Live data from Hacker News

Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

bleepingcomputer.com

101–110 of 485 posts

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#101

I stopped buying inkjet printers. They are a scam, the ink costs a fortune and they are built as cheap as they can, meaning that they will break and you have to throw them away because they are impossible to repair, they are slow and when you need them they don't work because they were not used for too much time. After having 5 broken printers in the garage I said enough, that is a useless waste, and invested some mo…

Inkjet printers can do a fantastic job of printing photos and color documents, and maybe four times a year I would really like to do that at home. Unfortunately nobody seems to have built an inkjet printer with nozzles that don't gunk up, and cleaning the nozzles doesn't work very well and uses more ink and time than the document you wanted to print in the first place.

It's probably possible to design an inkjet printer that actually works as well in the real world as a laser printer, but it would threaten the business model of all the printer manufacturers so I'm not holding my breath.

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#102
post #21

I stopped buying inkjet printers. They are a scam, the ink costs a fortune and they are built as cheap as they can, meaning that they will break and you have to throw them away because they are impossible to repair, they are slow and when you need them they don't work because they were not used for too much time. After having 5 broken printers in the garage I said enough, that is a useless waste, and invested some mo…

After similar shenanigans from HP, I went to Brother laser printers and haven’t looked back since.

I went with a Brother Laserjet after reading a recommendation comment here. Amazon has cheap cartridges for it, too. The only issue I've had is wifi network connectivity. When it was plugged in worked flawlessly. This is a buy it for life product.

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#103
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After similar shenanigans from HP, I went to Brother laser printers and haven’t looked back since.

Yep. Have had a Brother HL-2270 (b&w laser printing) for years, and couldn't be happier with it, especially coupled with a PI-based CUPS server for AirPrint capability and the like. The only thing I miss about not having an inkjet is color printing and at-home photo printing, but there are so many on-demand online print shops nowadays, I can't say it's a big deal.

It was going to cost me $100+ to refill the inks on my large format HP inkjet photo printer. I took it up to the attic a few months back from whence it will likely go in the trash in a few years. I have the same Brother printer and it just works for occasional B&W printing. The rare color photo prints I want are easily handled (better) online and, while I'd like to print a color map or something now and then, it's not worth having an inkjet printer that will be used so seldom the ink will dry out.

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#104

Brothers LaserJet. No malware, no adware, no funky drivers; just colored, WiFi, LP-protocol, multi-tray PCL and PS support. Best thing since sliced bread.

> no funky drivers Even on Linux?

These understand standard PCL (and even PDF, somewhat) - you really only need to point CUPS at the printer's IP and tell it what the page size is.

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#105

To me it is a reminder that all cornerstones of society are entangled in this battle for rights and freedoms, others include Sideloading on iOS, alternative app stores etc Farmers getting access to diagnostics for their tractors Not having to buy subscription-ink (looking at HP here...) Standardized charging systems (USB-C) over proprietary cables like Lightning. Amazon fighting the definition of a library - they mos…

> I'm not sure why - as a global species - there's not more effort to tighten up the rules in this regard.

Lobbying. These industries are worth billions of dollars. They can afford lobbyists who will go to politicians and influence the law making process. They essentially buy the laws that they want. Copyright duration is essentially infinite now thanks to these guys. Also illegal to reverse engineer thanks to these guys.

Billion dollar corporations protecting their own interests at the expense of the public's interests. Such a nice democracy we live under.

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#106

I stopped buying inkjet printers. They are a scam, the ink costs a fortune and they are built as cheap as they can, meaning that they will break and you have to throw them away because they are impossible to repair, they are slow and when you need them they don't work because they were not used for too much time. After having 5 broken printers in the garage I said enough, that is a useless waste, and invested some mo…

100%. I’ve had 4 Epson printers. All junk.

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But between Consumer Reports, Wirecutter, the 18 million review websites, Costco, I feel like such an obviously superior brand and product should have had its reputation widely known by now, like Toyota/Honda.

I think you highly overestimate the amount of research the average person does on a printer purchase. Yes, some people will buy a CR magazine or ask their friends/relatives opinion for a $30k car, but will they do that before buying a $60 printer?

True, but I would have figured that by now, so many people would have had bad experiences with inkjet printers from HP/epson/canon that they would have sought out that information. Or maybe even retailers would promote it so people are more satisfied with their purchases.

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#108
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After similar shenanigans from HP, I went to Brother laser printers and haven’t looked back since.

Yep. Have had a Brother HL-2270 (b&w laser printing) for years, and couldn't be happier with it, especially coupled with a PI-based CUPS server for AirPrint capability and the like. The only thing I miss about not having an inkjet is color printing and at-home photo printing, but there are so many on-demand online print shops nowadays, I can't say it's a big deal.

Pi-based CUPS is the way to go. I developed an image for balenaOS to manage a fleet at the previous enterprise IT company I was with.

https://github.com/willswire/balenaPrint

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#109
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the low number of pages printed at home, I don’t mind buying the actual name-brand toner. If you’re only changing it every 2 years, the cost doesn’t matter much, and at least the company (i.e. Brother) gets some profit from being a good citizen. Going with non-OEM toner in that situation just drives the company into needing to find more revenue streams, such as locking down the cartridges, which undermines you. At…

I put a piece of black tape over the window on my Brother starter toner like 4 years ago. Print quality is still good enough for anything I print at home (which is obviously very little).

What does this do?

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#110
post #77

I stopped buying inkjet printers. They are a scam, the ink costs a fortune and they are built as cheap as they can, meaning that they will break and you have to throw them away because they are impossible to repair, they are slow and when you need them they don't work because they were not used for too much time. After having 5 broken printers in the garage I said enough, that is a useless waste, and invested some mo…

Are the new ones with refill bottles instead of ink cartridges any better?

Own one, Epson. Ink clogs in piping out of reservoirs ... ... but no big deal.-
Post reply on HN