• Nougat
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    62 years ago

    So they recognize that people hate their printers.

  • LUHG
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    92 years ago

    Hahaha. Now this explains why MSoft have started pushing hp smart app. Absolute scum bags them both. Wonder how much MSoft accepted to push that software out?

  • Blue and Orange
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    122 years ago

    This is a good opportunity to ask if there’s a better printer company whose printers we should buy instead.

    • Fubarberry
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      142 years ago

      In addition to Brother, Ecotank style printers (printers that refill from ink bottles instead of cartridges) are pretty good even if they come from usually shittier printer companies. The ink is extremely cheap and there’s no way to prevent people from using different brands of ink bottles.

      You have to pay more up front for the printer, but that’s because they’re sold with the idea that the printer company makes its money upfront instead of overcharging you for ink later.

      • @_s10e@feddit.de
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        52 years ago

        Those printers are definitely gold for heavy users. Cheap ink. If you don’t use it a lot, would the ink dry and damage the printer? Or evaporate and vanish?

        Honest question because imk cartridges dry out all the time.

        • Fubarberry
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          52 years ago

          It is possible for the ink to dry out in the print nozzles if don’t print often enough. I never print with yellow and I did have my yellow nozzle clog once. I bought a flush kit off Amazon, and flushed out the nozzle as directed.

          It was somewhat annoying, but not too terrible.

            • @NaoPb@eviltoast.org
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              2 years ago

              I’d think so. Back when we used ink cartridges they would sometimes become clogged. You could instruct the printer to go through a cleaning routine. Wasted a lot of ink to clean them. That or replacing the cartridge would work. These were HP printers.

      • gullible
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        92 years ago

        Just adding to this, toner printers are ideal if you’re printing only a few items per year. If ink dries, it makes for some intensely frustrating issues. I’m 90% of the way to finding HP’s CEO and bringing my clogged nozzle printer down on their stupid face.

        • Jamie
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          52 years ago

          The only thing more eco-friendly than buying an eco-friendly printer, is to not buy a new printer at all.

          Both of my local libraries offer printing at $0.25 a page. For photos, I just go to the photo lab at the store and print them there.

          Both are cheaper than owning a printer unless you’re doing a ton of it, and in the former case, I get to support a library just a little bit.

          • @LWD@lemm.ee
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            42 years ago

            That’s not a bad idea either if you don’t have a printer to start off with. By circumstance, I do, so that’s my method of making the most of it.

            I promise, however, to throw quarters at my local librarian when I next get the chance, expecting nothing in return

    • @jimbo@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Brother. Been using their cheap black and white laser printers for like a 15 years with zero issues. I got a refurbished one like this a few years ago it just works: https://www.brother-usa.com/products/RHLL2350DW

      Even the wireless functionality just works. Shows up on my computers and phones with zero configuration.

    • @BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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      22 years ago
      1. Go laser, at least for BW. It’ll last years on one cartridge and ink never clogs because, well, no ink. My 1996 Lexmark just died.

      2. I hear Brother is one of the better for consumer. I have a Canon color laser, and it’s a POS. Fortunately I bought it second hand for $50.

    • @LainOfTheWired@lemy.lol
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      12 years ago

      I got a cheap cannon a few years back £20 brand new. It’s purely wired and the print quality is meh, but i don’t print a lot and it has a scanner. I’ve never really had any trouble with it and with Linux and when I used to have a Mac it’s always been plug and play. Of course they still get you with Ink prices though. But it could be a lot worse.

    • Boozilla
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      72 years ago

      People often suggest Brother. I have two Brother printers and they are…tolerable. They are much better than HP, but that bar is very low. I think all printers kind-of suck. Lasers are better than inkjet for most uses, and much more affordable than they used to be.

      I kind of feel like we haven’t seen a significant advancement in home printer technology in a long time (except for 3d printing, but that’s a very different animal).

      • Dave.
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        72 years ago

        I’ve had an Oki mono laser printer for so long, I gave it to my kids. It was a “cheap” printer in the scheme of things, but it was a compact duplex printer and I only ever needed a new $50 toner for it over the years.

        It also didn’t come with a 650MB printer driver package with a shitty tray application or a subscription.

