Obviously, HP Thinks We Are Stupid
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Obviously, HP Thinks We Are Stupid
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Re: Obviously, HP Thinks We Are Stupid
#2One of the best investments that I made about 7 years ago was to buy a black and white laser printer for home:
http://www.okidata.com/mkt/downloads/B4250_B4350Series.pdf
I paid about €250 for it (which then was thousands of pages (I'd guesstimate 5000 pages), it still hasn't run out of its initial toner cartridge, and the prices I've seen for when it does are about €25.
With printers, as with much in the electronics world, it makes sense to buy the lowest end professional device rather than futzing around with consumer-grade stuff.
Re: Obviously, HP Thinks We Are Stupid
#3It's not about greed as the article states… people are stupid. We overvalue short term savings and undervalue long term savings.
When Apple let AT&T start to subsidize the iPhone the initial price dropped but the total cost over the lifetime of the phone was about the same or even a little higher. Sales went gangbusters! The media even went nuts reporting about how apple finally relented and responded to consumer pressure.
Apple tried to fight it: it didn't work. You can bitch about it: it doesn't matter. This is how consumers are. Collectively, they're "dumb"
Re: Obviously, HP Thinks We Are Stupid
#4One of the best investments that I made about 7 years ago was to buy a black and white laser printer for home: http://www.okidata.com/mkt/downloads/B4250_B4350Series.pdf I paid about €250 for it (which then was thousands of pages (I'd guesstimate 5000 pages), it still hasn't run out of its initial toner cartridge, and the prices I've seen for when it does are about €25. With printers, as with much in the electronics…
I've got an HP 1015 laser, and have had a similar experience. Inkjets are too annoying, and while they do colour output the quality is not exactly great. So a cheap black and white laser is actually a far better buy: the printed output actually looks good.
Re: Obviously, HP Thinks We Are Stupid
#5One of the best investments that I made about 7 years ago was to buy a black and white laser printer for home: http://www.okidata.com/mkt/downloads/B4250_B4350Series.pdf I paid about €250 for it (which then was thousands of pages (I'd guesstimate 5000 pages), it still hasn't run out of its initial toner cartridge, and the prices I've seen for when it does are about €25. With printers, as with much in the electronics…
Laser printers are great for many things, but when you do need good colour prints of photos, etc., you can apply the same advice to inkjets and get good results.
We got an HP Photosmart 8250 or so 3-4 years back. IIRC it was pretty much the most expensive A4 inkjet from HP at the time, but even that was only 2-3x as much as a mid-grade consumer printer. In any case, unlike most printers, it uses separate tanks for each colour of ink, and the print head isn't integrated into the cartridge. It makes a huge difference: the jets don't get blocked as they're designed to last. They also seem to be more precise, and you only replace the ink that's actually used up, and because the cartridges are "dumb", they're cheaper. Not quite cheap as such though, and bigger cartridges would be nice.
As for original manufacturer's ink vs third-party: in my experience, the HP stuff ages much better (especially when exposed to sunlight), everything else is probably subjective.
Re: Obviously, HP Thinks We Are Stupid
#6It's not about greed as the article states… people are stupid. We overvalue short term savings and undervalue long term savings. When Apple let AT&T start to subsidize the iPhone the initial price dropped but the total cost over the lifetime of the phone was about the same or even a little higher. Sales went gangbusters! The media even went nuts reporting about how apple finally relented and responded to consumer pre…
The iPhone is a great example. People think I'm nuts when I say I bought the 3G for €500 (inc VAT, which I then claimed back). Why the hell would I pay that much? Oh, I say, because it's unlocked, I've only spent about €20 on data & calls so far (10 months), can swap the SIM out when abroad to avoid data roaming, and because the cheapest contract deal at the time worked out to a total of around €900 after the minimum 24 months.
Doesn't matter. They can't get past the fact that I spent €500 on a phone. And proceed to sign up for that contract.
Re: Obviously, HP Thinks We Are Stupid
#7One of the best investments that I made about 7 years ago was to buy a black and white laser printer for home: http://www.okidata.com/mkt/downloads/B4250_B4350Series.pdf I paid about €250 for it (which then was thousands of pages (I'd guesstimate 5000 pages), it still hasn't run out of its initial toner cartridge, and the prices I've seen for when it does are about €25. With printers, as with much in the electronics…
Laser printers are great for many things, but when you do need good colour prints of photos, etc., you can apply the same advice to inkjets and get good results. We got an HP Photosmart 8250 or so 3-4 years back. IIRC it was pretty much the most expensive A4 inkjet from HP at the time, but even that was only 2-3x as much as a mid-grade consumer printer. In any case, unlike most printers, it uses separate tanks for ea…
My compromise on color printing is in the rare case that I actually need it (I mostly print scientific papers, directections, etc.) I go to a local printshop and have them do it for a buck, eclipsing what I'd get even with a high-ish end home system. I prefer to think of ink-jet printers as dead to me. ;-)
Re: Obviously, HP Thinks We Are Stupid
#81) buy inkjet printer
2) install continuous ink system
3) ???
4) reduce the baseline
Re: Obviously, HP Thinks We Are Stupid
#9I got a big, used HP LaserJet for cheap and I love it. One cartridge will last 10K-15K pages, prints 24 ppm, and it prints duplex, even on A3 paper.
Re: Obviously, HP Thinks We Are Stupid
#10One of the best investments that I made about 7 years ago was to buy a black and white laser printer for home: http://www.okidata.com/mkt/downloads/B4250_B4350Series.pdf I paid about €250 for it (which then was thousands of pages (I'd guesstimate 5000 pages), it still hasn't run out of its initial toner cartridge, and the prices I've seen for when it does are about €25. With printers, as with much in the electronics…
B&W laser printers are very good for small business. I use one myself and I haven't replaced the toner since I bought the printer - 2 years ago. I don't print much, but it's still better than inkjet.