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How to change the region on an HP OfficeJet printer in 57 easy steps

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Re: How to change the region on an HP OfficeJet printer in 57 easy steps

#61

Post by mynameisvlad »

soitgoes511 wrote: post #23
domh wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh and don't even get me started on trying to change regions on online accounts and the inconsistencies involved in doing so. Airbnb and Etsy, easy to change. PayPal and PlayStation online account, had to create a new account.

This is so true. We moved to another country and changing everything from my location in the google play store (requires a form of payment from the new country) to opening a second PayPal account with another email was painful. I still think the change of cell phone numbers was the worst. It seems the assumption with all applications is that we will be born and die with the same number now. I will have to memorialize…

How would you expect global number portability to work when each country more or less has their own country code and unique numbering plan?

A US to Canada or vice versa move would work since they’re on the same system, but a UK number, for instance, doesn’t even have the same digits of numbers necessarily, and even if they’re both 10, they’re completely different formats.

Re: How to change the region on an HP OfficeJet printer in 57 easy steps

#62

Post by loloquwowndueo »

andai wrote: post #37
Neil44 wrote: post #31

HP printers are absolutely awful now in terms of their PITA setup, obtuse smart setup exe’s instead of drivers, stupid drm or subscription lock stuff like this. We do not supply or recommend them any more (IT company).

Can you recommend a printer or brand? Or else enumerate all the bad ones? ;)

My brother dcp-1512 laser printer/scanner is a tank and was cheaper than buying the ink for the hp inkjet it replaced. Toner costs $15 and I’ve only gone through two cartridges during the printers lifetime (6 years and counting). It works well with Linux although it has no wireless - I hooked it up to an old laptop to share the printer.

Re: How to change the region on an HP OfficeJet printer in 57 easy steps

#63

Post by domh »

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #22
domh wrote: post #10

I went through a similar problem with an expensive wifi 6 cable modem router (Netgear Nighthawk CAX80). Spent too much money on it ($400 if I remember rightly) for better internet connectivity from xfinity. Worked well until I moved back to the UK, shipping it across in a container, only to discover that it's not only region locked but if it cannot detect an American-style cable connection, it gets stuck in a reboot…

With Wifi, there's different laws about strength of broadcasts etc. in various countries, so I can understand there being some kind of region control, but having it locked is very anti-consumer. Usually you can easily change the legislative region to bring you in line with local laws. Gas equipment tends to be extremely controlled, so I can understand no-one wanting to connect to a different region's connector with p…

Yeah I've heard about the regional wifi laws to do with strengths etc. Annoyingly there is a disabled region dropdown in the web UI of the router, which has Europe listed as an option, I just cant change it. Ive tried undisabling in the inspector as well as crafting an http request to modify the region but it doesn't work. Then it reboots itself due to the lack of cable connection.

I understand more with the gas due to the difference in gas canister supplies. They do actually sell replacement regional hoses, so I assumed I'd be able to just switch it out.

Re: How to change the region on an HP OfficeJet printer in 57 easy steps

#64

Post by Nextgrid »

andai wrote: post #37
Neil44 wrote: post #31

HP printers are absolutely awful now in terms of their PITA setup, obtuse smart setup exe’s instead of drivers, stupid drm or subscription lock stuff like this. We do not supply or recommend them any more (IT company).

Can you recommend a printer or brand? Or else enumerate all the bad ones? ;)

I've had good experiences with Canon's business-grade laser multifunction units (scanner/copier/printer). Everything is configurable via a web UI (no client-side software needed) and worked fine with Linux/CUPS. Since it's a laser, toner doesn't dry out and lasts a significant amount of time.

Re: How to change the region on an HP OfficeJet printer in 57 easy steps

#65

Post by domh »

egeek wrote: post #27
domh wrote: post #10

I went through a similar problem with an expensive wifi 6 cable modem router (Netgear Nighthawk CAX80). Spent too much money on it ($400 if I remember rightly) for better internet connectivity from xfinity. Worked well until I moved back to the UK, shipping it across in a container, only to discover that it's not only region locked but if it cannot detect an American-style cable connection, it gets stuck in a reboot…

It might be that it's just the regulator that's different (the bit that connects to the cylinder). If you haven't already then it could be worth getting in touch with their support. I had a broken glass window on my oven, the replacement was never in stock, so they sent me a whole new door with glass for free.

