Comments on: Hewlett-Packard Hates the Environment and Your Wallet http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/ Saving, Earning, and Investing Money Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:58:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Donna Freedman http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-184722 Donna Freedman Tue, 04 May 2010 22:06:32 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-184722 I have an HP Deskjet 930C that is at least 10 years old. I don't know exactly how old it is because a friend gave it to me when her mom died and she wasn't sure how long her mom had owned it. It's still working quite well. I went back to school four years ago and the printer got me through; in addition, as a (now former) apartment house manager I've printed tons of letters to tenants and the building owners over the past five years. I keep expecting it to die but it's hanging in there. When it does give up the ghost, When it does, I'll be ready: A couple of months ago I got an HP all-in-one for free after rebate. Hope it doesn't give me the same problems yours has. I have an HP Deskjet 930C that is at least 10 years old. I don’t know exactly how old it is because a friend gave it to me when her mom died and she wasn’t sure how long her mom had owned it.
It’s still working quite well. I went back to school four years ago and the printer got me through; in addition, as a (now former) apartment house manager I’ve printed tons of letters to tenants and the building owners over the past five years.
I keep expecting it to die but it’s hanging in there. When it does give up the ghost, When it does, I’ll be ready: A couple of months ago I got an HP all-in-one for free after rebate. Hope it doesn’t give me the same problems yours has.

]]> By: Sam http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-184444 Sam Mon, 03 May 2010 21:41:26 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-184444 Rogerthat - only if you use inkjet. I used to work for the regional Brother warranty repair depot (we also fixed all other brands of printers) and while some of the Brother devices were good (great fax machines), I found the HP laser printers to be the best printers when repair and life span were figured in with the cost of the toner - total cost of ownership. Brothers were sturdy from an abuse/traffic/dirt stand point - you could accidentally knock one off a desk and not only would there be no cracks but it'd still work. They work well for mechanics and other not so tech friendly type environments too. That said, the only printer I'd tell people run away from quickly (other then all inkjets) would be Dell printers. Very problematic - all the other brands do OK regardless of quirks. Inkjets are just made to break. It bums me out because it wastes peoples money in addition to wasting resources. Rogerthat – only if you use inkjet.

I used to work for the regional Brother warranty repair depot (we also fixed all other brands of printers) and while some of the Brother devices were good (great fax machines), I found the HP laser printers to be the best printers when repair and life span were figured in with the cost of the toner – total cost of ownership.

Brothers were sturdy from an abuse/traffic/dirt stand point – you could accidentally knock one off a desk and not only would there be no cracks but it’d still work. They work well for mechanics and other not so tech friendly type environments too.

That said, the only printer I’d tell people run away from quickly (other then all inkjets) would be Dell printers. Very problematic – all the other brands do OK regardless of quirks.
Inkjets are just made to break. It bums me out because it wastes peoples money in addition to wasting resources.

]]> By: rogerthat http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-184279 rogerthat Mon, 03 May 2010 04:13:14 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-184279 As a former business person in the ink/printer business, I will give my input. Stay away from HP and Lexmark, as mentioned they will destroy your wallet with their ink prices. Brother or Canon are your best best, you can buy aftermarket ink cartridges for less then $5 brand new, HP and lexmark have a paten on their ink cartridge print heads, so anything you would buy aftermarket is actually used and refurbished. As a former business person in the ink/printer business, I will give my input. Stay away from HP and Lexmark, as mentioned they will destroy your wallet with their ink prices. Brother or Canon are your best best, you can buy aftermarket ink cartridges for less then $5 brand new, HP and lexmark have a paten on their ink cartridge print heads, so anything you would buy aftermarket is actually used and refurbished.

