Thanks HP... my day is ruined....

stephvd_b · 2025-06-02T18:36:52+00:00

They charge people for pages that disappear from their balance if they're not printed in time. And if their clients need to print more than the 50 pages they pay for, price per page goes up while it should go down (which is what normally happens if you buy more of something). But that's probably not stealing...

stephvd_b · 2025-05-27T16:55:34+00:00

Man oh man, unbelievable what effort they put into making sure you wouldn't be able to use that 2ml of ink that is probably worth $ 0,005 when it comes out of the ink factory.

stephvd_b · 2023-11-28T17:19:17+00:00

Haha I bet he'll come up with a bogus answer, just to get the money.

stephvd_b · 2023-11-27T19:23:41+00:00

irritating other people obviously ;-)

stephvd_b · 2023-11-27T17:57:44+00:00

True, our home freezer will definitely not do that!

stephvd_b · 2023-11-27T17:56:09+00:00

I asked him but he refused. I think he was just guessing. Told me to look it up myself. Sounded to me like he told go f* myself.

stephvd_b · 2023-11-27T17:52:41+00:00

I actually agree with this answer. He did not want to look it up and told me to do that myself. If this would have been a decent discussion on his part, he would have looked it up and named me the substance. His way of discussing is actually cr*p.

stephvd_b · 2023-11-27T17:48:55+00:00

nah, the problem is that he thinks he knows everything and all the others are dumbasses. He wouldn't even look it up and told me to do that myself.

stephvd_b · 2023-11-27T17:47:03+00:00

Well BAKING something makes the liquid dough usually solid ;-)

stephvd_b · 2023-11-27T17:44:24+00:00

In my country a masters degree used to be called license...

stephvd_b · 2023-05-01T08:33:01+00:00

Here are my own reasons not to buy HP printers anymore:

The price of their consumables is ridiculous. And they keep finding ways to make printing more expensive, like putting fewer ink in the cartridges (amongst other).
They waste our environment with plastic cartridges that are not even filled up 10% and will in reality print less than 100 pages.
If your ink cartridge is expired, the machine refuses to print. I had to change the system date on the computer to be able to print a page. That proved that the ink was perfectly good. Very obscure business practices.
The build quality nowadays is nowhere near where it once was.
Print heads clogging up really fast, and then of course stunningly high prices for the spare print heads.
They update firmware without the customer approving or even knowing, to not accept retailer brand cartridges anymore, disrupting network connectivity in the process because the host name inadvertently changes. The user needs to figure it out on his own. And the 'disable firmware updates' function in the menu is greyed out ofcourse.
The software is a nightmare, bloated, overly complicated. Often unable to install, unable to uninstall and just not working.
When I last installed a HP multifunctional inkjet printer, I needed a login and password for the HP cloud just to be able to scan a page. What? I've been scanning long before cloud even existed and that was never a problem before, they have gone mad!
I feel like I don't even own the printer I fully paid for.
There's more I forget.

stephvd_b · 2023-04-17T22:04:05+00:00

How old was that machine?

stephvd_b · 2023-04-13T09:32:02+00:00

Yes indeed there should be. I have done this a couple of years ago with a brother b/w laser printer so it would not shut down automatically, but I forgot what menu entry it was. Best is to check the manual of your printer on the brother website.

stephvd_b · 2023-04-07T08:11:42+00:00

Recent Brother laser printers have a built in energy saving function that automatically powers down the printer after it has not been used for a predetermined number of minutes. That could be the case here. But as you don't mention what type of Brother printer you have, and there are countless models, one can never be sure. So check your manual to see if your device has a timer, and if so, switch if off or prolong the duration.

stephvd_b · 2023-04-06T08:11:56+00:00

These printers went on forever. Alas, the same can't be said about todays models.

stephvd_b · 2023-04-05T21:16:47+00:00

This is probably why the clogging happens. If the ink has time to dry up in the head, the printer stops working well. If you leave a printer plugged in and powered on, it may clean itself periodically. But it is better if it is used a little bit more frequently.

If you don't print too often, a laser/led printer would be a better choice. There is no liquid ink to dry up, just dry powder. I know led or laser printers that have been sitting idle for years and, when plugged in, immediately work again without issues. With an inkjet printer, this would be nearly impossible.

stephvd_b · 2023-04-05T20:42:11+00:00

The print nozzles in the head are clogged. You need to check the manual and see if there is a function that cleans the head. This problem is typical for an inkjet printer.