Yeah I went through the support channels, apparently it's the gas regulator inside that's different and it's not a part thats user changeable.

Re: How to change the region on an HP OfficeJet printer in 57 easy steps

#66

Post by mikepurvis »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #56
gesman wrote: post #55

Have a separate small travel router with embedded VPN support to connect printer to Wi-fi hotspot with whatever region it wants to see. It's not HP's or any other vendor's business to know where you are. This is an easy solution to this. I have a few routers at home with a separate Wifi hotspot each configured for separate country to avoid exactly this nonsense for different services. Advantage of this approach is yo…

Wait. Your printer has online DRM?! Does it work without an internet connection? That's much worse than the situation in the article, which is just region locked cartridges.

Doesn't sound like it has to be online if they're blocking it using a VPN. But probably it phones home opportunistically, similar to modern TVs and most other "smart" stuff.

Re: How to change the region on an HP OfficeJet printer in 57 easy steps

#67

Post by tmountain »

serf wrote: post #25
usr1106 wrote: post #19

This story tells me I made the right decision: Never ever buy a printer. I can print in the library. Since Covid started I needed to do that twice: The first time they had stopped accepting cash because of the infection risk(!). And I loaded 2 Euros on my library card for 10 pages but obviously did not use all of them. The second time they were surprised that I had money on my library card. To be fair I have printed…

>This story tells me I made the right decision: Never ever buy a printer. If it's that easy for you, great. Fact is that desktop printers offer a service that is so valuable to some people/professions that manufacturers can be as outwardly customer-hostile as they please and still ship plenty of product.

I have a home office, and life without my printer would be terribly inconvenient. Driving to the library or copy center every time I need to print something is a nonstarter.

Re: How to change the region on an HP OfficeJet printer in 57 easy steps

#68

Post by martyvis »

andai wrote: post #37
Neil44 wrote: post #31

HP printers are absolutely awful now in terms of their PITA setup, obtuse smart setup exe’s instead of drivers, stupid drm or subscription lock stuff like this. We do not supply or recommend them any more (IT company).

Can you recommend a printer or brand? Or else enumerate all the bad ones? ;)

I actually have worked for HP (well one of their spinoffs) for 25 years and ditched them in favour of Brother laser printers. I and 2 of my children have the B&W MFC-L2750DW and I bought the L3750CDW color one for my Mother-in-law. They have all been great and work fine with 3rd party cartridges.

Re: How to change the region on an HP OfficeJet printer in 57 easy steps

#69

Post by Nextgrid »

hadrien01 wrote: post #9

I hope that someday the EU will look into manufacturers of consumables-based devices like printers. Consumers shouldn't be limited to use branded, forced-expiring, half-empty consumables, that can't work because of DRMs, or other anti-consumer rules like 'oh you need all cartridges even if you want to print in black and white'

The EU makes a lot of noise and has a reputation for pro-consumer regulation, but that reputation is mostly historical. When it comes to new (last decade) pro-consumer regulations, they are flawed and/or not enforced enough to make a difference. Case in point, the GDPR. Lots of noise and fear-mongering, yet the (very little!) enforcement we've seen still isn't enough to actually be a deterrent. I suspect the upcoming DMA will play out in the same way.

Re: How to change the region on an HP OfficeJet printer in 57 easy steps

#70

Post by benjamoon »

I bought a Brother monochrome laser printer (with built in scanner) for £250 and it was bundled with 6 spare toner cartridges. That was two years ago, we’re still on the first cartridge. The printer before that was also a monochrome laser printer and that lasted nearly a decade (only got rid of it because it didn’t support wireless and I couldn’t be bothered running cables anymore). Basically, I think monochrome lasers can last forever, they always work (even if I haven’t printed for 6 months). Most people seem to buy printers with way too many features and they need 7 ink cartridges etc. I rarely print anything, but when I do I want it to just work.
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