olePigeon said:

You're correct.  Actually, many laser printers are host based now.  Most of HP's lineup is host based, which is infuriating because every time Apple updates OS X, it seems like our HP laserjets stop working.

However, you can download Gutenprint.  It's an open source printer driver collection for many printers and may work with whatever printer you decide to buy.

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I have forwarded the Gutenprint suggestion along.   That might be the ticket.  I wonder if print quality suffers.  It seems like some print drivers might contain some kind of dithering scheme or something that would get lost on a generic driver.   

Thank  you.  I have not heard back from her about whether a laser would be okay.   Haven't heard anything actually, but we've been friends for over 20 years.  If she takes a month to respond, it's no big deal.