because I disconnected my landline. So when my Windows 10 machine dies, I won't have any scanning capability. Do I still need that flatbed/ADF scanning when I can just use my smartphone camera? Hmm.




Join us for AI Startup School this June 16-17 in San Francisco!

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: