HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service”

Re:HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service” by drewzero1 on Friday November 06, 2020 @01:50PM (#25010080)

I have an HP printer/scanner from ~2007 and when it eventually dies I plan to replace it with a similar unit of the same vintage, because it seems the ink shenanigans have only gotten worse with newer technology. I can at least still buy 3rd-party refilled cartridges online without worrying about them getting deactivated.

My dad's printer is affected by this news, and between this and other recent issues it's having I doubt he'll ever buy a new HP printer again. He's been a lifelong (dare I say lifetime) customer since buying his HP 12C calculator in the 80s, and has owned only HP printers since his first DeskJet 697c in '96.

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Re:HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service” by tpxl on Friday November 06, 2020 @02:12PM (#25010249)

>I plan to replace it with a similar unit of the same vintage

Buy a non-shit brand that doesn't connect to the internet, eg. something from Brother without internet connectivity.

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Re:HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service” by greenyoda on Friday November 06, 2020 @03:24PM (#25010786)

My recent experience with Brother was decidedly shitty: an inkjet printer that died after a few months.

On the other hand, I have a Brother laser printer that's still working after 17 years - and they still manufacture toner cartridges for it. (It's so old that it has a parallel port[1] in addition to a USB port.)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_port

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Re:HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service” by drewzero1 on Friday November 06, 2020 @04:37PM (#25011427)

The one I have sets up its own wireless network which is definitely a security risk, but it doesn't connect to my LAN or the internet. I've seen newer ones that do connect to the internet and it only seems like trouble.

I was thinking about this a few weeks ago because I found an identical printer at a thrift store for $4. I didn't get it but thought it would be nice to be able to keep using my stash of 3rd-party cartridges.

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Re:HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service” by drewzero1 on Friday November 06, 2020 @04:42PM (#25011466)

Also, forgot you mentioned Brother. I decided not to get another yet printer because I already have a spare Brother MFC with just USB and parallel connections. I've had worse experiences with Brother software than HP, but it still seems to work with my computer.

I also have a dot matrix printer with enough ribbon to last me a decade or so. So I really don't need to look for another printer for a while.

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Re:HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service” by jhbadger on Friday November 06, 2020 @05:41PM (#25011832)

The problem is that in the modern world, a printer needs some sort of net connection, even if just to the local router. People aren't just printing from their computers; they need to print from their tablets and phones too.

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Re:HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service” by drewzero1 on Monday November 09, 2020 @01:45PM (#25038118)

I'll have to check, but I don't think mine is connected to the router at all. Pretty sure it sets up its own ad-hoc network for wireless printing, which I would imagine has its own vulnerabilities but at least requires an attacker to be physically trespassing on my property. :-)

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Re:HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service” by tpxl on Saturday November 07, 2020 @01:05PM (#25016952)

Well sure, if you want to print wirelessly, you're going to need wireless (LAN is enough, no need for WAN though) :)

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Re:HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service” by davitocan on Friday November 06, 2020 @03:16PM (#25010730)

I always put our printers on a separate vlan that only accepts connections from our primary vlan. No magic firmware updates anymore.

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Re:HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service” by smsm42 on Friday November 06, 2020 @02:46PM (#25010503)

Second that, owned several Brother things, never had trouble or any shenanigans like HP does.

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Re:HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service” by kjs3 on Friday November 06, 2020 @04:27PM (#25011347)

To be fair, the 12C is pretty amazing.

I've got a couple of pre-2008 HP scanners and laser printers that I intend to keep going as long as at all possible, because the alternatives are just so horrible. Fortunately, they're pretty repairable, and all the consumables are still reasonable. And, frankly, I don't print that much any more. SCSI is getting slightly more interesting to support, but not unreasonable.

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Re:HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service” by drewzero1 on Monday November 09, 2020 @04:44PM (#25040327)

Agreed on the 12C, I hope to inherit that someday.

That first DeskJet lasted us around a decade until we replaced it with a couple of DeskJet 3500s that didn't need a parallel port and were cheaper than new ink. I still have one of those squirreled away just in case.

Those printers are refreshingly simple, with no screen or wifi and only one button (power) and one port (USB).

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Re:HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service” by kjs3 on Tuesday November 17, 2020 @10:44AM (#25125050)

Just make sure to change the batteries periodically in that 12C. About the only thing I've found that can kill an old school (pre-2008) 12C (and the 16C and the rest of the series) is leaking batteries.

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Re:HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service” by smsm42 on Friday November 06, 2020 @02:44PM (#25010492)

I have a relatively new printer and it accepts cartridges from whatever I happen to click on Amazon, no problemo. I think it's just shittiness unique to HP (maybe some other brands?) - avoiding them would avoid the trouble.

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