]]> By: Mrs. Accountability http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-180516 Mrs. Accountability Tue, 20 Apr 2010 01:54:59 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-180516 I love these old workhorses! My job keeps throwing them out in lieu of newer printers (expensive and made of plastic!) so I now have three of them. I have one of the USB to DB25 IEEE-1284 Printer Adaptors and it works great for me, so I guess I'm the fifth person who it works for. ;-) Actually yesterday, my HP LaserJet 4 got a CODE 57 SERVICE message for which I can buy a kit to fix for $40. But I needed a printer now, so I put it into the closet and took out another one, this time it's the HP LaserJet 4M Plus. It's page count is 489,360. If you do a google site search using this search criteria you will be able to download a service manual - it's 453 pages long. [ LaserJet 4 Service Manual site:www.hylink.com ] These are awesome printers. Also, my son just a couple weeks ago discovered the printers have network cards already installed so we are able to network through our wireless. I hope you are able to get your old baby running again! I love these old workhorses! My job keeps throwing them out in lieu of newer printers (expensive and made of plastic!) so I now have three of them. I have one of the USB to DB25 IEEE-1284 Printer Adaptors and it works great for me, so I guess I’m the fifth person who it works for. ;-) Actually yesterday, my HP LaserJet 4 got a CODE 57 SERVICE message for which I can buy a kit to fix for $40. But I needed a printer now, so I put it into the closet and took out another one, this time it’s the HP LaserJet 4M Plus. It’s page count is 489,360. If you do a google site search using this search criteria you will be able to download a service manual – it’s 453 pages long. [ LaserJet 4 Service Manual site:www.hylink.com ] These are awesome printers. Also, my son just a couple weeks ago discovered the printers have network cards already installed so we are able to network through our wireless. I hope you are able to get your old baby running again!

]]> By: Sam http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-180424 Sam Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:44:30 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-180424 Jon Anderson - yes, you can add the network card to those printers. The cards are probably on Ebay - like a model 410n should work fine yet still be pretty cheap. The newer 420n network cards have gone down recently but I haven't checked to see how much - if it's within $10 it'd probably be worth just getting a 420 if it is compatible. HP usually makes their network cards pretty interchangeable although I noticed on 2 new ones here at work you can't swap the network cards out so there's 2 more disposables... Anything that costs over $100 new should last a while & be fixable - guess that makes me old fashioned. I'm still steaming that the Dell laser printers we bought say in the manual they are not made to last more then 3 years. I get tired of this disposable mentality. It really fires me up when I hear about global resources getting tight all the while we're throwing metals & plastics into the landfill because there's no way to economically recycle expired technology and other various broken equipment. Jon Anderson – yes, you can add the network card to those printers. The cards are probably on Ebay – like a model 410n should work fine yet still be pretty cheap. The newer 420n network cards have gone down recently but I haven’t checked to see how much – if it’s within $10 it’d probably be worth just getting a 420 if it is compatible.
HP usually makes their network cards pretty interchangeable although I noticed on 2 new ones here at work you can’t swap the network cards out so there’s 2 more disposables… Anything that costs over $100 new should last a while & be fixable – guess that makes me old fashioned. I’m still steaming that the Dell laser printers we bought say in the manual they are not made to last more then 3 years.

I get tired of this disposable mentality. It really fires me up when I hear about global resources getting tight all the while we’re throwing metals & plastics into the landfill because there’s no way to economically recycle expired technology and other various broken equipment.

]]> By: jclimber99 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-180406 jclimber99 Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:55:25 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-180406 I've had an HP Laserjet (forgot model#, pretty basic, about $200 when I bought it) for about 4 years now, running on the same toner cartridge. It's USB so no issue hooking it up to my Mac. After spending way too much money on inkjet cartridges I threw out my inkjet and have been using this laserjet ever since. I don't think I will ever buy an inkjet printer again, no matter how cheap. I’ve had an HP Laserjet (forgot model#, pretty basic, about $200 when I bought it) for about 4 years now, running on the same toner cartridge. It’s USB so no issue hooking it up to my Mac. After spending way too much money on inkjet cartridges I threw out my inkjet and have been using this laserjet ever since. I don’t think I will ever buy an inkjet printer again, no matter how cheap.

