Re: [tlug] Laser Printer

[Patrick <patrick@example.com>]

> I don't know how specific your needs are here, but I find that using
> cups, just about all the HP laser printers work with Linux. However, to
> get Japanese, I usually have to paste the text into OpenOffice.  I'm
> sure there are better ways to do it, but my need (I live in the US) for
> Japanese printing is rather rare and printing isn't one of my favorite
> things, so this workaround is adequate for my needs.
> 
> As for cups, to get it printing with the HP lasers I simply do (these
> are networked printers, running either on builtin NICs or JetDirects
> 
> lpadmin -P MyPrinter -E -v socket://192.0.0.15 -m laserjet.ppd
> 
> (You would just change the -v if it's directly connected--argh, I forget
> the syntax, hold on a second--ah, here it is)
> 
> - -v parallel:/dev/lpt0 (in FreeBSD--in the Cups manual they use /dev/lp1
> 
> Again I don't do any fancy printing, just documents and the like, so I'm
> not sure if the above is of any use to you or not.

Scott,
It seems like HP is one of the better options. But unfortuneately HP
doesn't offer some of the cheaper models here in Japan. The cheapest I
could find was this deal for 79,800yen->
http://h50146.www5.hp.com/directplus/promotions/printers/20041012_laserjet3500_bundle/
after that they all go over 100 000yen
whereas canon has this for 59,800yen
http://cweb.canon.jp/lbp/lineup/1210/index.html
Which is supposedly supported by their poorly documented drivers.

Maybe i should just spend the extra 20,000yen and get piece of mind

Thanks for your input.
... and btw I think you can fix your Japanese printing problems by
adding something to your cups config. I've see this problem mentioned
a few times before. I just did a quick search but can't find anything.
I'll have a better dig around later and let you know how to fix that.

Patrick