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HP discontinues online-only LaserJet printers in response to backlash

tomshardware.com

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Re: HP discontinues online-only LaserJet printers in response to backlash

#21

Post by MrSkelter »

ogou wrote: post #9

I found one these all-in-one units out on sidewalk and thought I had scored a cool freebie. It was nearly new. Now I know why they threw it away. Total garbage and bricked without that HP+ subscription. Can't use the scanner because the ink is too low. The worst part is that I couldn't even reset the printer to use a new subscription! It was tied to the previous owner at a hardware level and support said I had to con…

America requires tons of paper. The uS banking system is appallingly primitive and any reasonably non mundane or international transaction requires in person visits and paperwork.

Canon make very good printers with massive tanks and no online bullshit.

Lasers are really only needed for super high volumes at this point. With megatank printers there is no real cost saving with a laser and they are much more limited. They don’t do good photos and the paper choices are restricted. Worse than that the prints themselves are less robust.

Invest in a large tank printer from a solid non HO brand and it will last decades.

Re: HP discontinues online-only LaserJet printers in response to backlash

#22

Post by ahartmetz »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #18
ogou wrote: post #9

I found one these all-in-one units out on sidewalk and thought I had scored a cool freebie. It was nearly new. Now I know why they threw it away. Total garbage and bricked without that HP+ subscription. Can't use the scanner because the ink is too low. The worst part is that I couldn't even reset the printer to use a new subscription! It was tied to the previous owner at a hardware level and support said I had to con…

Your opinions about these devices are valid, but I highly doubt that any other country is so stuck to physical mail as is Germany. To the point that I wonder how it is still functioning. Only one country away: Denmark. You are provided with a state issued secure email address for all official communication. No paper. Minimal environmental impact. No looking through the 2013 brief to find a paper from the finanzamt.

> To the point I wonder how it is still functioning.

It's a symptom of other dysfunction alright, but mail did and does work, so the superficial answer is: same as it always did?

When I read about banking in the US involving checks and bills, I don't say "the system is collapsing", it's just... an aspect that sucks.

Re: HP discontinues online-only LaserJet printers in response to backlash

#25

Post by jbstack »

nehal3m wrote: post #5

I'm probably super biased because I work in a relatively modern office that produces relatively modern tech, but we barely ever use paper for anything anymore. The same goes for my home office use; I moved a few months ago and left my printer behind. With the advent of QR code tickets and parcel barcodes and iOS's Continuity scanning features I just don't see the point of having a space-, paper- and toner-eating mons…

I think it's quite likely that people use their printers far less, but for many people not having any access to a printer at all is unrealistic and/or undesirable.

There are still plenty of example use cases which aren't covered by the existence of QR codes and phone scanning. Documents which need ink signatures. Boarding pass backups so you don't hit disaster when you are running late for the flight and your battery dies. Government agencies which insist on doing things by post. Sending things to non-tech capable relatives or customers who don't know what to do with a PDF. Leaflets and handouts for community meetings. Notices which have to be physically displayed in a building or on a window. Homework assignments for young children.

Some of these you might be able to workaround with some added inconvenience (e.g. carry a spare phone battery). Others are simply impossible. I'm not going to fail to buy a house because I can't comply with the mortgage company's requirement to return a signed deed for example. Much as I rarely use my printer and wouldn't be bothered at all if it stopped being required, I accept that I need to be pragmatic about it.

Re: HP discontinues online-only LaserJet printers in response to backlash

#26

Post by elp »

RedShift1 wrote: post #17

Did the people that bought these things expect something else?

That's exactly what happened.

My old home HP printer is about 16 years old and still rock solid. If I didn't know any better I would be recommending the brand to everyone I know. Not everyone is as depressingly online as the HN community.

Re: HP discontinues online-only LaserJet printers in response to backlash

#27

Post by ce4 »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #18
ogou wrote: post #9

I found one these all-in-one units out on sidewalk and thought I had scored a cool freebie. It was nearly new. Now I know why they threw it away. Total garbage and bricked without that HP+ subscription. Can't use the scanner because the ink is too low. The worst part is that I couldn't even reset the printer to use a new subscription! It was tied to the previous owner at a hardware level and support said I had to con…

Your opinions about these devices are valid, but I highly doubt that any other country is so stuck to physical mail as is Germany. To the point that I wonder how it is still functioning. Only one country away: Denmark. You are provided with a state issued secure email address for all official communication. No paper. Minimal environmental impact. No looking through the 2013 brief to find a paper from the finanzamt.

I disagree, there are lots of other countries that have this. Japan recently got rid of floppies, for example[0]. Most of all, germany is full of doomsday thinking and complaints like this one, which i see often here when HN covers esp. german topics

Edit: here's some proper example why paper is not all that bad to have, and actually beneficial in some cases (reverse engineering of Ticketmaster online-only tickets, bound to app)[1]

[0]: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-declares-vi...

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40906148

Re: HP discontinues online-only LaserJet printers in response to backlash

#28

Post by RedShift1 »

mindracer wrote: post #23
RedShift1 wrote: post #17

Did the people that bought these things expect something else?

I doubt the average consumer would know how terrible the HP printer experience is until they’ve bought one

Ok but is it terrible because the service was bad (frequently offline, toner would not be delivered on time, too slow, etc...) or because they changed their minds about a subscription and didn't want to pay anymore, and didn't realize the printer would stop working all together without it (most likely having forgotten this fact a year after purchase)?

Re: HP discontinues online-only LaserJet printers in response to backlash

#29

Post by Bluestein »

scandox wrote: post #24

I have a HP LaserJet 4050TN released in 1999. Still printing away. Zero scamology. Imagine all the effort they've made since then to make their products terrible.

> I have a HP LaserJet 4050TN

Brickhouses, these.-

PS. That entire series ...

Re: HP discontinues online-only LaserJet printers in response to backlash

#30

Post by simondanerd »

Freak_NL wrote: post #2

With no apparent way of unlocking these devices promised or foreshown in the article, I wonder how long those e-types already sold with the on-line requirement will keep working. Pretty soon the 'e' at the end of the model number will be short for 'e-waste'.

I have an HP Deskjet 2750e, tied to my HP+ account that I started to setup and canceled after getting the printer to a working state. It's now attached via USB to a RPI running CUPS. Now I have a printer that automatically pops up on my network (across OS's!) and works every time. I bought the refurbished Walmart branded ink for it too. Works great
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