Three questions ... the Canon printer

[Keith Lofstrom]

On Wed, Mar 03, 2004 at 11:16:40AM +1050, sreynolds at internode.on.net wrote:

> Q3) I have a reasonably new Canon LBP-810 laser printer that
> I can't print to because Fedora doesn't have print drivers
> for this printer. I've googled for printer drivers, but
> can't find any. 

Yes, that sinking feeling you have is correct, you don't have a printer
that you will get working with Linux.  Yes, drivers may show up, or
someone may write a piece of code that wraps itself around a Windoze
printer driver.  Not likely, and not a long term solution, because in
the end Canon really doesn't want you using this printer, and you 
probably don't want to use it either.

That is a top-feed printer, and if the mechanism is at all like the
HP LJ6L printer I have gathering dust in the garage, it jams in a
passing breeze.   Toner is expensive as hell on those little printers.
The input tray holds hardly anything.  On the newest printers (like my
Canon combo faxcopier) they actually build chips in the toner cartridge
to make sure you don't use a brand X cartridge, or refill it.  

I'm not sure what the best recent printer solution is, but I am pretty
happy with a couple of refurbished HP Laserjet 4M's .  The toner is
still available, the cartridges refill easily, and if the rollers and
separator pawls are replaced every few hundred thousand prints, these
keep going forever.   You can probably sell your Canon to a Windoze
person, and get enough money to buy a refurbished 4M with a 10BT
ethernet card.  And Postscript printers are a joy; hacking raw
Postscript is fun, and all sorts of applications know how to do it for
you.  There are plenty of refurbs for sale out there, expect to pay
$150 plus $50 shipping, check Ebay.  BE SURE to tell them to REMOVE
THE TONER CARTRIDGE, and ship it sealed in a separate plastic bag.

If you want something newer/faster, perhaps someone else can chime
in here with a more recent Postscript printer. 

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom           keithl at ieee.org         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs