Throughout my life i have set up a multitude of different printers. None of them have been a pleasant experience. Why is this, and is there a printer that is actually good?
Order of priorities:
- Free/open software and hardware
- Available ink/toner and spares
- No connectivity “dumb as a rock”
Print quality really doesent matter unless it is really bad. Of course, im willing to make sacrifices on all of these points, but you get the gist.
Any suggestions for models that comes even close to any of these requirements?
I note that in the comments you acknowledge that point #1 doesn’t exist.
I had a similar set of criteria to you. I settled on the Epson Ecotank. No complaints so far. It has wifi but I never turned that on, I connect it to my (linux) laptop with a USB cable.
Some printers are programmed to stop working after a certain number of prints. I hope this isn’t one of them.
+1 for the Epson Ecotank.
The ink bottles are cheaper than cartridges and it’s basically “dumb”. There’s no DRM that prevents you from squirting any generic type of ink in there.
I did not test it on older hardware but mine is WiFi enabled and it works seamlessly on every device.
It’s not a perfect solution but it’s a good middle ground for me.
I’m not sure about the make and model, but I’ve seen at least one person who loved their ink tank printer for exactly a year, then it insisted that he send it off for a $200 service of some ink absorbing part.
I have an Epson (not eco tank) and it has this. It is called a maintenance box. But you can get one off Amazon etc for a few dollars and it is easy to replace, just one screw off the front. The display literally shows you how to do it!
I love my Epson. I use generic cartridges and they work fine. When you install a generic cartridge it gives you a warning, and that’s it. I have it on wifi but I have disabled firmware updates in the settings.
I bought mine during lockdown and still not encountered this issue but this is good info!