Do's and Don'ts When Buying a New Printer

Hardware Support
#1

Hi Everyone, I need to buy a new printer. Do you have any recommendations in terms of which printers tend to have good compatibility with Zorin 16 Pro or Ubuntu 20.04? I am looking to go with a laser printer instead of an inkjet. My inkjet actually works but the ink evaporates faster than I use it.

Are there certain things I need to be on the lookout for that can be potential problems or things to solve after the purchase and install is being attempted.

I don't know what I don't know here so your help is appreciated as always.

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#2

HP printers are known to have a good support for Linux.
They provide HPLIP:
https://developers.hp.com/hp-linux-imaging-and-printing

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#3

Thank you for the suggestion and link. Despite being almost scared off by all the online reviews saying it was impossible to connect the printer and the wifi, I purchased a HP printer. Took a brief look at the directions with the printer and then followed the directions in your provided link instead. Checked that HPLIP was installed via the terminal. I was all set up and printing in 10 minutes. Geez, if there was someone looking over my shoulder, they would have thought I knew exactly what I was doing. Mirage or not, it was all possible due to your help.

Zorin is a great distro IMHO. But I think, honestly, what sets it apart from all others is this forum. I have a couple other distros that I would be tempted to use if not for the superior support and community here. Thank you.

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#4

HP has a lot of competitors. Some bloggers are paid by corporates to perform a stealth marketing :skull:
I always go to the the first source, i.e., the official support page of the products. It is better to get information directly from the horse's mouth :horse:

#5

Everything I have used; graphics, sound and bluetooth, wifi, any printer, etc... have all worked across a variety of computers Out-Of-The-Box with Zorin OS.
I have never actually personally had the wifi and bluetooth and sound and printer issues that other people post on the forum about.
And when compared against the number of total users, they still seem a small number.

It is an interesting question. Are we lucky? Or the majority?

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#6

Do you want to make a poll for that?
I am also very curious.

#7

I think I'd rather not poke the bear...

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#8

Curiously my desktop which I built to optimized for macOS is fully compatible with Linux. So as 2 HP laptops which I selected for their macOS compatibility.

#9

I am curious, as well.
The trouble is that in making a Poll on this forum, I do not think we would see enough numbers to make a viable statistic.
The forum largely has the attention of those that had issues with the OS and sought answers. This creates an attention and answer bias - only those that had some troubles are likely to see the Poll and vote.
We also do not have a Frame Of Reference against which to compare; An accurate total number of Zorin OS users.

If the results are skewed by attention bias, then the poll could give an inaccurate perception of how how troublesome Zorin OS can be. It would make it appear to be more troubled than it actually is.
And any attempt to mitigate that damage would only appear as back-peddling.

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#10

We can safely forget about the Poll.
Unless there is enough sampling, the result will be meaningless as you said.
I just thought we can recommend what to look for (such as concrete information for the manufacturers support page) when someone is thinking of getting Linux friendly setups.

For example, pointing out a good Linux support for HP and Brother printers will save much headache of users as well as volunteers in the forum. We can also list devices which are known not to work or very difficult to install in Linux.

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#11

This is an excellent idea and many users do often post asking for recommendations, just as this thread did.
A hardware wall of fame?

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#12

Yup.

I think it would be very uplifting and positive to see all supports Linux currently enjoying rather than focus on the poor support and complain to manufacturers or developers.

The glass is half-full not half-empty :milk_glass:

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#13

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