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  3. HP - stop drinking the juice that Microsoft made for you

HP - stop drinking the juice that Microsoft made for you

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  • C charlieg

    Oh yes, it appears HP is pulling as big boners as Microsoft. So, Saturday, my wife's OfficeJet died. It was a faithful servant for over 10+ years, so we got our money's worth. Daughter needs to print homework, and I find out my faithful Samsung wireless printer (10+ years) has died as well. Hmmm. FWIW, now is not a good time for one to need a printer. Most of the shelves are empty, and I think what is left is questionable. The first replacement HP turned on, flashed all of it's lights like crazy, turned off and that was it - dead. The next HP came from Amazon. It's paper tray was incorrectly assembled - it won't take 8.5x11 paper. Good QC HP. That's going back as soon as we get the return label printed. Third printer I find at a local office supply. And here begins my rant. HP now requires an online account associated with the specific printer so that they can help me monitor my printers. It's all up in the cloud somewhere. This is before they will allow me to install drivers or do anything else. Whatever happened to just installing the drivers and moving on with life? :doh:

    Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

    P Offline
    P Offline
    PIEBALDconsult
    wrote on last edited by
    #3

    Then I hope my current HP printer lasts a lot longer.

    1 Reply Last reply
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    • C charlieg

      Oh yes, it appears HP is pulling as big boners as Microsoft. So, Saturday, my wife's OfficeJet died. It was a faithful servant for over 10+ years, so we got our money's worth. Daughter needs to print homework, and I find out my faithful Samsung wireless printer (10+ years) has died as well. Hmmm. FWIW, now is not a good time for one to need a printer. Most of the shelves are empty, and I think what is left is questionable. The first replacement HP turned on, flashed all of it's lights like crazy, turned off and that was it - dead. The next HP came from Amazon. It's paper tray was incorrectly assembled - it won't take 8.5x11 paper. Good QC HP. That's going back as soon as we get the return label printed. Third printer I find at a local office supply. And here begins my rant. HP now requires an online account associated with the specific printer so that they can help me monitor my printers. It's all up in the cloud somewhere. This is before they will allow me to install drivers or do anything else. Whatever happened to just installing the drivers and moving on with life? :doh:

      Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

      OriginalGriffO Offline
      OriginalGriffO Offline
      OriginalGriff
      wrote on last edited by
      #4

      Cancel the order, get a Laser. You plug it in, you print, you turn it off. It just works, unlike inkjets that dry up and have to be "persuaded" to print if you leave them for a couple of months. And the toner may be expensive, but ... a full set of compatible toners (CMYK) lasts ~1500 pages and the last set cost me £50.48 from Amazon. Which is a load less than I used to pay for inkjets once I figure in the full-but-dried-up cartridges I threw away! :laugh:

      "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

      "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
      "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

      C J 5 P 4 Replies Last reply
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      • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

        Cancel the order, get a Laser. You plug it in, you print, you turn it off. It just works, unlike inkjets that dry up and have to be "persuaded" to print if you leave them for a couple of months. And the toner may be expensive, but ... a full set of compatible toners (CMYK) lasts ~1500 pages and the last set cost me £50.48 from Amazon. Which is a load less than I used to pay for inkjets once I figure in the full-but-dried-up cartridges I threw away! :laugh:

        "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

        C Offline
        C Offline
        charlieg
        wrote on last edited by
        #5

        I agree, but this is for SHMBO. :) I have my eye on a laser for my office. We don't do that much heavy printing.

        Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

        OriginalGriffO Richard Andrew x64R 2 Replies Last reply
        0
        • C charlieg

          Oh yes, it appears HP is pulling as big boners as Microsoft. So, Saturday, my wife's OfficeJet died. It was a faithful servant for over 10+ years, so we got our money's worth. Daughter needs to print homework, and I find out my faithful Samsung wireless printer (10+ years) has died as well. Hmmm. FWIW, now is not a good time for one to need a printer. Most of the shelves are empty, and I think what is left is questionable. The first replacement HP turned on, flashed all of it's lights like crazy, turned off and that was it - dead. The next HP came from Amazon. It's paper tray was incorrectly assembled - it won't take 8.5x11 paper. Good QC HP. That's going back as soon as we get the return label printed. Third printer I find at a local office supply. And here begins my rant. HP now requires an online account associated with the specific printer so that they can help me monitor my printers. It's all up in the cloud somewhere. This is before they will allow me to install drivers or do anything else. Whatever happened to just installing the drivers and moving on with life? :doh:

          Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

          M Offline
          M Offline
          Mircea Neacsu
          wrote on last edited by
          #6

          The printers of yore: my LaserJet 6MP keeps printing, and printing, and printing. Slow but steady. It's 24 years young and by a long stretch the oldest piece of technology I still use everyday. In those days HP was a legend not a laughing stock.

          Mircea

          K D 2 Replies Last reply
          0
          • C charlieg

            Oh yes, it appears HP is pulling as big boners as Microsoft. So, Saturday, my wife's OfficeJet died. It was a faithful servant for over 10+ years, so we got our money's worth. Daughter needs to print homework, and I find out my faithful Samsung wireless printer (10+ years) has died as well. Hmmm. FWIW, now is not a good time for one to need a printer. Most of the shelves are empty, and I think what is left is questionable. The first replacement HP turned on, flashed all of it's lights like crazy, turned off and that was it - dead. The next HP came from Amazon. It's paper tray was incorrectly assembled - it won't take 8.5x11 paper. Good QC HP. That's going back as soon as we get the return label printed. Third printer I find at a local office supply. And here begins my rant. HP now requires an online account associated with the specific printer so that they can help me monitor my printers. It's all up in the cloud somewhere. This is before they will allow me to install drivers or do anything else. Whatever happened to just installing the drivers and moving on with life? :doh:

            Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

            R Offline
            R Offline
            Rick York
            wrote on last edited by
            #7

            HP is on my list of former customers who were so horrible to work with I now refuse to buy any of their products. Not only that, there was an HP plant where I used to live and they treated people terribly. Anyway, I have a couple of Canon printers that work really well for me. They go through ink fairly quickly but third-party ink is very, very cheap. I bought five sets of cartridges for twenty bucks not long ago instead of fifty bucks for one set as Canon wants to charge.

            "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?"

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            • C charlieg

              I agree, but this is for SHMBO. :) I have my eye on a laser for my office. We don't do that much heavy printing.

              Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

              OriginalGriffO Offline
              OriginalGriffO Offline
              OriginalGriff
              wrote on last edited by
              #8

              Nor do I - that's why I got a laser. I may have six months of no printing, maybe a year. Or a week - it's at Herself's demand (she's something of a Luddite). And every damn time I turned on the injket, it would need a cartridge, or a clean, or a nozzle check, or ... Every. Damn. Time. And that wastes my time, my paper, my ink. The laser? It sits in a corner with a cover over it (to keep the cat out more than anything) and I plug it in, print, and unplug it. It's really that easy. The toner that came with it lasted me a year or two, and that's with printing the Christmas cards two Decembers! Just remember: inkjet - and laser - printers are there to sell consumables. With HP, you get what? 120 sheets per cartridge? And that's £13 or so each. Lasers may seem more expensive, but they save money in the long run!

              "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

              "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
              "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

              J F P 3 Replies Last reply
              0
              • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                Nor do I - that's why I got a laser. I may have six months of no printing, maybe a year. Or a week - it's at Herself's demand (she's something of a Luddite). And every damn time I turned on the injket, it would need a cartridge, or a clean, or a nozzle check, or ... Every. Damn. Time. And that wastes my time, my paper, my ink. The laser? It sits in a corner with a cover over it (to keep the cat out more than anything) and I plug it in, print, and unplug it. It's really that easy. The toner that came with it lasted me a year or two, and that's with printing the Christmas cards two Decembers! Just remember: inkjet - and laser - printers are there to sell consumables. With HP, you get what? 120 sheets per cartridge? And that's £13 or so each. Lasers may seem more expensive, but they save money in the long run!

                "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                J Offline
                J Offline
                jeron1
                wrote on last edited by
                #9

                OriginalGriff wrote:

                it would need a cartridge, or a clean, or a nozzle check, or ... Every. Damn. Time.

