How to compare low-mid range color laser printers

Question

I am in the market for a color laser MFC for home office use. I have a fairly complex set of requirements which I can assess myself, however I am struggling with a few elements of this problem, and would appreciate insights from those with more knowledge then I have. FWIW, I am aware of the differences between Laser and Inkjet printers, and I definately don't want an inkjet.

Is my belief that new laser printers (ie less then 5 years old) are not substantially better then printers which are 5-10 years old with respect of quality correct? If not what should I be looking for in terms of improvements?

When I look online, it appears that new printers are an order of magnitude more expensive to run, due to the lack of easy availability of after market cartridges. For Is there any reason why I should get, for example, the HP MFP-M479 as opposed to the MFP-M477 ?

Relatedly, for things like reliability, cost, ease of use with multiple OS's, how does the HP MFP-M477 compare with the Brother MFC-9340CDW, and are either of these printers better in terms of "antifeatures" like toner DRM, yellow dot tracking, telemetry? [ I believe these printers were introduced in 2015 and 2013 respectively ]

Relatedly, and getting really obscure, is it practical to plug a keyboard into either or both if I want to scan to email and enter a recipient and subject line from the printer itself?

Answer 1

A review of
Brother's MFC-9340CDW specifications, the
HP MFP-M477 data sheet, and the
HP MFP-M479 data sheet
does not show any have the ability to accept input from either a USB-attached or wireless connected keyboard to use it to scan a document and enter a recipient to email directly from those printers.

The Electronic Freedom Foundation has written it is probably safest to assume that all modern color laser printers do include some form of tracking information that associates documents with the printer's serial number.

I have found the Brother color laser printers to be equal to HP color laser printers in terms of their ease of use with Debian based Linux, as well as with Windows.

I have not encountered DRM restrictions on supplies with Brother printers, whereas I have with HP printers.