It's a probably a good thing that products out there are easy to use, but the trouble is that nowadays products are geared so much for the mass market that us geeks are being left out. In the interests of helping companies exploit a market niche, I've decided to post some experiences with products from a geek's point of view.

Brother MFC-420CN

The nicest thing about the MFC-420CN is that they don't screw you with ink. Other printers will be really cheap, but they make it really expensive to buy ink. You can deal with refill kits, but you end up with dirty fingers. Finally, there is a printer that doesn't charge totally absurd prices for colored water. The MFC-420CN puts their ink in nice plastic vials, which are not that expensive, and if you want to refill them, you just punch a small hole on the top, fill using syringe, and then tape it up.

I like the small size.

Also, it has nice linux drivers on their web site, and it only took me half an hour to get networking to work.

Bad points: The glass screen is only for A4. Also, the hinge in the back isn't designed for copying books. It's a simple door like hinge which doesn't expand for copying books. Also, the controls are confusing. I couldn't figure out how to get it to stay in "best printing mode."

-- Main.joe - 21 May 2006