I use a HP Laserjet 2100 for B&W and a Canon Pixma IP4000 for colour.
Both are fine, but the Canon came with over 100MB of software that they wanted me to install. A lot of it was drivers, that I needed, and some of it was truly rubbish software (mostly crippled versions of commercial stuff) that they wanted me to use.
I decided years ago to ignore most "packaged" software and use the standard fit stuff that comes with MS Office or whatever, plus the essential drivers for the hardware. I may miss out on the occasional gem, but I save a lot of time and Angst.
The IP4000 was the last (I think) Canon printer to use plain ordinary ink cartridges. Later ones have chips in - I think to make you buy their super-expensive ones. The ink in the "replacement type" that I buy is the same as the ink Canon use, but at a tiny fraction of the price. The machine has five cartridges, CMYK plus big black, at £3 a pop. Canon's ones are around £11 a pop, for no better performance.
By the time this printer dies, I'm hoping the law will have changed and the use of "restrictive practices" on ink will have been banned.
In summary: unless you need all the bundled software, just use the drivers.