1. Sorry to offend your sensitivities. I will keep my asterisks to myself!
It has nothing to do with "sensitivities". it's both the forum rules, and, more importantly, it's fully possible to communicate without them.
2. Funny, I own 7 printers, a plotter, and 3 all-in-one laser faxes, NONE of which have this little 'quirk'. (Except the Lex)
This may surprise you, but only inkjet printers use ink. therefore only inkjet printers will complain about low ink. and Plotters are very expensive and generally high quality for the same reason that laser printers are (again, usually). Additionally the "I've never encountered this before and therefore it is new" argument isn't very powerful.
3. When did this start? They all have 'chips', and I can refill all but the Lex!
I didn't know they all used the same cartridges and that you had and fully comprehended the schematics for them enough to know that the only ones that have chips that store the current ink state were the lexmarks. I salute your thoroughn... Oh wait? What's that you say? You HAVEN'T examined them all and therefore are making wide sweeping claims based entirely on purely subjective evidence?
4. 5. 6.- It was an impulse buy. I did not read reviews and go shopping. Saw it, bought it. I will stick with HP from now on!
translation: "I bought a value priced product from a name brand manufacturer and couldn't believe I got value priced performance"
7. You can keep Canon! I have one of those too. My last one!
Yet again, the "I bought a single value priced product from a name brand manufacturer and couldn't believe that it didn't perform as well as their more expensive lines" pure nonsense argument poised by almost everybody who likes to complain about manufacturers.
The most hilarious part is that the companies themselves don't actually build the printers. I'm sure a good number of HP printers are made by the same folks that make some lexmark printers. Name brand is almost entirely meaningless except for support. I'm sure your going to counter this with some sarcasm riddled response as you've done for ST relating your experience with your 7 printers which somehow proves some point regarding the makeup of their respective companies, but oh well.
Kodak should stick to consumer cameras!
Yeah, They've only been making printers for 11 years. But they should stop, because you say so.
Redd: As you can see by my inventory, If I did that, I'd be out thousands, not just gas money!
no idea what your inventory is and even less idea how it's relevant. to my understanding two cartridges (one color, one Black) don't come close to approaching thousands of dollars.
I am sure that Lexmark would like me to 'stock up' on 4-ink systems!
You say that like they shouldn't.
One round costs more than the printer!
You keep repeating this in various ways like it's some divine revelation, that your the only person to ever realize this and that they are the first company to do this. Hardly. Gillette was the first to pull the old "sell em something, but make it need something disposable that they need to keep coming back for". It works, Gillette is still doing it and in fact the "old" cutthroat razors are nearly impossible to find.
I buy them as I need them, which is not often as I refill them as needed
This may surprise you, but all printers allow you to see the ink levels in their control panel/software. When you see it starting to get low, you put up your index finger and say "I KNOW! I'll order some ink now so that I don't have to drive 40 miles later on and then decide to gripe about it on a computer help forum as if it's the manufacturers fault!".
(Except the Bast... oops... the Funky Lex!) With the exception of the Canon, I have no problems with any of my other printers (Mostly HPs). Just a bad printer with dumb, ripoff technology.
Are the HP's inkjet printers? how much did they cost? If they aren't inkjet printers or they cost more then your "problem" printers
then you hardly have a fair metric with which to compare. I highly doubt their more expensive office-grade printers (both canon and lexmark) have the same problems as a value model(s) you found in a retail store.