|
So my venerable Samsung Wireless laser printer gave up the ghost. Time to shop.
Brother - would never connect to my wireless network. Back it goes.
Canon - had hopes for this but it turns out the office supply store has incomplete dimensional specs. The paper tray is not included in the depth measurement. Back it goes.
HP MFP 140we - still has dimensions wrong, but not as badly as the canon. Unfortunately, it is an HP+ printer that _requires_ you to maintain an internet connection (or it will stop printing). It also appears (not well described on the outside of the box) that you have to pay a monthly fee to use your printer.
Well, that is not elephanting happening.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
|
|
|
|
|
We recently bought a little HP ($99) for my wife's WFH situation.
It took only two cartridges (one black, one color -- which means if magenta is out then you replace entire color cartridge. yes, stupid but we were getting her a printer fast.)
It wouldn't print unless you removed the print cable (yes we're using a print cable) and then re-attached the print cable.
finally noticed it said we needed drivers. But drivers require a whole application to be installed that tries to register you to send you ink every month. NO!!
So I returned it the same day & bought a Epson WorkForce WF-2850 online from Target (of all places) shipping was free. It was $89 & has a flatbed scanner, multisheet loader, and is a far better printer. Plugged it in, installed ink & works perfectly.
I will never buy a HP printer so long as they take over your system the way they are now.
Epsons are quite nice. We have two of them now & they work well (for inkjet) and have 4 separate ink cartidges so you only have to replace one at a time.
|
|
|
|
|
The only problem I have with my epson is that if you have an empty color cartridge, and select that you only want to print in black, it won't print because your color cartridge is out of ink. On windows it will still print after nagging you to replace the empty cartridge, but on linux, you are screwed.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
-----
You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
-----
When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
|
|
|
|
|
The problem i had with epson, was the scanner.
I got one of those multifunction jobs, and one day when it ran out of ink, I still had some scanning to do, but found the scanner wouldn't work until I replaced the ink.
The problem with the ink however is this was now an unsupported model according to epson, so getting carts wasn't exactly easy.
After a very heated debate over Twitter with epson customer service, I was basically told "that's the way they are designed, when the printer can print nothing else is enabled, suck it up and go but a new one"
At the time all epson printer boxes proudly carried the "Green PC printer company, 3 years in a row" badge, and here they where telling me to throw out a fax machine and scanner that still worked.
I did eventually buy a new one, or rather a relative did, as a surprise, and that was another epson, which a year later the heads gunned up on, could not be cleaned, and guess what else stopped working?
4 years down the line however, I now have a HP laser, which I've not had any issues with, and quite happily uses non HP toners too.....
More interestingly though, I discovered an app for win, Linux and Mac called "naps2", this by-passes the disablement code in the epson printers allowing me to use the scanners once more, don't know about the fax though..... I might have to dig about inside for that one.
|
|
|
|
|
I ran into a similar issue with an HP printer at the office. It ran out of staples, and therefore would not copy, print, scan, or receive faxes until the staples were replaced, even though most of the jobs did not require staples. Of course, we didn't have any on hand. This is not a small home office machine but a professional laser printer as big as a washing machine.
|
|
|
|
|
You have to wonder what dumbass came up with that design.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
|
|
|
|
|
charlieg wrote: You have to wonder what dumbass came up with that design.
The sales person who gets commission on staples, of course.
You have to adjust your cynic glasses to see it clearly. 
|
|
|
|
|
fair point. 
I'm just trying to apply this approach to my customer base. If one little issue, shut the entire line down. No, not going to work.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
|
|
|
|
|
They don't care about things like that... That's a YOU PROBLEM...
There job is to figure out how to squeeze more and more $$$$ out of you.
|
|
|
|
|
It really is crap how EVERY printer manufacturer are holding us captive like this....
If they really insist on this being a subscription model, then we should NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR THE PRINTER.
Instead, if they want to do things this way, then it should be a case that we contact them, arrange a subscription, they send out the hardware at their expense, we use it, pay our subs for the printing we do, and when our subscription ends... THEN we RETURN IT, again at their expense..