  • @Bwaz@lemmy.world
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    202 years ago

    The HP logo is all it takes to make printers hated at this point. Couldnt give me one even if it included 10yrs of ink.

    • Joelk111
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      82 years ago

      I hated my mom’s Epson way more than any HP I’ve ever used. It was nice because it was a ink-tank model, but the software was awful.

      This is kinda like saying I’d rather step in the slightly smaller pile of shit.

  • @uhmbah@lemmy.ca
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    282 years ago

    We have some old, great HP printers. Rock solid.

    As they die, Brother, my Brother.

    Fuck the latest HP.

    • @KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 years ago

      Iirc Brother printers are heading down a similar dark path. Though I don’t recall where I got that info, so take it with a grain of salt.

      Edit: I somehow misspelled brother.

        • @maccentric@sh.itjust.works
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          42 years ago

          And yet, somehow still better than HP.

          I can’t stand that company (their laptops are shite as well, except for maybe some of the Omens).

              • @Seventhlevin@lemmy.world
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                22 years ago

                I’ll have to take your word for it because I’ve had a xerox laser for 2 years now that works flawlessly and the software isn’t nearly as abhorrent as brother’s

                • @NaoPb@eviltoast.org
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                  2 years ago

                  I have two Brother laser printers, an older one and a newer one. Both still work great. When I see people recommending Brother online it’s mainly the laser printers. Maybe they’re just made differently from the inkjet printers.

                  I’m glad you are having good experience with a Xerox and I would like to know how they compare to Brother ones on a price point. Do they cost a lot more? Also good to know about the software. I’ve personally only used my printers with the default drivers that came with Linux.

                  P.S. I also have a Kyocera laser printer which I’ve never had any issues with.

      • @NaoPb@eviltoast.org
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        12 years ago

        I have a 4050 and a 1200 still going strong. When they do go I have a Kyocera and a Brother to replace them.

  • Cosmic Cleric
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    92 years ago

    Someone did some market research and found out they’re in the dog house.

  • @Xavier@lemmy.ca
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    212 years ago

    With all the interest in 3D printer and large communities building their own printers, where are the amateur 2D printers? Did we just jump to 3D printing because it was cooler (which I also admit is amaizing)?

    I just want a basic 2D inkjet or laser printer that doesn’t stop printing because magenta is low or doesn’t waste ink to “clean” the print head, nor make up weird errors because it doesn’t have access to the internet.

    What about printers without ink? Would it be too hard/complicated to use a lower power laser (instead of a laser cutter) to burn/scorch a thin micrometric, if not nanometric, layer of normal everyday printing/copy white paper?

    As a child, I remember scorching magazine/journal paper and all sorts of wood materials with my grandmother’s handheld magnifying lens under the summer sun in the yard. I was able to draw stuff without burning some of the material completely.

    • @lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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      2 years ago

      What about printers without ink?

      Laser printers have existed for a long time and they don’t use ink, but they do use toner. I’m gonna assume just scorching the paper has been proven to be a bad idea, because someone would have tried to market a toner-free printer by now otherwise.

      My best guess is that it’s very hard to scorch paper to a color anywhere near black without creating a serious fire hazard. Even if you could calibrate the laser just right, the next batch of paper could burn because it has a slightly different weight, texture, or composition.

      You’d probably end up being special paper stuff something in it that turns black at a fairly low temperature. That’s pretty common for things like receipt printers.

      • @entropicshart@sh.itjust.works
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        32 years ago

        Zink Paper is an alternative but nowhere as cheap as regular paper+ink

        The paper has several layers: a backing layer with optional pressure sensitive adhesive, heat-sensitive layers with cyan, magenta and yellow dyes in colorless form, and an overcoat.

    • @FrankTheHealer@lemmy.world
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      22 years ago

      It’s necessary sometimes in office/work settings.

      Home printing isn’t necessary most of the time nowadays since everything is online. But a lot of corporate/office/industrial/professional type work environments print A LOT of stuff. They still need to buy printers and ink and get them serviced etc.

    • @TheDarksteel94@sopuli.xyz
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      92 years ago

      Lots of people do. And let me blow your mind some more: Lots of countries still use fax machines, for whatever unholy reason. Those things can be a pain in the ass to troubleshoot sometimes.