Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

lumafield.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 276 posts

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#241

Post by bigfudge »

techdragon wrote: post #223
aidenn0 wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Beware that some printers come with cartridges that are the same size as refills but contain less ink/toner (or are at least programmed to tell the printer they have less)

I think the entire situation is best summarised as ... "Beware of printers" They basically all (but I will leave room for the possibility of a non-evil printer vendor) suck in a myriad of different ways from poor quality, to all the various dark/anti-patterns in both the original sale and the subsequent consumable sales.

I actually want a printer, but know this and have put off buying one for about a year now because I can’t be bothered to spend hours working which is the least shitty.

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#242

Post by torben-friis »

nuodag wrote: post #41

If you have a Samsung laserprinter with number pad and empty toner / imaging unit try menu # 1904 menu and reset the counter, then happily print thousands of pages more

This might be a bit off topic, but what are you guys using all these printers for?

Perhaps it’s generational but for me they’re in the same package as landline phones, it’s been years since the last time I’ve seen one.

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#243

Post by stuaxo »

torben-friis wrote: post #242
nuodag wrote: post #41

If you have a Samsung laserprinter with number pad and empty toner / imaging unit try menu # 1904 menu and reset the counter, then happily print thousands of pages more

This might be a bit off topic, but what are you guys using all these printers for? Perhaps it’s generational but for me they’re in the same package as landline phones, it’s been years since the last time I’ve seen one.

When my daughter wants to colour something in its handy.

I like to print out tickets sometimes - there's no battery anxiety that way.

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#244

Post by dawnerd »

torben-friis wrote: post #242
nuodag wrote: post #41

If you have a Samsung laserprinter with number pad and empty toner / imaging unit try menu # 1904 menu and reset the counter, then happily print thousands of pages more

This might be a bit off topic, but what are you guys using all these printers for? Perhaps it’s generational but for me they’re in the same package as landline phones, it’s been years since the last time I’ve seen one.

Shipping and fulfillment? Customer invoices/receipts? Physical signatures on docs?

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#245

Post by GekkePrutser »

torben-friis wrote: post #242
nuodag wrote: post #41

If you have a Samsung laserprinter with number pad and empty toner / imaging unit try menu # 1904 menu and reset the counter, then happily print thousands of pages more

This might be a bit off topic, but what are you guys using all these printers for? Perhaps it’s generational but for me they’re in the same package as landline phones, it’s been years since the last time I’ve seen one.

I use mine less than once a month on average and I'm in my 40s :P

I use it for shipping labels, notices to put up, government forms as they are not very digital here. Sometimes a hardcopy of something I'm organizing and want to scribble on.

Also tickets and boarding passes as backup for the electronic version.

I'm still on the toner that came with the printer (which is half empty to begin with!) years after buying it. I use laser because it doesn't run when it gets wet and because there is no ink to dry out with low usage.

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#246

Post by implements »

torben-friis wrote: post #242
nuodag wrote: post #41

If you have a Samsung laserprinter with number pad and empty toner / imaging unit try menu # 1904 menu and reset the counter, then happily print thousands of pages more

This might be a bit off topic, but what are you guys using all these printers for? Perhaps it’s generational but for me they’re in the same package as landline phones, it’s been years since the last time I’ve seen one.

“Record keeping” mainly - official returns, paid for professional work product (lawyers, etc) - stuff that you’re obliged to keep, or would cost money to get a new copy of.

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#247

Post by joshspankit »

bigfudge wrote: post #241
techdragon wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the entire situation is best summarised as ... "Beware of printers" They basically all (but I will leave room for the possibility of a non-evil printer vendor) suck in a myriad of different ways from poor quality, to all the various dark/anti-patterns in both the original sale and the subsequent consumable sales.

I actually want a printer, but know this and have put off buying one for about a year now because I can’t be bothered to spend hours working which is the least shitty.

If you don’t need colour, find an older black and white toner printer. Cheap and reliable.

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#248

Post by jl6 »

The modern answer to printer manufacturers' woes is of course to simply offer consumers a monthly subscription that unlocks the ability to use the ink that they've paid for. I mean, yes, you've already paid for the ink, but have you paid to use it? I think not. The store you bought the printer from will take a 30% cut too, to compensate them for the ongoing effort they expend in having sold you the printer.

The premium subscription could include indemnity insurance in the event that the onboard-AI detects and auto-reports you for printing any copyrighted material.

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#249

Post by Steve44 »

gryf wrote: post #10

Yeah. My HP toner cartridge has been "empty" for about a year and is still printing fine! It has done more pages since it was empty than before it was empty.

We have about five HP 4200 printers in our office and I use genuine 38X toners which I think are rated at 12,000 pages.

When we get a Toner Low message it'll then do about 500 pages before it reports Toner Out, after that print will rapidly fade. We can probably scrape 1-200 pages on Toner Out, but it's not good enough quality to send out.

Basically their Low and Out warnings seem pretty accurate in my experience.

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#250

Post by chimprich »

chaostheory wrote: post #150
dexzod wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is outrageous. Only a small percentage of owners know this kind of tricks. Imagine the environmental damage created by thousands of users throwing away perfectly usable cartridges. I always feel bad about throwing away laser printer cartridges, they have so many components that are working just fine, there should be a way to just refill the toner and reuse it.

If you think Samsung is bad, HP is much worse. Stay away from HP printers including laser

A full refill for my HP 8725 seems to be £158! The previous identical cartridges cost £85, and that was an insult. This is getting beyond ridiculous.

It's not like printer tech has improved much in recent years. I suspect a lot of what they're charging me for is R&D into how to prevent customers from using 3rd-party cartridges and a big profit hike to congratulate themselves for doing so successfully.

Post reply on HN