]]> By: NatalieMac http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-179656 NatalieMac Fri, 16 Apr 2010 22:50:45 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-179656 It's not just HP - it seems that inkjet printers have very much become disposable products because no matter what brand, it's nearly always cheaper to simply buy a new one than to outfit one with brand new ink cartridges. This is just shockingly wasteful to me. I've tried those refill kits where you get to just refill your cartridges with ink, but some of the cartridges are programmed with chips that tell the printer/computer that they're out of ink, even after they're refilled. It's such a scam market. It’s not just HP – it seems that inkjet printers have very much become disposable products because no matter what brand, it’s nearly always cheaper to simply buy a new one than to outfit one with brand new ink cartridges. This is just shockingly wasteful to me. I’ve tried those refill kits where you get to just refill your cartridges with ink, but some of the cartridges are programmed with chips that tell the printer/computer that they’re out of ink, even after they’re refilled. It’s such a scam market.

]]> By: Jon Anderson http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-179417 Jon Anderson Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:23:49 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-179417 Lazy Man, I think on the 4L there is a spot you can insert a JetDirect card, which will add a network port. I haven't priced used ones, but I can't imagine older models are too expensive on eBay. Once you have that set up, you can install it on any computer on your network. This means that you don't have to have it plugged into an always-on computer in order to share it. Lazy Man,

I think on the 4L there is a spot you can insert a JetDirect card, which will add a network port. I haven’t priced used ones, but I can’t imagine older models are too expensive on eBay. Once you have that set up, you can install it on any computer on your network. This means that you don’t have to have it plugged into an always-on computer in order to share it.

]]> By: Lazy Man http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-179392 Lazy Man Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:48:02 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-179392 Maybe that's my problem, I bought a Dell because it was a really cheap price and a very compact box that wouldn't take a lot of space in the office. It seems like quite a waste to get a whole new computer to hook up a printer. I don't think I can network my 4L from 1993. I don't see any Ethernet or anything like that. For our home tasks, a few times a month, it doesn't make much sense to all out to Kinko's (i.e. FedEx Office) each time. Maybe that’s my problem, I bought a Dell because it was a really cheap price and a very compact box that wouldn’t take a lot of space in the office. It seems like quite a waste to get a whole new computer to hook up a printer.

I don’t think I can network my 4L from 1993. I don’t see any Ethernet or anything like that.

For our home tasks, a few times a month, it doesn’t make much sense to all out to Kinko’s (i.e. FedEx Office) each time.

]]> By: Sam http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-179361 Sam Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:21:09 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-179361 I'm kinda baffled...... you can still get PCs with LPT ports - all you have to do it check the back ports before you buy one. All of our new machines here @ work have LPT ports - I thought only Dell left the LPT ports off? However, I don't support many home users anymore so maybe I'm out of the loop. The 4L is a good reliable model. If yours has a network card you could just hook it up to your home router/network. At work, we're still running a good handful of 4l's with little problem other then the occasional fuser and rollers wearing out. Most of ours printers are 2300s and 4100s and they run fine - they were made to run 15+ years. The ones on the market now aren't made like that. At home, I have a HP2100 hooked up to my new PC with a regular LPT cable and it works fine - it's a bit slow but I don't need to print my tax return that fast :) Multi function & color printers are high enough maintenance that every company I've worked for or with in the last 5 years doesn't mess with them. If our users want to do docs/spreadsheets in color it's cheaper for them to go to Kinkos then for us to deal with the constant maintenance & wasted color ink. Our PR dept is talking about getting one of those Kodak printers for their prints & I'm curious ot see how it does. If it does well then we may get 3 or 4 more for other depts that take photos. Jeff - Half our network is Macs. the solution to our Mac printing problems - get a windows machine or email the print job to someone with a windows machine. Dell's are even worse with Macs so I'd recommend avoiding that route. I don't know about Brother printers with Macs.... I’m kinda baffled…… you can still get PCs with LPT ports – all you have to do it check the back ports before you buy one. All of our new machines here @ work have LPT ports – I thought only Dell left the LPT ports off? However, I don’t support many home users anymore so maybe I’m out of the loop.
The 4L is a good reliable model. If yours has a network card you could just hook it up to your home router/network.
At work, we’re still running a good handful of 4l’s with little problem other then the occasional fuser and rollers wearing out. Most of ours printers are 2300s and 4100s and they run fine – they were made to run 15+ years. The ones on the market now aren’t made like that. At home, I have a HP2100 hooked up to my new PC with a regular LPT cable and it works fine – it’s a bit slow but I don’t need to print my tax return that fast :)

