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HP LaserJet Tank – Refillable laser printer

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Re: HP LaserJet Tank – Refillable laser printer

#21

Post by crazygringo »

megraf wrote: post #18

CISS's (Continuous Ink Supply System's) have been around for decades. You can buy pretty basic printers and retrofit them with a $100 system that will hold enough ink to print 10's of thousands of pages. The problem with this system is that the ink heads dry (quickly). If you're doing a lot of printing (daily / weekly) – a CISS is pretty much your bread and butter. Refilling the ink in a CISS is pretty simple as well…

That's for inkjet printers though, no?

This is for a laser printer. No worrying about drying ink heads.

But now you've got me curious -- who is printing 10's of thousands of pages using an inkjet? I would have thought that anything at volume is laser, with the exception of photo printing.

Re: HP LaserJet Tank – Refillable laser printer

#22

Post by mmastrac »

kube-system wrote: post #16
mmastrac wrote: post #11

My HP LaserJet 6P is still running strong, almost 20 years after I bought it second-hand and almost 25 since it was released (!). I've been using nothing but unofficial toner in it and other than some streaking that developed in the last few years (too lazy to clean the toner for now), it's been flawless. Apparently HP made things so well for so long that they've decided to correct that mistake. No subscription requi…

Running stuff well within its intended duty cycle is also a good way to get a long life out of something. I like to buy second hand enterprise gear, and I really never see failures out of anything that wasn't already worn out.

Same here. Firmware updates are often unavailable, sometimes you end up with a janky Java-requiring interface, but overall it's approximately the same as the equivalent consumer gear and it'll last 2-3x longer (that's _after_ it was discarded).

Re: HP LaserJet Tank – Refillable laser printer

#23

Post by inferiorhuman »

MBCook wrote: post #3

I’m not sure I understand this. Inkjets go through ink fast so they need to be refilled a fair bit and those refills are expensive and hold very little. Toner is good practically forever. A new toner cartridge isn’t cheap (and stupid DRM exists) but it’s still way better than inkjets. So I’m not sure this provides as much value. Also, isn’t HP the company that likes to disable your printer if the credit/debit card on…

Toner is good for a long time, toner cartridges are not. The Canon engined LaserJets integrated the drum and waste container with the toner cartridge. So the waste bin fills up, the wiper for the drum gets old and useless, etc. etc. and the cartridge will need to be replaced. I've aged out a few toner cartridges in the various LaserJets I've owned over the years.

The current crop of LaserJets are all based on Samsung engines (yuck), so HP could have started selling the pieces separately.

Re: HP LaserJet Tank – Refillable laser printer

#25

Post by inferiorhuman »

mmastrac wrote: post #22
kube-system wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Running stuff well within its intended duty cycle is also a good way to get a long life out of something. I like to buy second hand enterprise gear, and I really never see failures out of anything that wasn't already worn out.

Same here. Firmware updates are often unavailable, sometimes you end up with a janky Java-requiring interface, but overall it's approximately the same as the equivalent consumer gear and it'll last 2-3x longer (that's _after_ it was discarded).

The JetDirect 600 series got a few firmware updates (and they will take any firmware you send it over PCL) and did away with the Java based interface IIRC.

The duty cycle on the regular LaserJets (not P or L) was high enough (I want to say something like 50,000 pages per month) that if you come anywhere near it you'll need to start servicing it regularly. I think most folks (even businesses) who owned them didn't come near their rated duty cycle.

As for correcting the lack of vendor lock in, HP did that with starting with the 4100 series. I think HP used an RFID chip on the cartridge itself. Eventually they backed down a bit with the 4200/4300 but they did make the various cartridges non-interchangeable which is absolutely asinine.

Re: HP LaserJet Tank – Refillable laser printer

#27

Post by selectodude »

andrewia wrote: post #17

Bad news from the Q&A section of one of the printers: > With the enhancements giving the new drum a 50k page life it's no longer intended to be a user-serviced part and won't be sold via retail channels. That said, it is still able to be replaced through an HP Service Center or HP Parts in the event it is needed to be replaced.

It's annoying news but my Brother laser, regarded for its serviceability, needs new drums every 12-15k pages at $90/ea. That's on top of $75 toner cartridges every 5-7k pages. This $400 printer with $30 ink refills that ends up being disposable at the end of its service live has a lower TCO than anything else I've seen.

Re: HP LaserJet Tank – Refillable laser printer

#28

Post by bayindirh »

tinus_hn wrote: post #12
ommz wrote: post #8

> Requires the HP Smart app download. > Subscription may be required; subscription may not be available in all countries > HP account required for full functionality > Get up to 5,000 pages or up to 2 years of pre-filled toner The disclaimers, or more succinctly, the anti-feature section.

In other news one toner of a generic HP laser printer prints about 3500 pages, without apps or subscription. And then you can send them to HP and they’ll recycle it for free, if you care about the environmental impact. I don’t quite understand what is the market for this product.

The biggest problem with higher end printers are on the long tail. I have a very nice Samsung laser printer. Networked, has duplex printing, fast, 3000 page toner and 9000 page imager with all replaceable rollers and everything.

The thing is, it was built jointly with Xerox, and Samsung sold the division to HP. It's almost 10 years old, and can easily live for a decade more, but finding toners and imaging units become harder and harder.

If these kind pf printers take off with much longer lives (and HP claims 50K pages with a single drum), the companies can support all their fleets with a single sack, indefinitely (in theory). Since there is less electronics, precious metals and plastics to produce and ship, it'll be also cheaper.

I don't want to change devices because they are old. I want to use them as long as they run, and with global warming and pollution, everybody is moving to less-waste methods.

I also run a HP 4515 "Web printer". All web services are deprecated, but it has mDNS, and everything can print wirelessly with no drivers. HP app enables me to print my photos after cropping them or scan directly to my phone. Otherwise it behaves like an old USB MFP which works with all desktop apps pat.

Addenda: The unit is not used frequently, so I change toners really rarely now. Because of that, I want to stick with OEM refills as far as I can go. Knowing a little about inks and toners, their quality shows them on the long run. So, I don't trust an aftermarket toner to print archival documents. Same for the inkjet.

Re: HP LaserJet Tank – Refillable laser printer

#29

Post by mmastrac »

inferiorhuman wrote: post #25
mmastrac wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. Firmware updates are often unavailable, sometimes you end up with a janky Java-requiring interface, but overall it's approximately the same as the equivalent consumer gear and it'll last 2-3x longer (that's _after_ it was discarded).

The JetDirect 600 series got a few firmware updates (and they will take any firmware you send it over PCL) and did away with the Java based interface IIRC. The duty cycle on the regular LaserJets (not P or L) was high enough (I want to say something like 50,000 pages per month) that if you come anywhere near it you'll need to start servicing it regularly. I think most folks (even businesses) who owned them didn't com…

I'll have to take a look and see if my JetDirect 300X has new firmware.

EDIT: Nope, it's a Javapocalypse for that particular device.

Re: HP LaserJet Tank – Refillable laser printer

#30

Post by benbristow »

I've got a HP Laser Colour WiFi printer/scanner/fax combo I bought from Argos (Like a British Amazon with local physical retail shops and same day delivery) 3 years ago. Wasn't exactly cheap though, around £250. Sits near a window so is often near sunlight. Still has the starter toner and prints like a charm - used it the other day to print a gig ticket. I don't even know how to change a toner. I use it very rarely but it's nice to have around whenever I need to print/scan things.
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