Short version: Brother doesn't support linux. I'm considering Lexmark. I too am looking for a B+W laser printer. I just got a Brother HL 5450 to replace a 5150 I had. It fails to print some pages, and I'm sending it back because Brother says they do not provide phone support for Linux. They used to have an email address for linux, but a query there produced no answer. It's supposed to be postscript compatible; since there are issues I wonder if that's in software rather than hardware.
I'm considering Lexmark now; I used to have one of their printers and the quality of their support impressed me. I switched because I was hoping to need less support! They seem to support linux, as well as many other OS's. I got an HP inkjet that I never was able to get to work, despite talking to tech support. It was a network printer than seemed to bring its network interface down when it slipped and it wouldn't come back up without a power cycle. Perhaps I'm overgeneralizing, but it soured me on HP. Maybe I'll try a color laser, though Consumer Reports says they don't have good print quality for photos.