                Exactly my experience as well. I bought a Brother laser printer last year, and it just works, every damn time. For the number of prints I do, the cartridge that came with the machine should last a good long time.

                "the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment "Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst "I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle

                D 1 Reply Last reply
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                • C charlieg

                  Oh yes, it appears HP is pulling as big boners as Microsoft. So, Saturday, my wife's OfficeJet died. It was a faithful servant for over 10+ years, so we got our money's worth. Daughter needs to print homework, and I find out my faithful Samsung wireless printer (10+ years) has died as well. Hmmm. FWIW, now is not a good time for one to need a printer. Most of the shelves are empty, and I think what is left is questionable. The first replacement HP turned on, flashed all of it's lights like crazy, turned off and that was it - dead. The next HP came from Amazon. It's paper tray was incorrectly assembled - it won't take 8.5x11 paper. Good QC HP. That's going back as soon as we get the return label printed. Third printer I find at a local office supply. And here begins my rant. HP now requires an online account associated with the specific printer so that they can help me monitor my printers. It's all up in the cloud somewhere. This is before they will allow me to install drivers or do anything else. Whatever happened to just installing the drivers and moving on with life? :doh:

                  Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

                  O Offline
                  O Offline
                  obermd
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #10

                  I ran into the same issue when trying to set up my current HP for scanning. When it dies I'll be looking for other solutions for scanning and printing. Don't get me started on the idiocy of HP's setup program. If you have a mixed environment (wired and wireless), HP's setup program can't handle installing the printer. It assumes the printer and computer are both either wired or both wireless.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                    Nor do I - that's why I got a laser. I may have six months of no printing, maybe a year. Or a week - it's at Herself's demand (she's something of a Luddite). And every damn time I turned on the injket, it would need a cartridge, or a clean, or a nozzle check, or ... Every. Damn. Time. And that wastes my time, my paper, my ink. The laser? It sits in a corner with a cover over it (to keep the cat out more than anything) and I plug it in, print, and unplug it. It's really that easy. The toner that came with it lasted me a year or two, and that's with printing the Christmas cards two Decembers! Just remember: inkjet - and laser - printers are there to sell consumables. With HP, you get what? 120 sheets per cartridge? And that's £13 or so each. Lasers may seem more expensive, but they save money in the long run!

                    "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                    F Offline
                    F Offline
                    Forogar
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #11

                    About three years ago I got an old HP 2600n colour laser for free (discarded by my office when they upgraded to giant printers for the entire office). I had to buy a couple of new cartridges (it takes four, black plus CYM) which cost $26 each and I got a spare yellow and magenta cartridge from my office (for free again as they were discarded with the "obsolete" printer) for when they run out (they are at 50%). This thing sits in the corner and prints pretty much instantly and perfectly any time I or Herself needs it. Sometimes it goes months without any printing then happily wakes up, prints and goes back to sleep - basically no maintenance at all! On my shelf I have three old inkjets. A wide-carriage Canon I thought I might need for printing maps - used twice; not used again for over eight years now; probably never will be. Also a couple of HPs which always were a problem, needing new cartridges/print head combos every time I needed them. Haven't used either of them for over three years now. Laser Printers Rule!!!

                    - I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • M Mircea Neacsu

                      The printers of yore: my LaserJet 6MP keeps printing, and printing, and printing. Slow but steady. It's 24 years young and by a long stretch the oldest piece of technology I still use everyday. In those days HP was a legend not a laughing stock.

                      Mircea

                      K Offline
                      K Offline
                      Kris Lantz
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #12

                      I still use(sparingly) a LaserJet 5. It's a tank, but I keep it around because it works without fuss.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • M Mircea Neacsu

                        The printers of yore: my LaserJet 6MP keeps printing, and printing, and printing. Slow but steady. It's 24 years young and by a long stretch the oldest piece of technology I still use everyday. In those days HP was a legend not a laughing stock.

