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Author Topic: Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.  (Read 6628 times)

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Geek-9pm

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Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.
« on: August 16, 2017, 11:36:39 AM »
Moderator. This is a personal opinion back up by millions of $$ in lawsuits.
Just search for
  • HP law suit.
  • HP class action
  • HP Apologizes
And that is just about printers, not to mention other suits s the company has faced. The company may have an morally deficient condition.

Here is how I think. I have paid a lot of my money to HP and in return they want more of my money.  It is time to stop.

There is a bunch of competition. I have a choice and so do you.Brother, Cannon, Epson, Kodak, Samsung and others have features like the HP for almost the same price. The cost of ink may vary, but there are many companies that refill the cartridges.The off-brand ink is nearly s good as the OEM for everyday use.

Until I started reading the negative reports, I has no idea of how far HP would go to promotes its expensive ink. They have been accused of doing things that cost people would associate with unprincipled  car dealers.  :o

This story is a year old, but it was news to me:
http://www.mouseprint.org/2016/10/03/sued-over-disabling-competing-ink-cartridges-hp-apologizes-to-users/
The claims that HP admits to wrongdoing with regard to leading people to think that other ink was much inferior to the HP ink.  8)

patio

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Re: Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2017, 01:05:42 PM »
Hint:: When you buy a printer you need to check whether it'll take generic ink pots...or not.
Common sense.
" Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

Geek-9pm

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Re: Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2017, 01:31:25 PM »
How do you do that?

patio

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Re: Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.
« Reply #3 on: August 16, 2017, 01:59:00 PM »
I go to the manuf Forums...and read up on it.
" Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

Geek-9pm

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Re: Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.
« Reply #4 on: August 16, 2017, 07:32:58 PM »
I go to the manuf Forums...and read up on it.
Can you share with me what printers can only function with special ink? I
if a printer does not work with other ink, with the forum allow a member to tell?
I am asking because when I did some searching I never found such a complaint on the forums. But there are a number web pages t hat say the OEM printer makes make claims that are false and even change the firmware to mislead customers who use ink that is chemically equal to the OEM product.  What they monitor is not the ink quality, but a chip that has nothing to do with the ink attributes.. This is a bit of silicon used to measure how long a device has been running. It is not an ink monitor. It is a device that measures elapsed time.

Last year BBC did a bit on a HP firmware update.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37408173
Quote
HP said that during its last firmware update, settings had been changed so HP printers would communicate with only HP-chipped cartridges.
It also said some devices already had the functionality built-in.
Was this reported earlier on any  HP forum? 
« Last Edit: August 16, 2017, 07:45:04 PM by Geek-9pm »

Allan

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Re: Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.
« Reply #5 on: August 17, 2017, 05:41:28 AM »
Look up a printer on Amazon and on the same page you will see 3rd party ink suppliers who list what printers their products are compatible with.

DaveLembke



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Re: Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.
« Reply #6 on: August 17, 2017, 09:09:20 AM »
Also to add on what Allan mentioned that I was going to say but he beat me to it, but additional info of look at the ratings for the products and the feedback for them. If it has 4 of 5 stars and compatible with your printer then its probably good. I always look at reviews before I buy products online. And even a 4 of 5, I'd be looking to see what people complained about to avoid buying a lemon product etc. This has helped me avoid making some poor purchase decisions before.

I check amazon, newegg, and other sites that offer the same product that I have interest in as well to see if they have about the same rating and if not then look at the site that has that product with a lesser rating and see why.

BC_Programmer


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Re: Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.
« Reply #7 on: August 17, 2017, 09:23:09 AM »
Laser printers are the way to go, IMO.

They are more expensive, as is the toner (but not always). However toner tends to last a lot longer, and you don't have to waste time and toner performing "alignments" or having to "clean the nozzles". it's also far less common for there to be any sort of DRM surrounding toner cartridges.

Inkjet makes colour more affordable. But monochrome laserjet printers are pretty affordable and I think a lot of people fall into the trap of "Yeah, I might want to print photos" so they get an inkjet, but all they really do is print off things like tax forms. The biggest use of colour might be when they have to perform the "test print" every time they turn it on or reconnect it or something like that.
I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

Geek-9pm

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Re: Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.
« Reply #8 on: August 17, 2017, 10:03:55 AM »
Thanks to all for your  recommendations.
I used to have laser printers, but when they failed I did not have the budget to replace them. So I started to use inkjet.
After some more research I found that the issue was reported on the HP forum.
Also, there are credible reports that Epson and Lexmark.
Here is the issue. After you buy the printer you get an update the claims to be security issue. That is not true. The only purpose of the update is to steer you away from their-party inks. The way to prevent this is to turn off firmware updates.

The inks are  NOT the intercultural property of the printer makers. That is a false claim.  Otherwise  the printer companies would have won in the court battles over this issue.