Multi function & color printers are high enough maintenance that every company I’ve worked for or with in the last 5 years doesn’t mess with them. If our users want to do docs/spreadsheets in color it’s cheaper for them to go to Kinkos then for us to deal with the constant maintenance & wasted color ink.

Our PR dept is talking about getting one of those Kodak printers for their prints & I’m curious ot see how it does. If it does well then we may get 3 or 4 more for other depts that take photos.

Jeff – Half our network is Macs. the solution to our Mac printing problems – get a windows machine or email the print job to someone with a windows machine. Dell’s are even worse with Macs so I’d recommend avoiding that route. I don’t know about Brother printers with Macs….

]]> By: Jon Anderson http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-179137 Jon Anderson Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:36:38 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-179137 Sorry to double-post, just remembered my roommate's luck with a laser printer... He was looking for a nice laser printer, but wanted one cheap. He found a LaserJet 5100, the same model we had in the office, for $50 on eBay that was giving an error code. It was listed as having a used toner cartridge in it. We looked up the code, and found out that it was usually caused by a faulty fuser design. The fusers had been recalled. He ordered the printer. The seller dropped the toner cartridge during packing, breaking it, so he put in a new one to replace it. (Over $100 value) When we got the printer, my roommate called HP about the fuser problem, and they were happy to help. In order to process the recall, the printer needed a warranty, so they threw on a one year warranty for free! In the end, we had a high-quality laser printer with a brand new toner cartridge, fuser and warranty for $50! Of course, the risk was pretty high too - there was no way of confirming the error was caused by the fuser until we had the printer. Sorry to double-post, just remembered my roommate’s luck with a laser printer…

He was looking for a nice laser printer, but wanted one cheap. He found a LaserJet 5100, the same model we had in the office, for $50 on eBay that was giving an error code. It was listed as having a used toner cartridge in it.

We looked up the code, and found out that it was usually caused by a faulty fuser design. The fusers had been recalled. He ordered the printer.

The seller dropped the toner cartridge during packing, breaking it, so he put in a new one to replace it. (Over $100 value) When we got the printer, my roommate called HP about the fuser problem, and they were happy to help. In order to process the recall, the printer needed a warranty, so they threw on a one year warranty for free!

In the end, we had a high-quality laser printer with a brand new toner cartridge, fuser and warranty for $50! Of course, the risk was pretty high too – there was no way of confirming the error was caused by the fuser until we had the printer.

]]> By: Jon Anderson http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-179136 Jon Anderson Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:29:08 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-179136 Jes, You don't just mail something back, and you usually don't need packaging except for some in-store returns. Next time you're in a situation like that, look up the support line and call the company, they will be able to let you know what to do. Jes,

You don’t just mail something back, and you usually don’t need packaging except for some in-store returns.

Next time you’re in a situation like that, look up the support line and call the company, they will be able to let you know what to do.

