HP printers should have EPEAT ecolabels revoked, trade group demands

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/05/hp-printers-should-have-epeat-ecolabels-revoked-trade-group-demands/

by LinuxBender • 3 years ago

191 42 3 years ago

Article states:

"we should note the IITC's obvious stakes in this. The nonprofit trade association was founded in 2000 and says it represents "toner and inkjet cartridge remanufacturers, component suppliers, and cartridge collectors in North America."

But no mention of the GEC's funding sources and conflicts of interest.

And yes, printer manufacturers suck

londons_explore• 3 years ago

I found a surprisingly simple workaround...

Put a resistor, about 1kohm, in the power line to the security chip on the cartridge.

Now, whenever the printer tries to read data from the chip, it works. Whenever it tries to record data to the chip (for example, marking the cartridge as empty), that uses more power, and the memory chip doesn't respond.

Amazingly, the whole setup just works and prints forever, saying the cartridges are always full...

asddubs• 3 years ago

smart!

ninth_ant• 3 years ago

I found a simple workaround too — not buying HP printers. Nor other HP products.

nicce• 3 years ago

The method, which is guaranted to work always! And you might even see the ink level.

fuzzy2• 3 years ago

That’s the “correct” direct action of course. However, other printer brands are ever hard at work to copy HP’s advances. So when buying a printer, make sure to research in depth.

TacticalCoder• 3 years ago

I own several HP LaserJet, including the 4M+ "upgraded" with more memory / fonts / an ethernet adapter etc. Amazing machines for the time.

So I'm an "old HP printers" fan. And yet I'd never ever buy anything from HP.

FWIW I'm very happy with Brother. We've got several Brother laser printers and "laser printer + scanner" and we're very happy with these. Zero problem.

HP fell really low.

throwaway4220• 3 years ago

That’s brilliant!

Tempest1981• 3 years ago

So now they'll make software mods to verify the write to that chip.

hedora3• 3 years ago

This is blatant false advertising on HP's fault. Where are the consumer protection groups?

RjQoLCOSwiIKfpm5• 3 years ago

Get an Epson EcoTank printer.

Ink for those is available in *bottles* from Epson, it's dirt cheap. No more cartridges!

Make sure to get one which has a user-replaceable "maintenance box", the cheaper ones have a fixed one. You can find that out by e.g. looking at the supplies list on the Epson website, see if the maintenance box is listed alongside the ink.

The box contains the sponge where ink goes to during the cleaning procedure. It needs to be replaced every once in a while. Replacing it is very easy on the user-serviceable ones, the other ones would require mailing it to Epson.

gduchgdjv• 3 years ago

both hp and epson offset the expendable costs on those.

even if you avoid the fixed box trap, you cannot avoid the "replace printer head nozzle" trap that the driver will use to lock you out of your printer in a year or so.

RjQoLCOSwiIKfpm5• 3 years ago

I have printed over 5000 pages with mine, the head is fine (head test printout looks good), I don't know what you're referring to?

To me it rather looks like consumers have been so thoroughly conditioned to distrust printers that they aren't even capable of trusting the good ones anymore maybe - and thus unfortunately keep buying the garbage ones, thinking it doesn't make a difference.

I.e. whenever one of the actual solutions is discussed there's this gossip of "nah, they're also ripping you off" - but I have the thing right behind my desk and it works just fine.

tengwar22• 3 years ago

I've had an Ecotank (ET4500) for at least 5 years and 17,000 pages. The printer head nozzle is fine.

hanniabu• 3 years ago

I wish they didn't use glass, I imagine people will be rinsing them in the sink to recycle them

RjQoLCOSwiIKfpm5• 3 years ago

RobotToaster• 3 years ago

Make sure to get one which has a user-replaceable "maintenance box", the cheaper ones have a fixed one

That seems really sneaky. Making a sponge replaceable isn't hard or expensive.

RjQoLCOSwiIKfpm5• 3 years ago

I would guess the reason the cheaper ones don't have it is that making it removable implies making it accessible from the outside which implies adding a pump and hoses to pump the ink into it:

The slot for the box at my printer is at the back of it, not at the ink head, so the ink can only get there by pumping it.

(Not defending Epson's design choices here, just trying to explain them.)

ksec• 3 years ago

Again it is very much an Inkjet problem. If only we could somehow get Colour Laser to sell below say $149.

hedora3• 3 years ago

Color lasers are available for $250. I challenge you to find an inkjet that is cheaper over a 24 month period, regardless of print volume.

There used to be $150 color lasers from samsung, but HP acquired the business.

emodendroket• 3 years ago

People are just buying far fewer printers, so they're desperate for new ways to monetize printing. If consumer laser jets became more popular they'd find a way to monetize those too.

Spivak• 3 years ago

Yeah, it's so much cheaper to rent a printer by way of FedEx the few times a year I need a printer.

gv83• 3 years ago

i made the mistake of buying an hp piece of junk as my latest printer, as it looked like it was an update of an old model from samsung i liked.

it didn't even surpass the duration of the included toner. what an awful piece of hardware. super slow wifi scans, continued nagging about low toner, hard to acquire compatibles due to the "security chip".

switched to a brother, seems way better but time will tell. in any case I think this is my last all-in-one, probably a scanner and a small laser printer are better bets in the long term. space and automatic document feeder are important tho

grumpyprole• 3 years ago

+1 The HP laserjet that I bought 5 years ago turned out to be a piece of junk. The software was also awful, it would often randomly crash, reboot itself and make lots of noise. Using a Canon Maxify inkjet now, much better machine and much cheaper to run.

HP printers should have EPEAT ecolabels revoked, trade group demands

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