The ink industry is very big and the printer companies are a drop in the bucket. (Pub intended,). The big ink makers will sell to anybody. Making ink is not a secret anybody. This use of organic materials is no longer as common as it used to be. The chemical formulations are known.

HP has a patent. https://www.google.com/patents/US9133358 But that was in 2012  and does not prevent ink companies from use other formulations that perform as well  as the HP ink.

My take on this is that HP  has told lies. Yes, they did apologize. Thanks, now I will wait for them to give me some free ink.  :)

Allan

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Re: Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.
« Reply #9 on: August 17, 2017, 10:12:47 AM »
Laser printers are the way to go, IMO.

They are more expensive, as is the toner (but not always). However toner tends to last a lot longer, and you don't have to waste time and toner performing "alignments" or having to "clean the nozzles". it's also far less common for there to be any sort of DRM surrounding toner cartridges.

Inkjet makes colour more affordable. But monochrome laserjet printers are pretty affordable and I think a lot of people fall into the trap of "Yeah, I might want to print photos" so they get an inkjet, but all they really do is print off things like tax forms. The biggest use of colour might be when they have to perform the "test print" every time they turn it on or reconnect it or something like that.


I have a bunch of printers in my home / home-office (laser & inkjet). The inkjets are all Epson and the lasers are HP's. In fact just got a great new HP network printer (LaserJet Pro M402dw). Inexpensive and outstanding performance.

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Re: Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.
« Reply #10 on: August 17, 2017, 11:12:04 AM »
In my workplace we had a bunch of fairly old HP laser printers, six mono and one very big colour model (we called this one 'the mammoth'). They were quite noisy, they used to clank and rattle, but boy could they churn out the work. They hardly ever went wrong, and when they did, it was usually a simple jam which I could clear myself. About 3 years ago the senior management declared a "sustainable printing initiative". Away went the old HPs. I bet they got sold on and are probably serving very well somewhere. In their place came one single mono printer and a huge MFD that everyone insists on calling 'the photocopier'.

As for the mono printer, when I die and go to *censored* I am sure i will find a Xerox Phaser 4600 waiting for me. It went wrong for the 3rd time in 2 months (I keep a log) with the same fault today. The toner cartridges leak and when it gets on a certain optical sensor, it thinks there is a paper jam and the whole *censored* thing locks up. The maintenance guy who came out on a 24-hour service level call said he loves these printers as they keep him in a job. They are supposed to order their own consumables over the network but you call the service desk and give the printer asset number and the Xerox guy says we can't have any toner because the printer says it has 20% left. I say 'It's bloody run out!' and he says 'do you want me to escalate this?' and I say 'Yup' and his manager says 'I'll send you 2 cartridges'. It turns out they bill the (government) organisation for each call and get extra for an escalation. Also the instructions from the 'sustainable' guys we got when they came said 'never, ever disconnect the printer from the network or power it down!' The first thing the helpdesk guys say is 'pull out the power and network cables, wait 5 minutes and put them back'.

I have an HP colour laser that I am very happy with, I've had it 2 years and it's still on the original toner set. I know where to get 3rd party replacements at 50% of the HP price. I'll never buy an inkjet again, and I'll stick with HP for lasers.



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Re: Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.
« Reply #11 on: August 17, 2017, 11:26:53 AM »
I have a colour laserjet myself (Laserjet Pro MFP n276nw), which is also multi-function- scanning has been useful on a few occasions.

I replaced the toner cartridges once, but I think I did so prematurely, as it was still printing fine at the time (I kept the old cartridges, too).

I'd expect it would be possible to find older HP Laserjet printers for relatively cheap or even being given away, possibly even at a price point similar to an inkjet.
I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

Geek-9pm

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Re: Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.
« Reply #12 on: August 17, 2017, 12:12:10 PM »
Good idea.
But first I think I will call HP at (844) 592-4204 or (888) 511-0222 and hear what they might say. Will they roll back the firmware?
The week my wife and I will take off an go somewhere, so I will not get back to this until next week. Meanwhile, the printer does black and white fine, but the color is much to dark.

Salmon Trout

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Re: Why I will not recommend an HP printer again.
« Reply #13 on: August 17, 2017, 12:16:54 PM »
Quote from: BC Programmer
have a colour laserjet myself (Laserjet Pro MFP n276nw)

Mine's an M251nw, essentially the same machine but with no scanner. It's a bit of a hybrid concept - a small office/home office type of engine (30,000 pages per month) but with a very small (150 sheet) single paper tray. Reviews said it fell between two stools because of this. It came with 50% capacity starter cartridges - 800 page - and after 2 years the black is on 3% and the colour ones are all 42% - 45% left. I got it from Staples as ex-display, unused, no packaging, for 50 UK pounds, that's it, take it away. I am amazed to see Amazon UK has one seller listing it at 600 pounds new and 400 used. I can buy a lot of 3rd party toner out of that price difference, and if the fuser or something goes kaput I'll just get it hauled away and hunt for another bargain.