If WE are expected to pay for the printer, then WE SHOULD BE ALLOWED to determine how/when and what we use the device for...
Dymo are the latest, with their label printers, you pay for the printer, you pay for the roll of labels, and each role has a chip in the centre of it that counts the labels you print, and you get charged for EVERY LABEL YOU PRINT.... AFTER you have already paid for the roll of labels and the device...
Daylight Robbery... plain and simple.
|
|
|
|
|
Good information. I'm about to go printer shopping myself. 
Sometimes the true reward for completing a task is not the money, but instead the satisfaction of a job well done. But it's usually the money.
|
|
|
|
|
Any CP'rs in Atlanta? I'll make you a great deal on this printer.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
|
|
|
|
|
Which one? The Samsung brick, or the HP hemorrhoid? Do you ship to Canada? 
|
|
|
|
|
HP hem.... .
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
|
|
|
|
|
HP printers are an add-on for their ink.
(Have 2 Brother printers on my network: a 2700 and a 5700)
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
|
|
|
|
|
I've owned 4 laser brothers since 1998 that survived years of continuous abuse.
Always laser multifunction... they always worked hard and fine.
A pity yours has not been able to connect to your wifi...
I had an HP years ago and it was much more delicate and lasted way less time. 
|
|
|
|
|
Similar here with Brother. A Brother HL 3040-CN about 10 to 15 years old. I use it about max. 5 times per year and it still works perfect; at least for what I need.
|
|
|
|
|
Ours were really abused... the first one... started not being capable to move papers in and out...
We disassembled it and saw a pinion was worn out... we made a pinion ourselves of metal and it became louder, but worked a couple extra years.
That printer was the only printer for 15 people. And some of them were the reason of that famous e-mail signature "DO YOU NEED TO PRINT IT?". 
All the other Brother printers (ugly as hell like usual) worked very very well for years.
|
|
|
|
|
The printer connected fine with my wireless network. HP could not finish the account connection process without me subscribing to their service. The funny part is that the error message was as useless as some of Microsoft's. One of the possible solutions was to check my system clock. I s*** you not. When was the last time a clock had any impact on a sign up process?
I can suffer having an account so they can monitor things, even to the point of suggesting I order more toner. What I cannot abide is having a monthly fee so that they can watch me. Their terms and conditions were pretty nasty too - to use the printer, I had to legally agree to use HP toner.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
|
|
|
|
|
Since 1992, when I bought a HP LaserJet 4+, I had only HP printers... All died of old age (except the one my daughter fed with CD disk instead paper)... As today I have HP Smart Tank 615, that came with enough ink for 3 years out of the box... It seems that every manufacturer has good and bad products, according to the price range... Also seems that there are different facilities creating different quality... It is a lot of research and even more luck...
“Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.”
― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather
|
|
|
|
|
I make a concerted to avoid ALL HP products. At a previous employer they were one of our biggest customers and they were easily the worst I have ever had to deal with. They wouldn't even follow their own procedures whose documentation filled an entire shelf. That work was for their printer division and those devices are an accurate embodiment of their staff who build them.
ETA: I forgot to mention the application framework we were required to use. It was the worst I have ever seen, without equal. Even HP themselves shelved that POS. Here's the really stupid thing about : it was based on a state machine design and a thread changed states by throwing an exception. I better stop right there - thinking about this is making me nauseous.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
|
|
|
|
|
All HP Products? Not the same here. I have a EliteBook 8770w since about 10 years or more... And still I like that machine _very much_ 
|
|
|
|
|
0x01AA wrote: All HP Products?
Yes, most definitely, ALL of them. Between the ordeal of working with them and then the stupid stuff they have done as a company I want nothing to do with them.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
|
|
|
|
|
Quote: it was based on a state machine design and a thread changed states by throwing an exception
Thanks! This just made my day. 
|
|
|
|
|
Apparently the design was some genius' masters thesis at UCSD. Had I been their professor that thesis would not have survived its defense.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
