HP responds to printer debate

I would swear the picture is of an old Brother printer I once had :-)

One reason I didn't persevere with Ubuntu Linux was that I could not satisfactorily use my HP printer. HP have not produced drivers for it under Linux and the generic Linux driver for HP was plain unsatisfactory and unusable.

To be fair, I would have had to replace my Epson scanner as well.

I tried HP Laserjets year ago, purely on the basis of the received widom.

One required an upgrade kit, consisting of sellotaping things to the bottom to correct the constant misfeeds.

Constant paper jams and firmware errors are my abiding memories. Percussive maintenance was the frequent result.

I switched to the Samsung ML-series and they do exactly what it says on the package; print stuff.

I've never looked back and it will take more than HP's insipidly bland press releases (as quoted above) for me to return.

I once bought an HP digital camera and that was crap, too.

The days of individual smaller printers are moving behind us, with many businesses moving to Multi function devices which for us are far more economical than individual HP printers. Also more reliable as there are real problems getting support through HP's Care paq system. Yes someone turns up to fix the printer, but unless a simple issue, then you can wait weeks for a new part. With the MFP's you have printing, scannning copying etc from one box with a fixed cost per copy and touch wood when things do go wrong they are on site to fix within 4 hours. HP do not look likely to penetrate that market any time soon!

He didn't comment on date restricted cartridges. Can someone please explain the purpose of date restricting a printer cartridge, other than to sell more ink when they go out of date?

I bought an HP Business Inkjet 1000 and, of course, ordered spare cardtridges, without knowing how long the cartridge would last (14 ml supplied) or how much printing I would be doing. Now I've got cartridges which are out of date and I have to work around this problem which is entirely of HP's making!

I've always found out-of-date cartridges work fine. There probably comes a time when they might not.

How on earth are you supposed to calculate a TCO on a printer when you do not know how well it is going to perform or when the parts will wear out.

I have a HP 4l printer that I have been using for over 12 years in my office. Yes it is slow and sometimes clunky but it works fantastically and the toner cartridges seen to last forever.

I have used HP 6l printers that had some of the paper feed wheels wear out in under 2 years. They were dumped!

With the number of different printers, cartridge sizes and prices it is almost impossible to work out the TCO unless you are a spreadsheet wizard able to take into account all the different variables and also a seer able to see into the future. My time is better spent elsewhere.

Nowadays with the cost of a basic mono laser printer at under £50 it is sometimes cheaper to buy a new printer rather than a toner cartridge. At least you get a warranty on the printer for a while! (Lexmark take note)

I still love HP although I have software issues on my scanner and have had to work round it by going into control panel and scanning from there. I have had my 850 for around 8 years it uses hardly any ink and is so quiet and uses refillable ones unlike my canon that always let me down. Canon came out twice to mine and said it was due to refillable cartridges but what had that got to do with the image on the screen!! They stalled until it was out of 12 month warranty. So I'll stick to HP cheap fillable cartridges and no maintenance.

I am a reader from the USA. In 1993, we bought an HP 4L black and white laser printer for home use. We replaced the motor on it in 2000 for US$150. Other than that expense and the toner cartridges, the printer has continued to work for us, even as four desk top computers have come and gone. I have been slightly underwhelmed by more recent HP printers, which just don't seem as solid, but do print in color, but HP is still my preferred brand when computer/printer shopping.
Just as an aside, last month, when shopping for a computer for my college-bound son, the salesman commented that electronics are generally being built cheaper, and replacement is more often a better option than repair. I'd pit my 4L (which might possibly be older than the salesman himself) against anything out there, for reliability and longevity.