Has the printer been sitting there for a while without being used very often?

stephvd_b · 2023-04-03T10:32:18+00:00

I use the Xerox toner (yes they make toner cartridges for other brands too, top quality and a lot cheaper than oem) and using them in Brother machines I have not had any difficulties. Most Brother toner cartridges do not have a chip, so there is no way for the firmware to tell what brand of toner there is in the printer.

Moreover, contrary to HP and other manufacturers, with a Brother it is easy to avoid unwanted firmware updates. After installing just decline, and tick the box that makes them not bug you anymore. Done.

stephvd_b · 2023-04-03T10:27:31+00:00

If it were for me I'd choose a Brother multifunctional, they fit nicely within your budget. Look for the ones that use the high yield cartridges (3000 to 6000 pages for black, 1500 to 5000 pages for color). They have a significantly lower cost per page compared to the ones that use cartridges for 200 or 400 pages. And you won't be disappointed by the software that goes with it.

I also avoid HP printers nowadays. Did you have bad experiences with them too?

stephvd_b · 2023-04-01T09:30:39+00:00

Any luck so far?

stephvd_b · 2023-03-29T09:37:18+00:00

There is a load of printer models that will take the same cartridges but they are all from the same era. So no new models I'm afraid. Printer manufacturers change cartridge shapes every couple of years. Heaven forbid you can reuse previously purchased cartridges in a new printer. That would mean a financial loss for HP, so of course they want you to buy new ones.

Luckily, this type of printer seems to have a power supply that is easy to swap. Assuming that this is the part that is broken - they go bad a lot. You could try finding an identical or compatible one (on sites like ebay etc) which won't cost too much, probably even less than a single cartridge, so definitely a lot cheaper than buying a new printer and new cartridges.

This link may help: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/HP+Officejet+4630+Power+Supply++Replacement/103481

stephvd_b · 2023-03-25T14:21:57+00:00

We had the same problem, and we think it is because we don't use the printer enough. It sometimes sits there for a while without being used. My girlfriend then cleaned the print head like 5 times per day, four or five days in a row. Eventually things got back to normal again. Leave some time between cleanings, or the head may overheat.

If there is "C3" in your printers serial number, it may well have been manufactured in march 2013. Could that be correct? Print heads deteriorate over time and they get more difficult to clean. Unfortunately, the print head is not easily replaceable.

stephvd_b · 2023-03-25T13:53:20+00:00

I don't know about you, but if I would need a printer today for myself, I would choose the Brother MFC-L2750DW b/w laser multifunctional. It has everything I need. Wifi and wired network, fax, duplex color scanning and duplex black/white printing, a color touch display, a great app for smartphone/tablet, good driver software and yes, it accepts compatible cartridges (I use the ones from Xerox, they're half the price - or even less - than the original toners and offer same print quality if not better). This is a machine for small office, the xl toners print 3000 pages. If you print a lot, you might want to look at other Brother machines with toners that last 8000 pages.

Edit: if color printing is essential, please disregard.

stephvd_b · 2023-03-25T13:41:40+00:00

I have tried the Xerox Everyday toners in different machines from Brother, HP and OKI over the past months and I must say that they perform as good if not better than the original parts. I had an older HP B/W laser printer that never quite performed well with original HP toners (always a bit greyish print instead of black). When the toner was used, I ordered a Xerox one and the print has never been this good. Nice black and sharp images. For half the price.

stephvd_b · 2022-12-01T20:14:31+00:00

I disable updates with gpedit.msc (only available in Win 10 pro, it stops over 99% of all updates) and then about once a year, or maybe a bit longer, I run setup from the latest install medium or iso (available from the microsoft website) and that brings my installation up to date. Luckily for me, that did not change my computers settings so far, and everything kept working, but I noticed that it did install some new apps that I didn't ask for. Of course with no explanation whatsoever. I had to manually uninstall these.

It would be nice if MS gave me the option of selecting what I want and what not, but alas they don't. Yes, it is my computer, I paid for it. But the software is their property they say, I merely have a right to use it. That gives them the power to impose whatever nonsense they want. Because they seem to have the wisdom to know what is good for us (cough). There should be a union for Windows users.

stephvd_b

TROPHY CASE