HP fails to derail claims that it bricks scanners on printers when ink runs low • Hacker News Board

Re: HP fails to derail claims that it bricks scanners on printers when ink runs low

#41

Post by kevmarsden » Thu, Oct 05, 2023, 9:59 PM UTC

esel2k wrote: post #8

bgirard wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I followed this advice and it's been great. I have a $350 laser Brother printer, my iPhone can find the printer without fiddling with drivers, it wakes up, print, goes back to sleep. Works fine even if I go months without printing. After my last 'free ink forever' HP inkjet that never worked, a working printer is a blessing.

Which brother do you have / recommend? I have been quiet happy with my OKI but the phone connection is the only letdown so far and I might change for a brother in the future.

We've had the Brother HL-L2340D for a few years. It's been rock solid. It's so much better than the HP inkjet printers we had in the past.

Re: HP fails to derail claims that it bricks scanners on printers when ink runs low

#42

Post by smeej » Thu, Oct 05, 2023, 9:59 PM UTC

I'm surprised how many people are writing about their solutions for printing. I thought by now most people had done what I've done and just set things up not to need to print.

Xournal allows me to fill out anything I could print from PDF with a stylus on my touch screen. If I want to read and highlight something, I convert it to PDF and read it in Logseq with the same stylus. I can highlight in four colors and it automatically collects my notes!

If I need to mail/ship something, I just have the ship shop print it.

What are people intentionally printing to paper for, often enough that it's worth having a printer?

Re: HP fails to derail claims that it bricks scanners on printers when ink runs low

#43

Post by snuxoll » Thu, Oct 05, 2023, 9:59 PM UTC

bgirard wrote: post #19

tivert wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Which brother do you have / recommend? I have been quiet happy with my OKI but the phone connection is the only letdown so far and I might change for a brother in the future. I have a brother HL-2270dw that I've been using for more than 10 years that I'm happy with. I don't think they make that exact model anymore, but Wirecutter recommends the HL-2350dw (I don't know what you get for the extra $10 to get a HL-2370…

For me, I ended up with the MFC-L3770CDW because there was a big sale on it, not from any particular research.

Also have a MFC-L3770CDW, it's perfectly fine but you really have to pay attention to consumable cost when selecting laser MFC. A cartridge of TN227BK (high-yield black toner) for the MFC-L3770CDW is ~$80 for a ~3000 page yield, while a TN433BK cartridge that fits a MFC-L8900CDW is $85 for a ~4500 page yield. That's a (toner-only) cost per page of ~2.5c vs ~1.8c, or nearly a 30% reduction in toner cost; the difference between which is amplified for the color cartridges (TN227 color is $100/ea for ~2300 pages, TN433 color is $136/ea for ~4000 pages or ~4.3c/page vs ~3.4c/page).

Considering the price difference between these units, I opted for the MFC-L3770CDW because I do not print that often and I've spent far more over years on wasted ink from dried out cartridges and destroyed print heads; but it's still an important factor to keep in mind.

Re: HP fails to derail claims that it bricks scanners on printers when ink runs low

#44

Post by historyTeach123 » Thu, Oct 05, 2023, 10:09 PM UTC

Justsignedup wrote: post #34

ajb wrote: post #24

Because of this kind of thing I haven't actually replaced my printer, since it broke, and have been actively looking for ways to avoid doing so. - In the UK, Royal mail will now print the label for you, when you order a collection. DPD claims to do so when you drop off but the shops often turn out not to have a printer - Libraries print more cheaply than shops, neither are suitable for printing where confidentiality…

Buy a brother laser printer. Anything that's not a laser printer is not worth it except for very very very specific use cases. Because of this laser printers are actually profitable to sell. So they don't have to loss leader their income from you.

I have a Brother HL-2170W that's almost old enough to drive.

Re: HP fails to derail claims that it bricks scanners on printers when ink runs low

#45

Post by johnnyworker » Thu, Oct 05, 2023, 10:10 PM UTC

Justsignedup wrote: post #34

ajb wrote: post #24

Because of this kind of thing I haven't actually replaced my printer, since it broke, and have been actively looking for ways to avoid doing so. - In the UK, Royal mail will now print the label for you, when you order a collection. DPD claims to do so when you drop off but the shops often turn out not to have a printer - Libraries print more cheaply than shops, neither are suitable for printing where confidentiality…

Buy a brother laser printer. Anything that's not a laser printer is not worth it except for very very very specific use cases. Because of this laser printers are actually profitable to sell. So they don't have to loss leader their income from you.

I have mine since 2006 or 2007, easily one of the most perfect purchases in my life. I used it rather extensively for a while, had to change toner then, but by now I print maybe a bunch of sheets per year, and can't even remember the last time I had to change toner. Before that I used ink printers which broke all the time, not to mention ink getting dry.

