Recommended Apple Airport Printer

Question

Can anyone recommend a laser printer/copier/scanner that can hook up easily to an Apple AirPort network?

Answer 1

Speaking from experience, and if you're talking about using the baked-in print server that the AirPort Express/Extremes have, any printer with a USB cable should work.

Really - the whole Bonjour thing is seamless enough that if the printer will work on your PC, it'll work on the AirPort.

On the other hand, if you're hoping to use that printer as anything other than a printer (that is, as a scanner or fax machine) you're out of luck - the AirPort print server dones't support any of that stuff (see this question for the gory details. Why yes, I am the guy that asked that.)

So, if you want to network up a full-fledged multi-function printer, you have to abandon the cool AirPort stuff and do it the "normal way"; either by connecting it to a PC and sharing the printer, or by getting a printer with it's own network server. Personally, I prefer the first choice, as it means you can use any printer you like and let the computer serving it hash out the details.

Answer 2

I'm using a Brother MFC-7840W: it serves me well and the price is okay - I paid €200 for it. I don't have an Airport network but it should work. Check the spec sheet.

Answer 3

If you can find one, the HP Officejet Pro L7680 All-in-One Printer is a wonderful network printer and will work on any wired/wireless network. It does have OS X and Windows drivers as well. Looks like the specific model that I have has been discontinued, but there are others in the same series.