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Comment by sillyquiet | Hacker News Reader

Yep. Have had a Brother HL-2270 (b&w laser printing) for years, and couldn't be happier with it, especially coupled with a PI-based CUPS server for AirPrint capability and the like.

The only thing I miss about not having an inkjet is color printing and at-home photo printing, but there are so many on-demand online print shops nowadays, I can't say it's a big deal.

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It was going to cost me $100+ to refill the inks on my large format HP inkjet photo printer. I took it up to the attic a few months back from whence it will likely go in the trash in a few years. I have the same Brother printer and it just works for occasional B&W printing. The rare color photo prints I want are easily handled (better) online and, while I'd like to print a color map or something now and then, it's not worth having an inkjet printer that will be used so seldom the ink will dry out.

For that purpose a color laser jet works just fine although are are much more expensive.

If I were in need of a new laser printer I'd probably consider color at this point, but it's not worth replacing my existing B&W printer for a once in a blue moon color print.

why waste the effort of taking it to the attic to just add to the clutter? Reminds me of the users that put things in the trash can/recylce bin but don't empty it "just in case".

If you need a large format color print in the next year or two before it rots, you can change your mind and buy the ink and avoid buying another $700+ large format printer. Option value.

Because I have the space, it takes a minute, and maybe (though probably not) my needs will change some day. I'm not going to argue it's completely rational but I do occasionally dust things off that I have put into storage.

I do go through the attic every now and then and toss stuff that hasn't been used for ages.

Occasionally needing to print musical scores on large-format papers is what keeps me chained to inkjets. The price bump from inkjet to laser is significantly steeper for wide-format printers compared with letter/a4 printers. IIRC, instead of $90 vs $150, it's up to $200 vs $700.

Pi-based CUPS is the way to go. I developed an image for balenaOS to manage a fleet at the previous enterprise IT company I was with.

https://github.com/willswire/balenaPrint

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