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

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

#81
post #79
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Shipping labels 2. Boarding passes (yes, I suppose I could pay the airline $30 for the privilege, but it doesn't take _that_ many flights to break even on a basic laser printer. I could also use mobile passes, but airlines are sometimes weird in not supporting those for specific flight/booking combination, and they need power).

Many people are using mobile/digital boarding passes these days.

> but airlines are sometimes weird in not supporting those for specific flight/booking combination, and they need power

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

#82

Even if you only print things once a month, a laser printer is far less wasteful in time, money, and bullshit than ink that's perpetually dry or consumed. Rather than an entry-level laser printer that cannot be economically repaired, a used mid-level enterprise printer is often the cheapest option long term and saves useful electronics from becoming e-waste. Office furniture rental/repo places and secondary markets l…

In the 1990s HP was a great brand. Nowadays it's a nightmare. My neighbor asked me to troubleshoot one. Obviously the whole printer cannot be used without WiFi and a connection to HP cloud nonsense. Only that the cloud and Windows driver could not agree whether the printer had been set up or not. And the neighbor could not remember their HP account. It took me 2 hours to figure out how to do a factory reset.

1990 a printer was a peripheral and if you had a driver it worked. Today it's a spyware, ink-selling nonsense.

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

#83
post #64
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…

HL-L2350DW checking in here. Zero complaints, zero issues. Just works.

Same.

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

#84

Even if you only print things once a month, a laser printer is far less wasteful in time, money, and bullshit than ink that's perpetually dry or consumed. Rather than an entry-level laser printer that cannot be economically repaired, a used mid-level enterprise printer is often the cheapest option long term and saves useful electronics from becoming e-waste. Office furniture rental/repo places and secondary markets l…

if you print things once a month go to your nearest staples and print it there for a couple bucks

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

#85
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.

My Brother HL-5170DN has been my daily driver since I bought it new. I don't know how old it is, but the web page says "Copyright(C) 2000-2003". 25k pages printed, so that's about three pages a day, every day.

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

#86
post #65
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which airlines charge to print a boarding pass at the airport? I haven't ever encountered this charge, but maybe it's a regional thing? I've ways been able to walk up to the self-serve kiosk, enter a few details, and print the thing right off.

The largest european airline does: https://help.ryanair.com/hc/en-us/categories/12488813755537-... ?

Air Baltic also does unless you buy a more expensive ticket. (Otherwise they are much better than Ryanair.)

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

#87
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Write your signature. Scan it in. Apply it to documents that want signatures. To some people, this doesn't "feel right" the same way that it doesn't "feel right" that I have rolling star-base office chairs around my dining room table. They are far more comfortable than any "dining room chair" I've ever been in. In both cases, when people don't take my good advice, I shrug and move on.

Ok sure so use a pen or use the printer to write your signature - that doesn't change the need sometimes to go give the doctor/school/solicitor/etc a physical copy.

You can keep your "good" advice, but please do move on.

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

#88

In my case, after one year and an half my HP printer auto-updated (without my consent) and bricked because I was using the ink from a different brand. This happened even if I didn’t subscribe to their shitty Hp instant ink offer. I’ve immediately returned it, bought a Brother printer and I will avoid any HP product for the rest of my life. I’m genuinely worried that companies will just perpetually try to get into dar…

How'd you get the return accepted after a year and a half? That's pretty impressive service. People should spend years in jail for coming up with ideas like these… +1 for sure on that. It'll never happen, though. We wouldn't want to pass laws to interfere with "innovation."

Possibly bought at Costco or similar that will take returns pretty much indefintely.

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

#89
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Examples? My research showed some inexpensive inkjets had reasonable cost per pages, but when you’re talking 10+k pages per month lasers easily win. They also win at the ultra low, 1 page per month side of things.

I haven’t done the math to see if they’re right, but they’re likely talking about the various ink tank printers that exist, such as the Epson EcoTank series. Refilling the ink is supposed to be quite cheap, especially if you don’t care about the ink being name brand. Personally, I print like 5 pages a year, so unless I get into photo printing… the cheapest AirPrint-enabled Brother laser printer has served me well for…

The nominal cost per page on those edge out many home office laser printers, but the printers themselves don’t last very long which then bumps up the cost per page.

It’s like the razor blade model of inkjets use high ink costs and the unsubsidized bulk ink versions use planned obsolescence. Though it could just be the basic mechanics of inkjets as moving around the ink + print heads involves significant mechanical stress per page and EcoTank style inkjets prints lots of pages.

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

#90
post #82

Even if you only print things once a month, a laser printer is far less wasteful in time, money, and bullshit than ink that's perpetually dry or consumed. Rather than an entry-level laser printer that cannot be economically repaired, a used mid-level enterprise printer is often the cheapest option long term and saves useful electronics from becoming e-waste. Office furniture rental/repo places and secondary markets l…

In the 1990s HP was a great brand. Nowadays it's a nightmare. My neighbor asked me to troubleshoot one. Obviously the whole printer cannot be used without WiFi and a connection to HP cloud nonsense. Only that the cloud and Windows driver could not agree whether the printer had been set up or not. And the neighbor could not remember their HP account. It took me 2 hours to figure out how to do a factory reset. 1990 a p…

This underscores why libre software is so important: if you don't control the software running on your devices, then somebody else does. One day, that somebody /will/ work against your interests.

Don't let that happen. Apply the (A)GPL and put an end to the bullshit.

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