HP releases firmware update that block all unofficial ink on some printers

Jan

Jan

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HP printer update blocks all unofficial ink

HP has rolled out an update to several printer models with its dynamic security feature, which prevents them from using non-HP ink cartridges, Ars Technica reports.

A Reddit user in the US recently highlighted the issue, but complaints about the update have been posted online since at least December 2022.
 
Bunch of cuntts. I have never bought original HP toners. Across about 20-30 printers/MFPs since new for the last 15 odd years. Always generic ones. Never fscked up a printer because of a generic toner. Print quality and page counts may differ but overall I have saved a ton.
 
Printers are a weird market. A few competing dynamics are at play.
  • It's actually quite difficult to build a good quality printer. Anyone who has bought a cheap one that keeps jamming unless the paper is "just so" will understand the consequences of this. As a result the costs to manufacture them are quite high.
  • In on the other hand is cheap to manufacture. So a lot of companies (HP particularly) have sold printers for next to nothing, losing money on each sale, and then hoping to make it up by charging absurd margins on the ink.
  • This business model fails pretty hard if customers (quite rationally) start looking for third-party ink.
  • So a printer which has a high up-front cost is at a disadvantage and probably won't sell as well.
Other issues exist too, such as the fact that printing has been a more or less mature technology for decades already so manufacturers need to "innovate" by including wifi or all other kinds of things which no one actually wants.

I tried to use a friend's new-ish HP mono laser printer / scanner kind of thing the other day which needed some fancy software for scanning. I needed to send a signed copy of a contract to a lawyer. It was an awful experience, I couldn't actually get it right in the end, I went to postnet and paid them to scan it for me.

Maybe there is a good consumer-friendly printer company but I'm not aware of one at the moment. Brother used to be it but from what I understand their recent models have started to introduce this kind of DRM as well. Thus far it's a much better experience just to use a printing service which has professional-grade printers, on the odd occasion when I have needed it.
 
I've heard that apparently Brother printers are really good. They have really good integration and software, and also allow any cartridge you can fit into it, but the printers are a little more expensive.
Can anyone confirm?
 
I use my printer so seldom, I've had the same Brother laser printer for years now and will just chuck it when the toner runs out as I bought the entire printer for like R700 which is probably the same as a toner replacement.
 
Just bite the bullet and buy a colour-laser from a brand other than HP.
 
Gumdrop said:
Printers are basically just torture devices that sense frustration and refuse to adhere to any accepted rules.
If a soldier gets captured they lock them in a room and make them fix a printer.
Click to expand...
The old ones that actually behaved were the parallel port Epson dot-matrix printers. They then decided to manufacture kek after that...
 
Gumdrop said:
Printers can go to hell. They bring nothing but disappointment and suffering.
Click to expand...
ak16bq08d6n71.jpg
 
A bit off topic,but does anyone know where I can buy about 20 serial ticket printers.
Epson used to import but very very hard to come by.
 
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