                        Mircea

                        D Offline
                        D Offline
                        dandy72
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #13

                        I have a LaserJet 4350 or some-such of that vintage...drivers will work under Windows 10, and it's not showing any sign of slowing down. Not that I print much; cartridges in a bubblejet typically would have plenty of time to completely dry out between print jobs. I've been at my current job for 14 years now, and I "salvaged" this printer when the company I previously worked for folded...and the printer was already at least 5 years old when that happened.

                        1 Reply Last reply
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                        • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                          Cancel the order, get a Laser. You plug it in, you print, you turn it off. It just works, unlike inkjets that dry up and have to be "persuaded" to print if you leave them for a couple of months. And the toner may be expensive, but ... a full set of compatible toners (CMYK) lasts ~1500 pages and the last set cost me £50.48 from Amazon. Which is a load less than I used to pay for inkjets once I figure in the full-but-dried-up cartridges I threw away! :laugh:

                          "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                          J Offline
                          J Offline
                          Jacquers
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #14

                          Exactly why I bought a little Brother monochrome laser printer a week ago :) I have a Canon multifunction that has a pretty nice scanner, but the printing part has frustrated me. I tried refill ink, but that didn't work out. I had my eye on another cheaper laser printer, but the toners are almost twice the printer's price. The Brother's toner are more affordable and there are generics available as well for half the price. The 1 toner=1000 pages is a bit of a marketing ploy - it's usually at 5% coverage, which isn't a lot. Ink tank printers seem to be more affordable to run than traditional inkjets if you print frequently and need colour.

                          1 Reply Last reply
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                          • C charlieg

                            Oh yes, it appears HP is pulling as big boners as Microsoft. So, Saturday, my wife's OfficeJet died. It was a faithful servant for over 10+ years, so we got our money's worth. Daughter needs to print homework, and I find out my faithful Samsung wireless printer (10+ years) has died as well. Hmmm. FWIW, now is not a good time for one to need a printer. Most of the shelves are empty, and I think what is left is questionable. The first replacement HP turned on, flashed all of it's lights like crazy, turned off and that was it - dead. The next HP came from Amazon. It's paper tray was incorrectly assembled - it won't take 8.5x11 paper. Good QC HP. That's going back as soon as we get the return label printed. Third printer I find at a local office supply. And here begins my rant. HP now requires an online account associated with the specific printer so that they can help me monitor my printers. It's all up in the cloud somewhere. This is before they will allow me to install drivers or do anything else. Whatever happened to just installing the drivers and moving on with life? :doh:

                            Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

                            D Offline
                            D Offline
                            dandy72
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #15

                            charlieg wrote:

                            Whatever happened to just installing the drivers and moving on with life?

                            Nowadays you have all of these completely unnecessary extras... Just last weekend, a friend of a friend brought me a laptop that's not all that old, but for the last few months had now become unbearably slow. Event Viewer showed the culprit - a component of the printer software (that monitors ink levels, from what I've been able to infer from the logs) was crashing 3 times in a row, giving up, restarting after a one minute pause, and crashing again 3 times in a row...essentially, Windows was being kept busy, in an infinite loop, generating error reports. Found the file that auto-started on every boot, renamed it, then from that point forward, Event Viewer showed everything going quiet. The owner hasn't complained about anything now being different when trying to print, so whatever that thing was doing turned out to be no loss at all. Whenever I get a new printer for myself, the first thing I try is to locate the folder from the installer that contains an .inf file, a .sys file, and maybe some .dlls...point Windows's printer installer to that folder, and skip everything else. You don't get fancy frontends, but I've never found one that offered anything I couldn't do without. And for those installers that don't lend themselves to going directly for the .inf/.sys driver...the printer software gets installed in a VM, which is left powered off until I actually need to print. No need to waste resources 24/7 when I only print once a month...

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                            • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                              Cancel the order, get a Laser. You plug it in, you print, you turn it off. It just works, unlike inkjets that dry up and have to be "persuaded" to print if you leave them for a couple of months. And the toner may be expensive, but ... a full set of compatible toners (CMYK) lasts ~1500 pages and the last set cost me £50.48 from Amazon. Which is a load less than I used to pay for inkjets once I figure in the full-but-dried-up cartridges I threw away! :laugh:

                              "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                              5 Offline
                              5 Offline
                              5teveH
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #16

                              OriginalGriff wrote:

                              unlike inkjets that dry up and have to be "persuaded" to print if you leave them for a couple of months.

