I switched to a Brother printer not only because of the toner/ink issue, but because it was the only model which afforded a straightforward USB printer. No useless bells and whistles, not even WiFi, which I neither need/nor want in a printer. It has been the best printer I ever bought.
With Brother printer here, WiFi works to print straight from iPhones and Androids. This works excellent for apps that otherwise make you mail a pdf to yourself.
The initial WiFi setup was done straight from the printer using buttons. Never asked to install any driver. Hands down the best one I've ever had.
I have a similar printer, the HL2240. Bought it for uni probably 7 years ago now and it just keeps soldiering on. Nothing but USB for input, which admittedly has caused some headache since my spouse and I use it regularly and needed a good central place for it. However, that problem is very quickly remedied with CUPS on a Raspberry Pi.
My Brother printer's Bonjour server is wonky, and sometimes the only way it works is if I myself start advertising its IP on Bonjour. Even that doesn't work perfectly, e.g., double-sided printing does not work.
A family member bought both an Epson and a large flatbed HP printer in the past few years. Neither of them work (recognized, but do not print) while my much older (over a decade and a half) HP printer does work including scanning.
Sadly, not my experience. I bought a Brother HL-L3210CW an my advice is to avoid it.
Cartridges have chips and the printer randomly stops recognizing the third party ones. The official service provider told me it's the cartridges and the solution is to buy original ones at over 3x the price.
Hmm, I have been using generic toner in Brother DCPL2540DW and HL-L2370DWXL laser printers for years without issue.
My vague impression is that Brother printers try to detect whether a cartridge is for the correct printer model, but not whether the cartridge is Brother brand. So long as the generic cartridge has a chip that says "I am designed for this printer", it should work.
(The worst they do is advise you on the website to buy "genuine Brother ink" because of the increased risk of jams, cloggings, etc with generics. Im sure this is overplayed, but its not an altogether imaginary risk.)
Is it possible that your generic cartridge is just crummy? There really are a ton of Chinese generic cartridge brands, and it would not be surprising if some are crap. Maybe try a different brand of generic?
Every time there's talk of printers on HN someone inevitably praises Brother, so there must be something to it. I'm getting really sick of HP's unnecessary and horrible software so once my MFP inevitably dies due to some minor but entirely unfixable issue, I'll definitely be looking into Brother's stuff.
Here's a contrary voice for an underappreciated option, despite the villain in this story.
I wanted a networked color laser MFP that could be used from within Linux without proprietary binary drivers, i.e., needed to natively support PostScript and have PPDs available. I did not want to give HP any business given what it has turned into.
Canon has color "imageClass" devices that fit this bill. I wasn't able to find a Brother unit where the PPD was self-contained, but maybe I missed something. The Brother PPDs I was able to get from their site had additional filter scripts or binaries to which they called out. The scanning function works great on the Canon via the "AirScan" SANE backend (I use it in WSD mode). Third-party toner cartridges are available. I needed support on an occasion and found competent, pleasant, non-outsourced Canon staff via their phone support line. Pretty happy with mine.
Now that WSD and AirScan are popularly supported on business-class MFPs and don't require manufacturer-specific SANE backends, there are probably other choices worth looking at as well. Kyocera is another brand that seems to support first-class PostScript printing.
I bought two HP printers, hated them for the standard reasons, then read HN comments praising Brother printers, bought two of those, and have since been very happy.
This experience led me to permanently distrust Wirecutter recommendations, as they (currently and for many years) have listed HP as their #1 recommendation for both lasers and inkjets.
Got a small b+w brother printer for a couple 100 last year and it’s been great. Wired in with lan, everything can print to it. Solid “just works” experience.
I don't think shipping a binary CUPS filter you're just supposed to trust counts as good Linux support. Never buying a printer without a fully working PPD without blob dependencies.
I was sharing what printer I got and that I was happy with it. Nothing more. Yes, it’s a laser printer. No, it wasn’t meant to be a comparison to Canon, ink printers, or any other printers. I’m not sure why you felt like I was trying to compare them.
Historically, Brother has done a better job of getting affordable lasers or laser like printers out to consumers. Canon rested on their laurels and played catch up afterwards (much like they did in the mirrorless camera space)
Ansil849|4 years ago
maratc|4 years ago
The initial WiFi setup was done straight from the printer using buttons. Never asked to install any driver. Hands down the best one I've ever had.
FractalParadigm|4 years ago
Siira|4 years ago
csdreamer7|4 years ago
A family member bought both an Epson and a large flatbed HP printer in the past few years. Neither of them work (recognized, but do not print) while my much older (over a decade and a half) HP printer does work including scanning.
praptak|4 years ago
Cartridges have chips and the printer randomly stops recognizing the third party ones. The official service provider told me it's the cartridges and the solution is to buy original ones at over 3x the price.
I am not a happy customer.
jessriedel|4 years ago
My vague impression is that Brother printers try to detect whether a cartridge is for the correct printer model, but not whether the cartridge is Brother brand. So long as the generic cartridge has a chip that says "I am designed for this printer", it should work.
(The worst they do is advise you on the website to buy "genuine Brother ink" because of the increased risk of jams, cloggings, etc with generics. Im sure this is overplayed, but its not an altogether imaginary risk.)
Is it possible that your generic cartridge is just crummy? There really are a ton of Chinese generic cartridge brands, and it would not be surprising if some are crap. Maybe try a different brand of generic?
franga2000|4 years ago
ThenAsNow|4 years ago
I wanted a networked color laser MFP that could be used from within Linux without proprietary binary drivers, i.e., needed to natively support PostScript and have PPDs available. I did not want to give HP any business given what it has turned into.
Canon has color "imageClass" devices that fit this bill. I wasn't able to find a Brother unit where the PPD was self-contained, but maybe I missed something. The Brother PPDs I was able to get from their site had additional filter scripts or binaries to which they called out. The scanning function works great on the Canon via the "AirScan" SANE backend (I use it in WSD mode). Third-party toner cartridges are available. I needed support on an occasion and found competent, pleasant, non-outsourced Canon staff via their phone support line. Pretty happy with mine.
Now that WSD and AirScan are popularly supported on business-class MFPs and don't require manufacturer-specific SANE backends, there are probably other choices worth looking at as well. Kyocera is another brand that seems to support first-class PostScript printing.
jessriedel|4 years ago
This experience led me to permanently distrust Wirecutter recommendations, as they (currently and for many years) have listed HP as their #1 recommendation for both lasers and inkjets.
paco3346|4 years ago
katbyte|4 years ago
egberts1|4 years ago
TacticalCoder|4 years ago
ekianjo|4 years ago
phoronixrly|4 years ago
quijoteuniv|4 years ago
hughrr|4 years ago
alanfranz|4 years ago
Your Brother printer just happens to be a laser printer, most manufacturers offer them, you can buy Canon laser printers as well.
They’re usually placed in an higher price bracket, though, so the economics are different (printer price is likely not subsidized).
The brand has nothing to do with the tech, though. And AFAIK it’s possible to add chips to toners, just the same way as you can have chipless inkjets.
enonevets|4 years ago
credittw2021|4 years ago