Anyone who hasn't had the pleasure yet, there is a reason this gets brought up without fail when talking about printers. I have no idea if it's particular to laser printers, Brother laser printers or both, because that was the last printer I bought so far, I have no other experience other than the horrors of ink printers.

Re: HP fails to derail claims that it bricks scanners on printers when ink runs low

#46

Post by ajb » Thu, Oct 05, 2023, 10:12 PM UTC

Justsignedup wrote: post #34

ajb wrote: post #24

Because of this kind of thing I haven't actually replaced my printer, since it broke, and have been actively looking for ways to avoid doing so. - In the UK, Royal mail will now print the label for you, when you order a collection. DPD claims to do so when you drop off but the shops often turn out not to have a printer - Libraries print more cheaply than shops, neither are suitable for printing where confidentiality…

Buy a brother laser printer. Anything that's not a laser printer is not worth it except for very very very specific use cases. Because of this laser printers are actually profitable to sell. So they don't have to loss leader their income from you.

CHF docmail is actually competitive with a laser on cost - if you're posting too, of course. Which is usually the case for me - I very rarely print anything to keep.

Re: HP fails to derail claims that it bricks scanners on printers when ink runs low

#47

Post by mattlondon » Thu, Oct 05, 2023, 10:15 PM UTC

smeej wrote: post #42

I'm surprised how many people are writing about their solutions for printing. I thought by now most people had done what I've done and just set things up not to need to print. Xournal allows me to fill out anything I could print from PDF with a stylus on my touch screen. If I want to read and highlight something, I convert it to PDF and read it in Logseq with the same stylus. I can highlight in four colors and it aut…

Many places still ask you to physically sign and then scan/post back things. E.g fill in a pdf with a computer then print and manually sign with a pen.

It is not every day, but frequently enough that not having a printer is a pain.

Re: HP fails to derail claims that it bricks scanners on printers when ink runs low

#48

Post by snuxoll » Thu, Oct 05, 2023, 10:20 PM UTC

smeej wrote: post #42

I'm surprised how many people are writing about their solutions for printing. I thought by now most people had done what I've done and just set things up not to need to print. Xournal allows me to fill out anything I could print from PDF with a stylus on my touch screen. If I want to read and highlight something, I convert it to PDF and read it in Logseq with the same stylus. I can highlight in four colors and it aut…

> What are people intentionally printing to paper for, often enough that it's worth having a printer?

If I'm being honest, mine is a mid-range document scanner that also happens to have a color laserjet attached for the occasional form or whatever that has to be on paper and will still be cheaper for me to print at home then get it from the print shop.

50 page ADF with duplex scanning is something you get in the ~$200+ price range of standalone document scanners, and they tend to not have a flatbed either for the occasional photo or copy of a page from a book. I'd love to be 100% paperless, but even for my very digital life I haven't managed to get that far yet.

Re: HP fails to derail claims that it bricks scanners on printers when ink runs low

#49

Post by compiler-guy » Thu, Oct 05, 2023, 10:21 PM UTC

Justsignedup wrote: post #34

ajb wrote: post #24

Because of this kind of thing I haven't actually replaced my printer, since it broke, and have been actively looking for ways to avoid doing so. - In the UK, Royal mail will now print the label for you, when you order a collection. DPD claims to do so when you drop off but the shops often turn out not to have a printer - Libraries print more cheaply than shops, neither are suitable for printing where confidentiality…

Buy a brother laser printer. Anything that's not a laser printer is not worth it except for very very very specific use cases. Because of this laser printers are actually profitable to sell. So they don't have to loss leader their income from you.

Firmware updates for Brother laser printers routinely brick third-party toner cartridges. Downgrading is possible only if you download old firmware from sketchy sites in languages you don't read.

They work great when they work, but you can never update your firmware.

Re: HP fails to derail claims that it bricks scanners on printers when ink runs low

#50

Post by sneak » Thu, Oct 05, 2023, 10:23 PM UTC

PopePompus wrote: post #27

bitwize wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in the days when HP was a scientific-equipment company, everything they made was built like a tank. Still have fond memories of the HP-7475A plotter.

There is no sadder story in American capitalism than the decline of HP from a wonderful equipment engineering company to a racket for selling tiny little tubs of overpriced ink. Think a young Steve Jobs would be excited to get a job there now?

Boeing, perhaps. The same thing happened there, as I understand it.

There’s also a strong argument for post-Jobs Apple being an even more tragic arc (that’s earlier on the curve). Time will tell. These things happen on the order of decades, not years.

Brain drain is real.