                              Ahhh, it's not just me then. I very seldom print anything, but when I do need to: Nope! New cartridges needed. Very annoying - and, yes, it works out being very expensive at two ink cartridges for every 2-3 A4 sheets that I print. Are there no "tricks of the trade" to bring dried up ink cartridges back to life?

                              OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • C charlieg

                                Oh yes, it appears HP is pulling as big boners as Microsoft. So, Saturday, my wife's OfficeJet died. It was a faithful servant for over 10+ years, so we got our money's worth. Daughter needs to print homework, and I find out my faithful Samsung wireless printer (10+ years) has died as well. Hmmm. FWIW, now is not a good time for one to need a printer. Most of the shelves are empty, and I think what is left is questionable. The first replacement HP turned on, flashed all of it's lights like crazy, turned off and that was it - dead. The next HP came from Amazon. It's paper tray was incorrectly assembled - it won't take 8.5x11 paper. Good QC HP. That's going back as soon as we get the return label printed. Third printer I find at a local office supply. And here begins my rant. HP now requires an online account associated with the specific printer so that they can help me monitor my printers. It's all up in the cloud somewhere. This is before they will allow me to install drivers or do anything else. Whatever happened to just installing the drivers and moving on with life? :doh:

                                Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

                                M Offline
                                M Offline
                                Marc Clifton
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #17

                                charlieg wrote:

                                HP now requires an online account associated with the specific printer so that they can help me monitor my printers.

                                Yup, my friend returned her printer because of this level of invasion. She didn't want her ink cartridges monitored (and god knows what else) and new ones automatically sent to her, along with whatever other invasion of the corporate computer snatchers is going on. This trend is really pathetic. And on top of it, what if I don't have an Internet connection? What if I want to print my version of Walden's Pond from my solar run computer system in the middle of the woods that is air gapped by a good 50 miles from any connection and no SkyNet satellite dish? Eh?

                                Latest Articles:
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                                • J jeron1

                                  OriginalGriff wrote:

                                  it would need a cartridge, or a clean, or a nozzle check, or ... Every. Damn. Time.

                                  Exactly my experience as well. I bought a Brother laser printer last year, and it just works, every damn time. For the number of prints I do, the cartridge that came with the machine should last a good long time.

                                  "the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment "Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst "I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle

                                  D Offline
                                  D Offline
                                  Daniel Pfeffer
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #18

                                  Amen. I recently bought a Brother colour laser printer to replace another Brother colour laser printer that broke down after 8 years. It may not reorder supplies over the net, but it does everything else (it prints, in colour, double-sided). It's also not going to stop printing if/when Brother in their infinite wisdom decide its time for an upgrade...

                                  Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • M Marc Clifton

                                    charlieg wrote:

                                    HP now requires an online account associated with the specific printer so that they can help me monitor my printers.

                                    Yup, my friend returned her printer because of this level of invasion. She didn't want her ink cartridges monitored (and god knows what else) and new ones automatically sent to her, along with whatever other invasion of the corporate computer snatchers is going on. This trend is really pathetic. And on top of it, what if I don't have an Internet connection? What if I want to print my version of Walden's Pond from my solar run computer system in the middle of the woods that is air gapped by a good 50 miles from any connection and no SkyNet satellite dish? Eh?

                                    Latest Articles:
                                    DivWindow: Size, drag, minimize, and maximize floating windows with layout persistence

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                                    D Offline
                                    Daniel Pfeffer
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #19

                                    Marc Clifton wrote:

                                    What if I want to print my version of Walden's Pond from my solar run computer system in the middle of the woods that is air gapped by a good 50 miles from any connection and no SkyNet satellite dish?

