Monday, March 3, 2008

Linux printing success: HP Deskjet F4180

I had to buy a printer in the US, so I approached the cheapest inkjets and multi-function devices with the fear known only to linux users. Would it work? At all? A little bit?

I put all my trust in openprinting.org and bought a HP F4180, which supposedly worked "perfectly". I plugged it in and am happy to report Ubuntu 7.04, with hplip pre-installed recognised it, and I was printing straight away! Haven't tried the scanner yet.

The best part is the power supply is switched so it handles 110-240V and uses an IEC C7 connector to plug into the wall. So all I need to do is replace the IEC C7 to use it in any other country.

Strangely no printers come with USB cables these days. Is this just to give Best Buy a chance to make money off selling cables? They were charging $30 for a USB A-B, which I could get on Amazon for $1.30.

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