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At this point Brother seems to be one of the few printer manufacturers who still produce printers that just work out of the box with a cable or WiFi connection using an OS-supplied driver (at least that's my experience on macOS)


I haven't confirmed myself, but apparently there are costco specific models of these kinds of printers which don't demand apps, internet connections, or a linked credit card. Presumedly demanded by costco to reduce the returns that would result.


I have a Brother laser printer that is now almost 20 years old. I had to buy a dozen toners and the only fault was due to the rubber pads deteriorating (20y near a window in an office). Even now, I connect it to the wired network and it's automatically recognised by all the devices without any configuration.


I was astounded at how well the brother printer I got worked. As soon as I connected it to wifi, it just popped up on my macbook and worked perfectly.


I got an HP laser a couple years ago that has behaved properly, but at this point I would think twice and thrice before even getting one of those.


They bought Samsung's printer business and Samsung made wonderful laser printers that worked flawlessly, without any printer industry shenanigans. Maybe you bought one of their printers right after the acquisition, when HP had only enough time to change the branding.


The Canon professional line is one of those too.


Agreed, my HL-110 has worked like a charm since I bought it a few years back. No messing around, dark patterns or apps... it just works.


Oki is like that too. So not all is lost.


Unfortunately they do not market to the US anymore.

"OKI Data Americas has discontinued the sales of all OKI-branded printer hardware in the United States, Canada, and Latin America." (https://www.oki.com/us/printing/index.html)


My hp printer works all right just by starting cups service. I must be really lucky.


from osmosifying printer recommendations on HN the last few years, aren't brother printers becoming enshittened too? Nowadays they might try to lock out third party ink and toner cartridges, for example? See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31860131


All printers are inherently shit, some are simply manufactured more evil than others.




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