                                    What are you, some kind of Luddite? :mad: :omg: :)

                                    Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • C charlieg

                                      Oh yes, it appears HP is pulling as big boners as Microsoft. So, Saturday, my wife's OfficeJet died. It was a faithful servant for over 10+ years, so we got our money's worth. Daughter needs to print homework, and I find out my faithful Samsung wireless printer (10+ years) has died as well. Hmmm. FWIW, now is not a good time for one to need a printer. Most of the shelves are empty, and I think what is left is questionable. The first replacement HP turned on, flashed all of it's lights like crazy, turned off and that was it - dead. The next HP came from Amazon. It's paper tray was incorrectly assembled - it won't take 8.5x11 paper. Good QC HP. That's going back as soon as we get the return label printed. Third printer I find at a local office supply. And here begins my rant. HP now requires an online account associated with the specific printer so that they can help me monitor my printers. It's all up in the cloud somewhere. This is before they will allow me to install drivers or do anything else. Whatever happened to just installing the drivers and moving on with life? :doh:

                                      Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

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                                      ElectronProgrammer
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #20

                                      Old days HP was great and the printers were built like tanks. I have an InkJet 690c (parallel port) that already fell off the desk (at least) twice and is still working. I still use it sometimes to print documents from my old PCs that do not have USB/Wifi/Lan because it is more troublesome to transfer those documents over serial to a modern PC. There was no automatic head cleaning. You had to do it manually when the prints turned up with scratches. Modern day HP is below crap. A few years ago I bought a very expensive (for me), small office inkjet from them to use mainly for scanning documents and, the first time I turned it on... "Paper jam"!! and I hadn't even inserted any paper :wtf: Then, the first job I had for it was to scan a 100 page document and, thanks to its wonderful working speed and constant interruptions to clean the heads (for scanning :confused:) and ghost paper jams, it took me six months and spent almost a set of 500 sheets of paper and 4 sets of cartridges and print heads :omg: The cartridges and print heads were all separate components but had to be exchanged simultaneously because the printer would refuse to work with "old consumables" when new were detected. What I spent on those alone was more than what I paid for the printer. That printer was so good that when I complained to HP while still in warranty, they just sent me a new one I told me to trash the old one. And the new one was as bad as the old one. Fortunately, that cloud thing was optional at that time otherwise I would have lost a lot more money because, with that service activated (as I understood it), when the printer detects that a cartridge is running low it will send you a replacement and charge you for the cartridge, the shipping and the service! That means that they also must have data on you (like an address and direct debit account) that they might later sell. Afterward, I had enough and bought a Brother inkjet MFC-J5730DW and that thing is marvelous. Turn on, no head cleaning, scan, print, turn off. The same 100 page scanning job on this Brother toke less than 30 minutes :-D My advice would be to stay way from HP, even if it is a laser printer.

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                                      • C charlieg

                                        Oh yes, it appears HP is pulling as big boners as Microsoft. So, Saturday, my wife's OfficeJet died. It was a faithful servant for over 10+ years, so we got our money's worth. Daughter needs to print homework, and I find out my faithful Samsung wireless printer (10+ years) has died as well. Hmmm. FWIW, now is not a good time for one to need a printer. Most of the shelves are empty, and I think what is left is questionable. The first replacement HP turned on, flashed all of it's lights like crazy, turned off and that was it - dead. The next HP came from Amazon. It's paper tray was incorrectly assembled - it won't take 8.5x11 paper. Good QC HP. That's going back as soon as we get the return label printed. Third printer I find at a local office supply. And here begins my rant. HP now requires an online account associated with the specific printer so that they can help me monitor my printers. It's all up in the cloud somewhere. This is before they will allow me to install drivers or do anything else. Whatever happened to just installing the drivers and moving on with life? :doh:

                                        Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

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                                        Lost User
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #21

                                        HP is an ink company; not a printer company. I switched to Brother for a printer that lasts at least as long as the ink.

                                        It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it. ― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food

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                                        • L Lost User

                                          HP is an ink company; not a printer company. I switched to Brother for a printer that lasts at least as long as the ink.

                                          It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it. ― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food

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                                          jeron1
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #22

                                          Gerry Schmitz wrote:

                                          HP is an ink company; not a printer company.

                                          :thumbsup: Good way of putting it, though most other inkjet manufacturers probably fall into that same category.

                                          "the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment "Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst "I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle

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