From owner-freebsd-questions Sun Nov 24 23: 9:10 2002 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 764EF37B401 for ; Sun, 24 Nov 2002 23:09:09 -0800 (PST) Received: from post-20.mail.nl.demon.net (post-20.mail.nl.demon.net [194.159.73.1]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B0AAA43E4A for ; Sun, 24 Nov 2002 23:09:08 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from cls@raggedclown.net) Received: from [212.238.197.102] (helo=mailhost.raggedclown.net) by post-20.mail.nl.demon.net with esmtp (Exim 3.36 #1) id 18GDMh-000IhU-00 for FreeBSD-Questions@FreeBSD.org; Mon, 25 Nov 2002 07:09:07 +0000 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mailhost.raggedclown.net (Ragged Clown Mail Gateway [dawn]) with ESMTP id 61A9750D5 for ; Mon, 25 Nov 2002 08:09:07 +0100 (CET) Received: from willow.raggedclown.net (willow.raggedclown.intra [192.168.1.10]) by mailhost.raggedclown.net (Ragged Clown Mail Gateway [dawn]) with ESMTP id 2EB181854 for ; Mon, 25 Nov 2002 08:08:56 +0100 (CET) Received: by willow.raggedclown.net (Ragged Clown Host [willow], from userid 1009) id 326C6225CC; Mon, 25 Nov 2002 08:08:56 +0100 (CET) Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2002 08:08:56 +0100 From: Cliff Sarginson To: FreeBSD-Questions@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: any advice before I buy a printer for FreeBSD? Message-ID: <20021125070856.GA20039@raggedclown.net> References: <20021124194520.A24648@mail.hitmedia.com> <200211242219.31033.dkelly@HiWAAY.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <200211242219.31033.dkelly@HiWAAY.net> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.1i X-Virus-Scanned: by AMaViS 0.3.12pre8 Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Sun, Nov 24, 2002 at 10:19:31PM -0600, David Kelly wrote: > On Sunday 24 November 2002 09:45 pm, BSD baby wrote: > > Any advice before I buy a printer for FreeBSD? > > > > I'm finally going to get a printer for my FreeBSD devbox this week. > > > > Are they all pretty much FreeBSD-compatible? > > or is there some spec I need to look for? > > > > I assume parallel port is still the way to go > > or is USB really ready on FreeBSD? > > The most painless way to print within FreeBSD is with a Postscript > printer which speaks lpd protocol on ethernet. > Sadly this is quite an expensive way. Avoid so called Windows printers, although some of them can be made to work, they are a pain in the neck since they rely on custom drivers. It may not be obvious when you look at a printer box and/or glossy whether it is one of these animals, so check in the usual places. Epson's are generally a good bet (although not all of them). I have no problems with USB support, and in fact many printers do come with both USB and Parallell ports so you can hedge your bets that way. I asked the list about PS printers the other day, I knew they should all work without problem but I wanted to see it in writing :). But since a PS printer is a very intelligent device, really a specialised computer with a Risc processor, they may require a second mortgage to buy .. luckily someone is going to sell me a second hand one :) -- Regards Cliff Sarginson The Netherlands [ This mail has been checked as virus-free ] To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message