this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2023
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[–] [email protected] 157 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

At their "cheapest" 0.099 euro / $0.11 USD tier it is already literally cheaper per page (albeit certainly not faster) for me to print documents as 8.5x11" 0.1mm thick single layer slabs of plastic on my 3D printer.

An entire "blank" page, i.e. no cutouts for text or anything, would be about 0.754 grams of plastic. That's about $0.0143 per page at a not-too-exorbitant retail cost of PLA filament ($18.99 USD for a kilo) and the material usage would be even less once the negative space for text is subtracted. And I don't even have to buy the paper.

That's mind boggling. Apparently I'm in the wrong racket.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 11 months ago

That's pathetic, hopefully they go out of business soon. Just think of all the filiment that could have been made instead of e waste

[–] [email protected] 105 points 11 months ago (5 children)
[–] [email protected] 23 points 11 months ago (5 children)

I was highly considering a Brother, now I definitely will get one.

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[–] [email protected] 79 points 11 months ago (16 children)

Holy shit, .15 euros per page? Why not just run to der Kinkos? I haven’t checked but I imagine it’s cheaper there. I get the convenience of having a printer at home but this is like if every cup of coffee you make at home cost you the Starbucks $8.25.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 11 months ago

Or just don't buy HP.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 11 months ago

The correct answer, as usual, is: don't buy HP.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 11 months ago (2 children)

probably cheaper to print with blood than to use HP printers

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Brother printer gang printing with their tears of joy.

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[–] [email protected] 57 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Jesus fuckin Christ I was today years old when I learned about HP Instant Ink. Good gracious what a scam

[–] [email protected] 32 points 11 months ago (4 children)

The whole company is a scam. I've seen a couple of big companies get nice bulk discount contracts.

$1600 off of laptop workstations. Who the fuck can afford a bulk discount of 50%?

I don't think they even used HP printers.

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (11 children)

Easy. Never buy HP. Their printers are shit and so are their laptops.

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[–] [email protected] 52 points 11 months ago (4 children)

It amazes me that there are so many people who buy a printer, are offered this "pay $x a month for Y pages" type of plan, and say yes. I mean, sure, HP sucks, but they wouldn't be able to get away with such slimy business practices if there weren't so many people willing to pay.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 11 months ago

I am obligated by my work to offer this to customers when they buy an HP printer and I make it really clear that it's a bad deal for most customers. There are some edge case examples, like a lady with a small business who always prints exactly like 3 pages a day. The other customers who agree to buy it are almost always the super old people who don't want to have to come to the store to get more ink. I think it's a shit program that should be scrapped entirely, but some people really don't care if it's a bad deal as long as they get the convenience. No different than 7-11 up charging shit because it's easier to buy it at the market down the street than the Walmart a few miles down the road.

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[–] [email protected] 51 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (10 children)

If you still own a HP printer, it's your own fault. Sorry. Got an Canon with liquid refill, loved it, equipped my company with it & recommended it to everyone I know. It's not even expensive & the quality is impeccable. Plus: no problems whatsoever over Linux.

EDIT: CANON, not Epson. I'm distracted sometimes. Canon PIXMA G4511, sub 300 Eur.

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[–] [email protected] 50 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Breaking news: Printer company behaves like printer companies always have. User hostile.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 11 months ago (1 children)

So the plan dictates how many pages you can print each month? Feck no! I own a Brother laser printer and I’m so glad I escaped the HP madness years ago.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Yes and no. If you exceed that, I think they just bill you for the next tier.

If you cancel, they immediately remote disable the perfectly working cartridges already in your printer that are still full of ink. Even if you've fully paid for the remainder of the month.

It's a complete scam. Just don't buy an HP printer, Instant Ink or not.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 11 months ago (1 children)

hahahaa i recently dumped them for a big, sturdy, traditional, offline Brother laser. it's ridiculous how much more satisfying it is to print, especially without HP breathing over your shoulder counting how many pages you've printed in the last billing period

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Just making it easier not to buy one!

