The original mastodon post that kicked off this controversy: https://haunted.computer/@netspooky/110832978569741892
this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
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the original mastodon post
Unrelated to this post:
IMO it's stuff like this, original content that shows up on Mastodon/Lemmy/Kbin first, that will get people to switch over.
Slow organic growth is nice. Keep making good quality content and people will shift over
JFC! HP sucks. Just buy a Brother laser printer used and never worry about it because it's bulletproof and a workhorse.
And will work OOTB on Linux with CUPS. Easiest process ever.
I don't know what CUPS is, but I had 3 major reservations about switching my barely functional computer to Linux:
- Ive never worked in Linux before
- My dive computer only uploads to proprietary software using a proprietary cable.
- My Brother laser printer was working SO well wirelessly. It's the first time I've ever not hated my printer
Turns out some amazing people made open source dive logging software so I can still download my dives.
And for printing, I meant to get around to setting it up, then one day I forgot and accidentally printed something and it just worked. I was so shocked that for a bit I assumed that reformatting the hard drive and changing operating systems must've somehow preserved my printer settings.
Exactamundo!
Like 15 years ago I bought the cheapest Brother laser printer. It's still going strong. The ink never dries out or fucks up. I've never felt like the company was trying to rape my asshole. Why anyone still plays the ink jet game I do not fuckin know. I've boycotted HP decades ago and to this day I continue to see reasons to never change that decision.
We got a Brother laser as well. Only print a few times a year, and the toner is always good to go when it does get switched on. Love it!
Why anyone still plays the ink jet game I do not fuckin know.
Space. At least for me, space is the reason. I'm flatting at the moment and can only keep the printer in my room, and it's already quite cramped with all my gear here. If I could get a compact color laser MFD within the same dimensions as my current Brother inkjet, I'd switch in a heartbeart. Most of the compact laser printers I've seen are either monochrome, or don't include form-feed scanning, or have some or the other shortcomings.
My Canon ink jet has done well for years on cheap third party ink. It does color and even decent photo, and created many excellent school presentations for my kids. However it’s likely my last printer.
I don’t even know the last time I printed something, it’s always been for the kids’ schools and now they’re old enough to have no more of those
Initial cost as well. If you only print very small amount, you're not going to spend couple hundred bucks on the laser printer and then 100 or so bucks on a cartridge for it if you're not going to print often
Never buying HP printers again, not after I got a Brother one last year. It works OOTB even with linux and there's no such lockdown bullshit.
@gogosempai @stopthatgirl7
I ran my business with two Brother laser printers for 20 years, with NO maintenance problems.
In the past year, I’ve discarded two new HP printers as they are just crap. And expensive-ink hogs.
Wtf is going on with printers market
The market for people who NEED printers is shrinking. Last concert I went to I had the QR code ticket in my phone, I havent printed map directions in at least 15 years and I literally cannot remember the last item I needed to print at home.
But they also cant say "Oh well, we had a good 30 year run with home printers" they have to keep making more than last year, so they have to get increasingly predatory.
I haven't had a printer since early 2020 when I was last in the office. Sometimes I definitely miss it. But not enough to buy one.
Since then, the only thing I've needed to print was a visa which said I must carry a printed copy, but at the border it was digitally attached to my passport, so turns out I didn't need it at all.
DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! Removing this sticker will reveal a consumer-friendly communications port that will deprive HP of even more money than it's already milking you for with overpriced ink!
I’m kind of surprised they just didn’t remove the usb port entirely
Design revisions are expensive
Yeah but they could save 50 cents a printer, how can they just pass up those savings?
Remember it's not cloud storage it's just somebody else's computer.
For the love of the old gods what kind of Lovecraftian horror is this
Wow, HP. Way to make even Lexmark look like a paragon of corporate virtue in the home printer market.
I have a m11 laser printer. I bought the compatible laser cilinder thingy with a tiger and a green box because hp laser ink is double the price.
So far I have no problems with printing. Aside from the fact that hp puts an exclamation after each print with the prompt: DANGER! COUNTERFEIT INK CARTRIDGE InstALLED!
Ok man I’ll be careful so it doesn’t explode. Only because it’s not the proprietary ink…. Hope I didn’t give them any ideas…
I switched to a brother laser printer last year and will never go back to a hp or Epson, especially ink.
Yet another reason I’m glad I got my Canon Pixima 5000 series a while back. Individual cheap replacement ink carts with no electronics in them. I can (and have) buy 5 sets of carts for $20 that last me years.
If it wasn’t for photos, I’d have picked up a cheap laser printer.
Not to defend HP^[1]^, but if you look closely at the picture, the sticker has an arrow suggesting you to peel off the sticker. I would still say that the intentions of even putting this sticker there is malicious though.
[1]: I've also been "scammed" by HP. I have a DeskJet 2130 bought more than 5 years ago. (I guess you could say it was from before HP went greedy.) It was under only very light use (occasional school stuff that needed to be printed out). Every time I came back to the printer after not using the printer for several months, the ink cartridges would have dried out. I would swap them out because they wouldn't work even after shaking, none the wiser that half of the "empty" cartridges probably could have been revived by wiping it with a tissue. (I discovered this only 1 year ago when I tried it.)
Inkjet printers need to be used regularly, or go through several cleaning prints (which are features of HP printers). That's not HP scamming you, that's just how inkjet printers are...
That said, IMO, most people are infrequent printers and would be better served by a laser printer. Toner doesn't dry out. I have had a brother laser printer for 3-4 years now and haven't had to change the toner once. Every time I need to print something, it fires right up, and prints it without a fuss.
Yep. I finally got sick of paying the ridiculous prices for ink jet cartridges and bought a used color laser printer a few years ago. The only downside is that it doesn't print photos as well. But the local pharmacy prints photos for a very reasonable price.
Yeah I eventually figured that out, hence the quotes. When my HP printer dies, I will replace it with a Brother printer.
Country make atomic bomb.
USA invade the country.
"Hide the atomic bomb button with a sticker"
See ? We don't have an atomic bomb.
USA : you got oil tho.
Shit , we forgot to print the "not an oil pump" stickers. We're fucked !
What's stopping some printer company from being nice and pleasant?
Is us, who buy the cheapest model in the store without considering maintenance cost?