]]> By: Jeff http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-179095 Jeff Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:31:17 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-179095 I have a gripe with HP of a different nature. I'm a Mac person and bought an HP C6380 All-in-One printer about 8 months ago. It works fine but I do have to replace the cartridges often. My gripe is that this particular printer (and I think other HP printers) don't have compatible scanning capabilities with Macs. My scans come out all distorted and are basically a waste. I wish I had known this before I bought it. I basically am losing 1/3 of the machine's capacity because HP doesn't consider their Mac customers. I won't be buying a HP again. Anyone have a solution for my scanning problem? I have a gripe with HP of a different nature. I’m a Mac person and bought an HP C6380 All-in-One printer about 8 months ago. It works fine but I do have to replace the cartridges often.

My gripe is that this particular printer (and I think other HP printers) don’t have compatible scanning capabilities with Macs. My scans come out all distorted and are basically a waste. I wish I had known this before I bought it. I basically am losing 1/3 of the machine’s capacity because HP doesn’t consider their Mac customers.

I won’t be buying a HP again. Anyone have a solution for my scanning problem?

]]> By: Jes http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-179041 Jes Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:42:10 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-179041 Our small office just threw away two one-year-old HP printers. HP is an evil company and I wish there was a way to run them out of business. When I took my warrantied printer (that gave out after three months) back to Staples, they said they had no responsibility, I'd have to send it back to HP in the original packaging. Well, first of all, our tiny quarters have no room to store bulky boxes and second -- is there an address on the HP Website? Several smart people wasted a lot of time looking for one. Last time my printer gave out, I went to Wal-Mart and bought a Canon for $30. So far, so good. I'm sure it won't last that long, but I won't mind throwing out a $30 printer as much as I do a $200 printer. Our small office just threw away two one-year-old HP printers. HP is an evil company and I wish there was a way to run them out of business. When I took my warrantied printer (that gave out after three months) back to Staples, they said they had no responsibility, I’d have to send it back to HP in the original packaging. Well, first of all, our tiny quarters have no room to store bulky boxes and second — is there an address on the HP Website? Several smart people wasted a lot of time looking for one. Last time my printer gave out, I went to Wal-Mart and bought a Canon for $30. So far, so good. I’m sure it won’t last that long, but I won’t mind throwing out a $30 printer as much as I do a $200 printer.

]]> By: BRB http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-179034 BRB Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:45:20 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-179034 That is so funny that you are talking about the 4L. As soon as I read that at work, I looked over and sure enough that is the printer sitting on the front desk at our college, funny! That is so funny that you are talking about the 4L. As soon as I read that at work, I looked over and sure enough that is the printer sitting on the front desk at our college, funny!

]]> By: Cathie http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-178993 Cathie Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:55:15 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-178993 Uh-oh. I've had an HP all-in-one for about 5 yrs. It's cantankerous, but still works, mostly (she said, knocking wood.) I do hate replacing the ink cartridges, though. Uh-oh. I’ve had an HP all-in-one for about 5 yrs. It’s cantankerous, but still works, mostly (she said, knocking wood.) I do hate replacing the ink cartridges, though.

]]> By: The Biz of Life http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/comment-page-1/#comment-178958 The Biz of Life Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:20:43 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/hewlett-packard-hates-the-environment-and-your-wallet/#comment-178958 HP is famous for making really good printers at ok prices, but then charging a fortune for ink and replacement parts. Anyone have a Total Cost of Ownership analysis for printers? Kodak has even started advertising one reason to buy their printers is that their ink replacement cartridges are much cheaper than HP, therefore their TOC makes their printers a much cheaper to own. Whether it's true or not, I don't know. I own an HP and cringe every time I have to buy replacement ink. HP is famous for making really good printers at ok prices, but then charging a fortune for ink and replacement parts. Anyone have a Total Cost of Ownership analysis for printers? Kodak has even started advertising one reason to buy their printers is that their ink replacement cartridges are much cheaper than HP, therefore their TOC makes their printers a much cheaper to own. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know. I own an HP and cringe every time I have to buy replacement ink.

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