HPLIP Printers - antonizoon/antonizoon.github.io GitHub Wiki

The HP Printers are a huge, diverse family of common and cheap printers, that you can probably find from the junkyard. All of them use open source drivers, and work out of the box with Linux and HPLIP.

These are great for Libreboot laptops, Raspberry Pis, and printing Bitcoin paper wallets because:

  • They are "dumb". Just integrated circuits with RAM that prints documents onto paper, no tiny computers to siphon data from.
  • They work out of the box with HPLIP open-source Linux drivers. Plug-and-play. Why aren't other printers this easy?
    • A few HP printers require proprietary blobs, so check this list to see if your printer is completely open-source.
    • Make sure that, at the bottom of the page, Driver Plug-in is None, and Requires Firmware Download is No. Source
  • They can print on thick cardstock, weird paper, transparencies, and even envelopes in some cases.
  • They have a tiny amount of RAM, which gets overwritten within a few prints for anonymity.

It's all you expect from a printer. To burn text and graphics to paper. Is that so hard?

What is HPLIP

Hewlett-Packard is a major backer of UNIX, and now Linux; since those operating systems were staples of the corporate workplace. As a result, almost all HP Printers have high quality Linux drivers made by HP in the HPLIP Project.

Best of all, most of these drivers were made open source, and can still be used today. Even if Windows no longer supports the printer, the Linux drivers are guaranteed to work out of the box on any computer.

This is a big deal when most printers barely work correctly with Windows, let alone Linux. Though most vintage printers now work with Windows 8 again (though Windows 7 still won't work...)

Note: A few HP printers require proprietary blobs, so check this list to see if your printer is completely open-source.
Make sure that, at the bottom of the page, Driver Plug-in is None, and Requires Firmware Download is No. Source

What kind of Printer to Get

You can find any of these printers for almost nothing at your local junkyard. HP Printers were used worldwide for business reliability, and printers are upgraded all the time, so you're bound to find one somewhere (though make sure that it works before picking it up!). If you really have to purchase one from eBay, you might as well buy a brand new one; just the shipping can cost you around $15-40.

HP made several different types of printers:

  • LaserJet - A run of the mill, black-and-white laser printer. Perfect if you only need to print text and vector graphics (such as office paperwork). You only need one black toner for this thing, making prints incredibly cheap.
  • Color LaserJet - This printer series is particularly desirable, as it combines all the durability, speed, and cost benefits of a laser printer with the beauty of color prints. The only downside is that you know have four toner cartridges to replace, and all printers plaster the paper with tiny, ugly yellow government-mandated dots.
  • Photo - These printers produce picture perfect, high resolution photos, just like vintage film would make. The downside is that photo paper costs a lot more, and it uses some expensive ink cartridges.
  • InkJet - These are supported by HPLIP. But avoid ink printers at all costs (see below).

Note: Unlike B&W laser printers and inkjets, almost all Color LaserJet printers paste tiny, ugly, identifiable yellow dots onto the paper. These are government-mandated forensic signatures, to see if two prints originated from the same printer. At the very least, they're ugly. At most, they're a violation of citizen privacy.

Inkjet vs Laser

If you're looking for a used printer, make sure to avoid Inkjet printers as much as possible. If it wasn't worth the cost when new, it's not worth the trouble when used.

Laser printer toner is incredibly cheap and lasts a long time. If you can't find a genuine toner, generic toners should work just fine. Laser heads burn text/graphics right onto the paper. Most of all, laser printers are many times more durable than ink sprayers.

On the other hand, printer ink cartridges are infamous for being fragile, wasteful and excessively expensive. Many inkjet printers have been damaged by exploded ink cartridges. One must wonder why printer ink is worth more (per liter) than gasoline and human blood.

Recommended HP Printers

All LaserJet printers work with cardstock (it has to be inserted through a special paper feed). A few special models have duplex double sided printing, especially if they came from an office. All these printers use fully open-source drivers unless otherwise noted.

  • LaserJet (Post-2000) - These printers all have some kind of USB input, and print at 600dpi or more.
    • 1200/1300 (1200dpi) - These two printers are no-frills, high performance, nice and reliable, and work out of the box with HPLIP. Probably HP's best, most memorable printer series. Both 1200 and 1300 models work with basic PostScript, even with DOS, and both have expandable RAM. The 1200 model is strongly recommended, since it prints in 1200dpi.
    • 4200/4300 (1200dpi) - These larger, taller printers are just as good, though you might prefer the more compact size of the 1200/1300 printers these days. The 4300 is a bit faster.
  • Color LaserJet
  • LaserJet (Proprietary ZJStream) - These printers require proprietary HP firmware to be uploaded to the printer, so they aren't open source.
    • 1000 (600dpi) - An extremely common, no-frills, entry-level reliable high performance 600dpi laser printer. If you see one, meh, just grab it. The downside is that it doesn't support PostScript, only has 1MB of RAM, and uses the proprietary ZJStream wire protocol which isn't fully open source. Not to mention that the drivers no longer work on Vista/7/8.
  • LaserJet (1990s) - These vintage printers print at only 300-600dpi, and require Serial printer cables, since few have USB input. But if you manage to get the right adapters, they will work out of the box with Linux.
    • LaserJet II and III (300dpi) - These only print at 300dpi, which is pretty grainy. But if you have no other choice, just grab one.
    • 4 (600dpi) - The first series of 600dpi printers. Quite reliable, and toner can still be found cheaply to this day. Just avoid the 4L series, which only prints at 300dpi.
    • 5 (600dpi) - Avoid the 5L variant, which had tons of problems with document infeeds.
    • 6P/6L (600dpi) - This reviewer claims that the 6P prints bolder than the 4000 series...
    • 4000/4100 (600dpi) - These have print servers which work with Ethernet! Very handy.
  • InkJet - Ink printers can stay in the scrapyard for all I care.

Brother Printers

These Brother Printers are an honorable mention, for their reliability and low cost. Unfortunately, unlike HPLIP, most of them use proprietary drivers, though there are a few that work with open-source foomatic drivers.

  • Black and White Laser Printer (open-source foomatic Linux drivers)
    • HL-2030
    • HL-2130
  • Black and White Laser Printer (proprietary Linux drivers)
    • HL-1440 - A nice, reliable laser printer. It just prints! Quickly, in fact. Works at 1200 x 600 dpi
    • HL-2220 - The modern successor to the old Brother Printer. Now works at 2400 x 600 dpi