HP customers claim firmware update rendered third-party ink verboten | Then the company cranked up the price of cartridges, complaint alleges::Then the company cranked up the price of cartridges, complaint alleges

    • Wermhatswormhat@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Beat me to it. DO NOT BUY HP PRODUCTS ANYMORE! Brother is a fantastic alternative and if I’m not mistaken sometimes cheaper, and if not cheaper, it’s at least far better quality.

    • PM_ME_YOUR_ZOD_RUNES@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      It’s fucking nuts how much better they are. I bought a monochrome Brother printer a few years ago for like 250$. I’m still on the starter toner that came with it. I am never going back to ink. Gone are the days of not being able to print in black cause I’m low on cyan. Fuck HP.

    • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Personally, I’ve been fine without having a printer at all for like the last decade. In the rare event that I need to print something, I’ll just go to Staples or something to get it done there. I’d be surprised if I’ve spent more than $20 total on printing.

      Though with my daughter getting older, it might be only a matter of time before it becomes more cost effective and convenient to have my own. Which will not be an HP even if they paid me to take one.

  • Copythis@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I work on copiers for a living. Seriously, fuck HP.

    I swear they’re designed not to be worked on. Just speaking of the fuser on any Laserjet photocopier, they heat up and cool down constantly. Obviously stuff is going to break and it needs to be repaired.

    HP says fuck you! On the little desktop printers, on some models, you have to take all plastic panels off, and they all connect to each other so good luck getting it put back together right. They’re built exactly like a rubix cube. I literally clip off plastic tabs and just leave it. The customer never knows.

    I’ve been through official HP training. They told me “we can’t teach you on a specific model because we average a new model every month, so we’ll just give you a ball park on what to look for”

    I stopped calling HP support because they don’t even know their own machines. Shout-out to Laser Pros, they’re the best.

    • Nollij@sopuli.xyz
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      1 year ago

      The big one seems to be non-techies who long ago heard they were good. A long, LONG time ago.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It takes 20-seconds to research their products before purchasing. Those few seconds would reveal that HP is now a shit product. Another 20-seconds would reveal Brother to be highly regarded.

      “Capitalism fucked me over and I wish to sue HP’s ass off!”

      I have no idea what to tell people.

      “Companies make worse and worse products and I keep buying them! Make it stop Mr. Government!”

    • Moira_Mayhem@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      IT professional here, cheap initial purchase means that when I go to my boss with the required ‘3 options’, DESPITE me detailing why HP is super terrible and expensive long-term, they will ALWAYS insist on the HP.

      Add onto that brand recognition and it’s basically impossible to convince any site I work on to switch to Brother unless they directly experience just how unreliable and expensive HP actually is. Even then it’s still a 50/50 if they’ll make the rational choice.

    • GreyBeard
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      1 year ago

      I have a laser etcher. Through trial and error, I got it to produce black and white images on wood. So it’s now a laser photo printer. Just change one axis to move the material instead of the head and you have an open laser printer.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    HP is facing a potential class action complaint regarding a firmware update that rendered its printers unable to use ink from any other supplier.

    The complaint [PDF] centers around a firmware update issued between late 2022 and early 2023 that is alleged to have disabled a customer’s printer if a replacement cartridge that was not HP-branded was installed.

    It adds: “In effect, HP used the software update to create a monopoly in the aftermarket for replacement cartridges, permitting it to raise prices without fear of being undercut by competitors.”

    The complaint claims “the costs of ink for the All-in-One is not trivial or fleeting,” and draws a comparison between the $100 needed for a typical set of HP-branded replacement cartridges versus those of a competitor, which it says can be half the price.

    HP’s end user license agreement states that using a third-party cartridge won’t invalidate a warranty.

    Ir is seeking class certification, compensation from the printer giant, and an injunction to disable the part of the firmware updates that prevent the use of third-party ink.


    The original article contains 547 words, the summary contains 176 words. Saved 68%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • crusa187@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Happened to me! Even with me taking efforts ahead of time to prevent the new firmware download, it somehow snuck through. I finally got so fed up with their BS because of this, I got rid of the hp and bought a Brother. Brother workin flawlessly, and I can rest easy knowing it will just print shit when I need it to and not try to extort cash from me to do so.

  • tabular@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Are there government consumer projection people working but no one has ever submitted a report so they just don’t know?

  • SteveDinn@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Somebody tell me again why we, as a society, still print things? Other than publishing, why do we need printers?

    • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
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      1 year ago

      cmon now. no victim blaming.

      what if i just want to print a coloring book for my kid? there are perfectly valid reason to want to print things, and it should not be as difficult/stupid as it is today.

      • SteveDinn@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Oh, I fully blame HP for this, but I am also just asking the question. Now that you mentioned colouring pages, I remember that I used a printer pretty heavily while my kids were home during quarantine.

        For the odd time I have to print something, it’s more worth my while to just go to Staples or whatever and get it printed for me there.

        The only other thing I cam remember printing in the near term has been amazon return labels.

        • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
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          1 year ago

          the last printer i purchased and used was an HP lasterjet 4000. it ran for 15 years on a single cart. i replaced the pads once.

          its nice to just have a machine in the back and you can pull out when needed. its just too bad my requirements do not gel with corporate profits.

          • OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            HP lasterjet 4000

            Those things were amazing. They were from the golden age of HP printers. I used to service some 4000s and everything was made to be long lasting, but could be easily replaced if you needed it. They’re slow and weigh a lot (it was made of metal parts!) but rock solid printers.

    • Rentlar@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      My ailing grandfather has no phome nor computer, I send him letters every month with full colour pictures of myself and family.

      That said I use my local print shop because I’d rather pay $0.50 per page than have my $25 inkjet printer cartridge deplete after 10 pages.

        • tpihkal@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          This is the part that is downright criminal in my book. I bought a Canon inkjet printer with tanks rather than cartridges; there are some serious disadvantages to think about, but I’ll dump w/e ink I want in that tank until the day it dies thank you very much.

          Eventually I’ll have to figure out how to dispose of this fucking thing while it’s still full of ink, but as I always say, “Fuck you, future me!!” 😅

    • tpihkal@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The company I work for went “paperless” and now uses even more paper than before ¯_(ツ)_/¯

      For them, it was about revision control. Everything needs be stored and traced electronically but that means reprinting documents every time an order comes up again.

    • bobs_monkey@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Some of my clients want a physical invoice. My CPA wants hard copy for notation. I want physical copies of certain documents for ease of use. The DMV won’t take electronic copies of proof of residency. CVS insists on providing a mile long receipt.

      There are a million more. Most of it breaks down to people’s preferences and bureaucracy. It’ll be a long time before hard copy goes away.

    • Valen@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      My MIL doesn’t like to read things on the screen, she much prefers paper. So she prints lots of webpages. sigh