Had it with HP

[RNajarian]

A post started by NY65912 got me thinking about the frustration I’ve been having with my last 2 HP inkjet printers. . .

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1128327-inkjet-spill-clean-up.html

BOTTOM LINE: What home printer do you recommend?


Backstory: Or more like a rant.
Maybe 8 years ago I bought a HP 8620 printer from Costco. It worked great, printed well and I never had a problem with my wireless connections. Two years ago planned obsolescence kicked in. I got an error that HP the print head was defective. That is a plastic box that you put the four ink cartridges into then put the entire assembly into the printer. Replacement print heads were $170. I bought the printer originally for $150. Online videos how to clean/fix the HP8620 print head did not help.

So I bought a new HP 8025 Office Jet. Since day one this printer gave me trouble. One minute it works, the next it doesn’t. Uninstalling and reinstalling the print drivers were a common activity. Wireless connections were unreliable. I ran an Ethernet cable under the house to the printer thinking a hard wired connection would resolve the problem. NOPE. I called HP since the printer was under warranty and their reply (from overseas) was the 20 foot Ethernet wire was too long and the printer needed to be within 6 feet from the router. Yes WTF!?

Then the document feeder stopped working. I called HP warranty support. During a video call I noticed a piece of the feeding mechanism broke off and jammed the internals. The overseas representative saw me discover the piece of plastic jammed inside. He told me to remove it and try document feeder scanning. The feeder worked and he declared the piece of plastic was a piece of shipping plastic I failed to remove. Which it was not since it

1) Was not orange
2) Had a part number stamped on it
3) Obviously was used to guide paper in the document feeder.
4) Was not listed or illustrated as a shipping piece to be removed in the set up instructions.

So no warranty replacement.

I’ve had it with this POS printer and HP.

What home printers are you guys using?

[911 Rod]

Although my printers are much bigger, I once had a tech tell me they are taught if they can't fix the machine, fix the customer.
You sir have been fixed!

[RANDY P]

I hate HP gear, especially their consumer grade stuff.

rjp

[masraum]

Our last couple/few HP printers were more office oriented laserjets and they were great, very long lived with no issues.

The last time we replaced one, based on recommendations from the board, I went to a Brother. It's a black and white laser. So not apples-apples since you're talking inkjet. I got out of the inkjet racket years ago because of the color ink cartridges, life/cost.

[RNajarian]

Yes ink costs are pretty steep. I’m considering a color inkjet, though toner will be pretty expensive as well.

[A930Rocket]

Copier/printers all suck. Cheap to buy, expensive for ink. If you don’t use it enough, the ink heads dry up.

We bought one recently for work, and for the life of us, the three of us cannot get it to connect to our laptops.

[flipper35]

We have purchased 2 Epsons in the lat 20 years. Both still work great.

[2.7RS]

I have fujitsu at office and home. Quality stuff.

Have not dealt with them post covid

Maybe they all suck now

[RNajarian]

Epson has a new technology where you pour ink into a reservoir rather than change print cartridges.

That intrigues me.

[Por_sha911]

I have had HP inkjets since the 500C back around 1990. Always worked great. I even could refill my color and B&W cartridges at least once. I wanted to go with individual color cartridges/tanks but read about all sorts of problems so I keep plugging along with a 970C. No wireless. It doesn't stop printing because it decides I need more ink or because one color is out (I can still print B&W until I get a refill). No communication with the mother ship or mandatory purchase of ink... Works great and I buy re-manufactured refills online (they used to be dirt cheap but they are still far less than what H&P charges). I won't buy the new stuff until this one dies.

[MBAtarga]

Been using the line of Brother MFC (printer/scanner/copier) models for about 20 years now. They've got ink tanks that are widely available from different vendors. I pay about $5 for all 4 tanks (3 colors and black) that last about 6 months or so. We don't print a lot - maybe a few pages each week.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by RNajarian

Epson has a new technology where you pour ink into a reservoir rather than change print cartridges.

That intrigues me.

I just bought a new Epson...it's been great so far. When I bought it, they only had the regular cartridges. I wish I would have waited for the new type that you mention.

[Tobra]

My sister worked for HP for 19 and a half years.

HP can eat a bag of dicks.

[RNajarian]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I just bought a new Epson...it's been great so far. When I bought it, they only had the regular cartridges. I wish I would have waited for the new type that you mention.

Maybe it is better you waited. . . the sales person at Office Depot said the first generation of this printer had issues. Apparently the new model is much better.

[mjohnson]

I'll never have enough horsepower...

Oh, wait. HP as a company is dead to me. Their industry-grade stuff still seems solid but is far out of my price range. For home use we've moved on to Brother.

It's kind of sad, as HP was my wife's near entire family history/destiny up in Loveland/Fort Collins CO a few decades ago. Then, also with some dodgy management choices, they spun off their true core, electronic and medical instruments, to (not) make billions in PCs and other very low profit commodities. The last real thing I bought from them was an Agilent LCR meter and it was a great unit. Hopefully that little remnant of a once-great company will survive.

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by Tobra

HP can eat a bag of dicks.

Anyone who's been in the upper front range of CO (Loveland/FoCo) since the '90s can echo that with probably even more color and creativity. Once a great company doing really good things...

(many family members are HP survivors/victims)

[jyl]

My favorite is Brother laser multifunctions (“MFC”). Sturdy, reliable, toner reasonably priced, no-nonsense machines. Can get double-sided printing and scanning, feed tray, high speed, etc.

I bought my daughter a little Epson inkjet that refills from bottles, for the lowest ink price. I don’t like inkjets, but it is pretty good.

For the office, I got a Kyocera office copier-printer-scanner that does everything, ripping fast, I think it’s rated for something like 50,000 pages a month. Since I do maybe 300 pages a month, I’m expecting it to last forever.

[unclebilly]

Also fed up and pi55ed off with HP, we bought a Samsung laser printer. It was excellent until HP bought Samsung’s printer line and updated the firmware…

We’ve since bought a Xerox all in one laser from Amazon and it has been awesome except for their idiotic software.

It is truely excellent once it is working.

https://www.shop.xerox.com/products/all-in-one-printers

[RANDY P]

Brother or commercial level lexmark.

Laser only. Don't bother with anything else.

rjp

[rfuerst911sc]

In my opinion inkjet printers belong in the rearview mirror . My wife and I bought a Brother black/white laser printer over a year ago and it is rock solid . We sometimes go months without printing and no concerns about dried up ink or print heads .

Color laser printers are readily available and prices are quite reasonable . I generally buy laser cartridges online but if we get in a pinch the local Walmart has them in stock .