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 11 months ago (5 children)

Being boycotting this shitstain company since Carly Fiorina turned it into a perfect example of peak 1990's MBA management style (the kind that killed companies like GE) and, once again, I get to pat myself on the back for it.

Almost 20 years of regular smug self-satisfaction for free is a pretty good investment.

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 11 months ago (9 children)

If like me you don't print much but still need a printer occasionally, get a laser printer (possibly a scanner multifunction, since it can be handy to scan your receipts), and just buy your cartridges normally. Laser toner won't dry up like ink does, so you end up paying less for your infrequent prints in the long run.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Ink subscription is a bad descriptor

You pay per page, if you have extra ink leftover then you don’t have access to it

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 11 months ago (5 children)

At this point, I am positive the HP printer marketing department, have lost their collective minds.

Most marketing departments are retarded, but this seems to be a new level of dumb. Bricking printers, blocking 3rd party, messing with firmware, price gouging..

Brother are simple, reliable, low cost and dependable. Every one I have used in commercial or watched in home use have been straight up boss. I don't own one, but it will be my next printer when the Epson runs out of ink, mark my words!

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 11 months ago

Wow, what a scam!

[–] [email protected] 34 points 11 months ago

Seriously, fuck HP.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 10 months ago

HP actually has a brilliant business strategy.

  1. First get a huge customer base via cheap ass product

  2. Remove the customers who care about quality

  3. Remove the customers who care about reliability

  4. Remove the customers who care about price

  5. Remove the customers who pay attention to their monthly bills

voila, you have like 3 people left who you can charge infinite money for a lump of shit. Infinite profit margins

[–] [email protected] 32 points 11 months ago (4 children)

You know why all of the printer companies are so shitty? It's because they're in the business of selling printers. That's why they break and cost so much to maintain. You know why the sewing machine company sells printers that work? Because they accidentally let some of their sewing machine engineers make printers.

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 11 months ago (6 children)

I've seen a lot of recommendations for Brother, I want to add one for Ricoh.

I bought a B/W laser printer from Ricoh (213w IIRC) a decade ago for under 40 bucks and a new generic, no-name Amazon toner refill for 25 like 5 years ago. Printed thousands of pages, just sitting in a corner under the stairs.

Bonus: it uses Wi-Fi (so anyone in the house can print) and is compatible with generic PCL drivers in Linux.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 11 months ago (4 children)

The only thing that still might save printers is competition.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Euuhh does nobody realize Brother has existed for like 20 years and doesn't pull all this HP shit? They even have label printers which allow third party labels.

There are inkjet printers now from multiple other brands which are great too and allow full refills.

Just don't buy HP it's that easy.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 11 months ago

I will never buy or recommend HP printers ever again. If you need a general printer, Brother all the way now.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 11 months ago (6 children)

Are these posts about HP just a way for Brother to advertise in the comment section

I mean I'm definitely cancelling my HP subscription, but still. It's a lot.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 11 months ago (1 children)

No. It's like bitwarden. Everyone's praising them to shill levels because they are generally that good. Brothers just run and run without nagging or insane prices. They do tend to be a little more expensive because they don't lose money on the hardware like HP or cannon will.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 11 months ago (7 children)

Who the fuck keep buying HP in 2023 when there are lots of other brands available in the market?

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 11 months ago

It's literally cheaper for me to drive to a local printing shop, pay for parking, and drive back, than buy one of these dogshit HP printers, and then get scammed by their ink cartridges

[–] [email protected] 22 points 11 months ago

The number of papers that subscribers are allowed to print...

hahaha

[–] [email protected] 20 points 11 months ago

This is yet another reason why I would not buy or recommend HP printers anymore. My ancient laserjet from 10 years ago is still going strong, but if it ever kicks the bucket, I'm getting a Brother. They seem to just work without any hassle.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 11 months ago

HP selling hardware with digital blackmail fees

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