[GTALUG] deal for Brother printer

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

Background:

I have a Brother DCP7065DN:

- laser printer, "duplex" (can print on both sides of paper)

- scanner (flatbed + sheet feeder (single-sided))

- (wired) networking (or USB)

It works pretty well BUT the printer is a "GDI" printer and thus requires 
proprietary drivers.  Luckilly Brother supports Linux, but it is annoying 
having to install the drivers on each machine that will access the 
printer.

The deal:

<http://forums.redflagdeals.com/brother-ca-brother-ca-refurbished-b-w-laser-printers-mfs-several-models-free-shipping-2090071/>

Brother sells refurbished units online at a good price

- free shipping for purchases over $50

- good warranty even though refurbished

- if you sign up for their newsletter, you get a 25% off coupon that works 
  for refurbished items even though it is not supposed to.  This 
  disappears the end of June 1.

Be careful, some of the printers on offer are GDI and some have PCL6
and PostScript emulation.  You can find out from the "full feature
list" for the printer.  Look for "emulations".

In my modest experience with older Brothers, using PCL6 is best since
most of the hard rendering work would be done by the computer rather
than the printer and my computers have more resources than a printer.
I know, that would be an argument for GDI, but proprietary drivers are
unfortunate.

I just bought this one:
<http://www.brother.ca/en-ca/MFC/5/ProductDetail/Refurbished/MFCL2720DW>
I think that this was the best one still in stock.  I expect that it
will work with Linux.  And it can FAX!

It supports PCL and PostScript emulation so I hope that no proprietary 
driver will be needed for printing.  Scanning will likely need a 
proprietary driver.

PS: there are other refurbished things available on the Brother site:
just plain printers, sewing machines, etc.
<https://www.brother.ca/en-CA/Refurbished/>