141–150 of 308 posts
Old, but still so true: "Why I Believe Printers Were Sent From Hell To Make Us Miserable" http://theoatmeal.com/comics/printers Had this one printed out (oh that irony) and taped it to our office wall when we had to deal with crappy printers on a daily basis working for a big DAX company.
The best way to make a difference against this nastyness realistically available to us is probably the "one star review". And when you do, resist writing 10 paragraphs about all the times HP has ever wronged you or a long story about how much you needed the printout when it refused to print. One star, one sentence. "Expires full inks after only x months forcing you to buy new ones when you don't need them." I know fo…
So HN readers and techies in general are in the ironic position of having better judgment about the products but less able to influence the manufacturers.
It's like hoping to see informed advice from doctors posting on a homeopathic website. The doctors are not buying homeopathic potions.
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Good news! HP just bought Samsung's printer business. http://www.anandtech.com/show/10677/hp-acquire-samsung-print...
There is still Brother. They make nice, inexpensive black and white laser printers.
I don't know how the DRM works on ink cartridges, but if all the off-brand cartridges just use the same mass-produced cloned DRM "chip" (or whatever it is), it not possible this is actually caused by a certificate expiring rather than an intentionally malicious act by HP? I really don't have any clue what I'm talking about, just wondering if there's any alternative cause whatsoever.
Even if this instance is due to HP making a mistake, such as forgetting a certificate renewal, the intent is there right from the beginning, by using the DRM in the first place.
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Laser sucks for printing photos.
Is there a reason that Shutterfly or other similar services don't satisfy those needs? I try not to own things anymore unless I use them frequently (lessons learned after moving twice in Manhattan), and printing color photos definitely isn't a frequent need for me, or I suspect, for most people.
Pay a couple hundred more upfront for a no-bullshit device. I hope those still exist.
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You can also buy mods for printers (I have a http://www.rihac.com.au/ ) to give them proper ink reservoirs. When I got mine done (a canon) they requested my old empty cartridges, as they just grab the chip out of them and trick it into thinking its always full.
Some brands have a lifetime counter in the chip and will shut off after a certain X pages no matter how much ink is actually left.
The best way to make a difference against this nastyness realistically available to us is probably the "one star review". And when you do, resist writing 10 paragraphs about all the times HP has ever wronged you or a long story about how much you needed the printout when it refused to print. One star, one sentence. "Expires full inks after only x months forcing you to buy new ones when you don't need them." I know fo…
Excellent advice, but just one problem. For most sites, you had to have bought the product to submit a review, or to submit a credible review ("verified purchaser"). I personally stopped buying anything from HP years ago. So HN readers and techies in general are in the ironic position of having better judgment about the products but less able to influence the manufacturers. It's like hoping to see informed advice fro…
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Most colour printers never print in just black and white. They always need a bit of yellow: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10...
That's laser printers
Do we really know that it hasn't been extended to ink jets as well?
I think the grandparent has a legitimate observation. It would explain why you need to have working color cartridges to be able to print in black and white. (It's obvious that paper money is not going to be counterfeited in black and white, but maybe they decided to hide serial numbers on all printouts, not just color printouts.)
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Join the club. At my office we had an OfficeJet, and it "expired" a printhead. It won't even allow you to SCAN unless the printhead is replaced. No more HP for me. Never again.
They also print advertising without your knowledge. http://www.dailytech.com/HPs+Web+Connected+Printers+May+Prin...