Goodbye, Samsung ML-1710

I've mentioned in the past the aggravation I've had with my Samsun ML-1710 laser printer. Most of the grief stems from the fact that it's a GDI printer, AKA a Winprinter. I had it working under SUSE using a PPD file for the ML-1210; the Samsung Linux driver sucks. After I rebuilt Bagend as an XP box, for a time it worked over the network when I printed to it from my iBook. That mysteriously stopped working awhile ago.

In an effort to see if I could get network printing from my iBook working again, I tried the instructions found here. No dice. Now, not only does it still not print from the Mac, it plain doesn't print. I tried deleting it, reinstalling it, running Crap Cleaner, reinstalling the Samsung drivers, nothing worked.

Arrrrgggghhhh! I have HAD it!

So, tonight I did some searching for low end Macintosh-compatible printers. I don't need much: a basic monochrome laser will suit Judith's and my needs just fine. But, it has to be available over the network, either attached directly, shared from Bagend, or hanging off a print server. We don't print much, less than 100 pages per month, but when we need to print something it's damned inconvenient to have to wrestle with goofy printer problems.

It looks like I found my solution in the form of the Brother HL 2070N. The interesting specs include:

• Interfaces: Parallel, USB, 10/100 Ethernet
• System requirements: Windows, Mac OS (Bonjour is supported), Linux (Red Hat, SUSE, Debian)
  
• Emulation: PCL6, IBM Proprinter, Epson FX

The MSRP is $149 but I found it for $99 on a limited time offer at CDW. Sweet! After reading the mostly-positive customer reviews at Amazon (who has it for $109) I ordered it from CDW. It should ship tomorrow and I should have it this week. Full report when I do.