Earlier quoted context omitted.
Absolutely not because printer patents will kill you. There are a handful of companies that hold all the patents necessary to build a printer. If you try to build one from scratch "taking inspiration" from consumer ones you will be sued into oblivion
Patent terms for printers would be at most 20 years. Perfectly good laser printers existed >20 years ago. You can tear down an old printer and make a clone of all functional and non-artistic aspects without infringing IP. In theory, patent specifications should provide a manual to help make any once-patented aspects of the device. Indeed, that's the goal, in part, of the patent system to make technologies available i…
HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges
231–240 of 314 posts
Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges
#232What I find notable whenever something like this is in the news, is that these user-hostile features don't just manifest through abiogenesis, or spontaneous generation. User-hostile features are created by people. Just once, I would like to see an AMA by someone who was directly involved in creating a user-hostile feature - whether it's locking down printers or any of the countless other examples that come up on a we…
Could you imagine if the defense industry adopted this? Manufacturer loses follow-on contract, soon the entire inventory "Sorry, this missile will only interface with genuine parts"
Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges
#233Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’ve seen these kinds of decisions being made. They believe they’re worth it, their product is good enough to have a premium total ownership cost. They believe businesses want OEM. They believe they’re preventing consumers from making expensive mistakes. They believe they need to shut out low cost market entrants that begin with a supplemental product. By believe I mean that’s what their gut tells them, and their dat…
Do you think they really believe those things or are those just the things they say to convince themselves and each other that what they are doing is fine while deep down they know that it's wrong and that they're acting out of greed and are making the world worse. > Advocating for consumer welfare or improving the industry reputation falls completely flat. They don’t believe it’s what the market wants. Or they just…
That's assuming a lot right here. I know way too many people who flourish in being bad (and will you tell so explicitly)
Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges
#234I'm honestly a bit confused by the comments. I've had and installed only 5 home printers over my entire life (excluding professional printers at works) One was an already refurbished dinosaur from Xerox. 1 was a canon (would have to look for the model). The other 3 are HP LaserJet 100 Color MFP M175nw. All 5 have lasted over 10 years, the MFPs being the youngest at 12 years. That Xerox one was still going with after…
Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges
#235I've got an Epson Ecotank ET-7750 and really like it. (I'm kind of partial to wide format printers because schematics printed on them are easier on the eyes). That said, a really interesting startup would be an open source inkjet printer. (All the necessary patents have expired ones that are current revolve mostly around cartridges or cleaning systems). I suspect it is a kind of niche market as my kids tell me that "…
> you don't need multiple monitors to do code development if you have listing printed out Whenever I run into an especially intractable bug, one of the first techniques I attempt to use to solve it is to print out all the relevant source code and grab a conference room where I can lay it all out on the table.
Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges
#236Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am amazed no one talks about older HPs. I had a 4 with like 5million pages put through it, worked great. I am on a 4300DN now, in my house, got it used. Great printer. I would never buy any of their new stuff. My gosh, HP what happened? You used to make great test equipment. Then great calculators. Then great printers. Now, what? What do you do? Oh, I forgot, you give the customer a printer and hold them hostage. I…
RIP HP Laserjet 4L. These were beasts and they worked for 20 years. Even then all they needed was maintenance but the newer ones were more economical, quieter, and faster to run.
Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges
#237For those of you who haven't already, I highly recommend just biting the bullet and switching from HP to Brother for your home printing needs. I was a HP customer for decades . I had models going back to perforated paper dot-matrix printers. Finally last year I had a down-and-out fight to get my HP to do a basic task, and I bit the bullet and ordered a Brother at the recommendation of my friend. My mfc-l3750cdw Broth…
I now recommend friends and family to avoid HP like the plague, including laptops (which I've also had bad experiences with). Such a shame, their stuff used to be great.
Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges
#23817 mentions of Ecotank on the 1st page of comments is a little bit sus. That said it's hard to beat older pre chip Brother laser printers for home use. Can often find a used one for around $50.
I just upgraded my computer and now my older Brother can’t scan anymore because Brother isn’t supporting it anymore. (And the app they point you to for scanning also doesn’t support it.) There are some 3rd party tools you can install apparently, but I don’t know if I want to be bothered with how much time that’s likely to take. I don’t want to support them anymore now that they’ve added a chip to their newer models,…
Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges
#239For those of you who haven't already, I highly recommend just biting the bullet and switching from HP to Brother for your home printing needs. I was a HP customer for decades . I had models going back to perforated paper dot-matrix printers. Finally last year I had a down-and-out fight to get my HP to do a basic task, and I bit the bullet and ordered a Brother at the recommendation of my friend. My mfc-l3750cdw Broth…
I did exactly this. After one too many bad experiences with HP, I said as soon as this printer dies, I'm getting a Brother. Then I gave up waiting, and switched as soon as the cartridge ran out, and I am so happy I did. I now recommend friends and family to avoid HP like the plague, including laptops (which I've also had bad experiences with). Such a shame, their stuff used to be great.
I also love my Brother laser printer, and don't hate my p-touch.
Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges
#240This is terrible but next time I buy a printer it’ll probably just be the cheapest laser again since I barely get through a couple of reams of paper a decade. I currently have a cheap Dell I bought for $80 years ago. I was able to put in a new off brand toner cartridge recently but the driver only barely works on a modern Mac and I expect it will stop working completely in a major version or two.
You may be able to use a generic driver that comes with MacOS for your Dell.