HP’s long-running use of firmware updates that block third-party ink and toner cartridges is drawing scrutiny again – this time under a new global sustainability standard that explicitly forbids the practice.
The International Imaging Technology Council (Int’l ITC), a trade group for cartridge remanufacturers, says HP’s latest printer firmware rollout conflicts with the requirements of the General Electronics Council’s (GEC) updated Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, or EPEAT 2.0.
The moment you realize it’s sometimes profitable for corporations to actively waste resources, it becomes clear that our current economic system is incompatible with environmental care.
I got a cheap Xerox laser printer, the toner is cheap and lasts forever.
I still use a Brother laser printers, that’s at least 15 years old. Got it for free a decade ago. It just keeps printing.
I got ecotank, I can literally pour any ink I want inside and it works fine. Why would anyone buy HP?
How are Xerox laser printers compared to other printers you used?
It’s a cheap Chinese made, it prints when I turn it on and that’s like every two months for the last 3 years. So I guess it’s good. I also only use it to print from linux or my phone.
The only reason I would buy an HP printer, is to sue them after.
Just bust the printer mafia already!
I paid $0.01 for a flash drive at Microcenter and $0.10 per page(or job, I don’t know) to print at the library. I don’t even have a library card there. I learned enough about printers taking an A+ class to not want to fuck around with printers at home.
Wait how did you pay 1 cent for a flash drive? I mean they’re cheap but I’ve never seen them for that cheap.
It was what their mailer offers. One for me one for a friend. That or an equivalent microSD card. I got 128 gigs friend got 32. Either or more than enough for a quick print job. Both have a clear plastic shell which is probably cheap but it looks neat. Its “free” but the register rings it up as a penny. Not like I could bang out 128GB storage from the copper in one penny. I had already ordered a trackball mouse I just went over there to look at what they had while I could still change my mind. Walked out with an energy drink and the flash drive. Really broke the bank.
If it’s one of the Inland Microcenter branded ones, I believe I’ve seen tests run on those and they have really short lifespans, just a handful of years. So just use it for file transfers and not for any long term storage.
Probably some “sale” for when you purchase something else for $50 at 50% markup. Bonus of adding to “sales” tally for some generations old dogshit flash drive they otherwise could not sell.
I bought an open box color HP LaserJet from Microcenter 10 years ago for ~$200. I’ve always bought 3rd party toner and never had any issues. HP will never get a dime from me for shit like this and that printer will last the rest of my life lol
Was given a HP LaserJet before 2020. It’s been over 5 years. I have yet to replace toner in it. And I was given a BUNCH of toner for it. Injets are a joke.
Yeah, it took us probably 7 years to use the first batch of lower volume ones lol. Then, my wife and I both independently bought a set of black and all three colors. So, we are set with toner for the rest of our lives too
A colour laser ?
Edit: Were you gifted a colour laser?
Color laser printers have been around for a while. Color quality is worse than an ink jet. So if you’re printing high quality photos, it’s not ideal. It’s good enough though and the other advantages of laser remain.
You misunderstood my question. I was asking whether the laser printer was a colour one or not. I guess I could have been a bit clearer though.
Wow you have to really suck for the joke certification EPEAT to be mad at you. It’s a fake label that manufactures control to greenwash unrepairable garbage.
It isn’t just third party ink.
They block their own damn cartridges from being used in their own damn printers if that cartridge has been used in another printer.
They also block it if a cartridge was purchased through their subscription plan and you no longer subscribe.
I bought an HP printer once and im never doing that again. The best printers ive had has all been Brother.
Bought a brother B&W laser a decade ago. Just replaced the toner it came with, with extra toner I purchased at the time… It’s a two pack, it may outlast me…
One of the only things I regret leaving my ex-fiance was our Brother Wifi Scanner/Printer. That thing was awesome.
The laser jets are actually fine for small office use. It’s the ink jets that you have to avoid.
If a third-party ink cart can introduce a “cyber threat,” your unbelievably shoddy firmware would be the problem, you disingenuous Hamburglars.
Hp printer is in my banned list for decades already.
I did tech support for HP DeskJet printers in 1996 - the 600, 600C, and 660C. I had a DeskJet around that time, but that was the last one I got because they started screwing around with the drivers.
Back in the 80s/90s, HP made some great printers. Had a LaserJet 4 that lasted a long long time.
But not long after I moved on to another job - I never bought HP again. And that’s now been a recommendation for literally 30 years.
Do not buy HP!
Also, unless you print a LOT of pictures, don’t buy inkjets. The ink has so many issues. Get a laserjer. Brother is a good simple brand. I have had a Brother color laser since 2018 and it’s still chugging along perfectly. I’m on around my second set of cartridges because I don’t print a lot. But whenever I do print, it’s there and ready to go.
There’s a couple of other brands that are alright, too.
But do not buy HP. Jesus, people, it’s been a full generation of people since this has been true! Nobody should be buying HP inkjet crap!
Funnily enough I’ve owned 2 inkjets spanning two decades, both very infrequently used and… I never had issues. The last one was an HP even. Though after like a decade, the ink dried up I think. Before that I could just take it out of its hiding spot after a year and it’d still work.
Never planning to buy another one though. If I REALLY need to, I’ll get a black and white laser one.
Didn’t expect this in my search results
Inkjet printers are prone to clogging when they aren’t used regularly. The print heads have microscopic nozzles that can dry out and block, leading to poor print quality, streaks, or missing colors. To keep them clear, it’s essential to run a small amount of ink through them periodically.
InkjetStandby solves this problem with a simple, yearly solution. Each week, we provide a printable page with a tiny, multi-colour test pattern. The pattern is placed in a different position each week on a 52-grid layout, allowing you to use a single sheet of paper for an entire year. Just print the page, and you’re done.
(emphasis mine)
Was looking for a weekly cron script as an example of the ink drying issue being prevalent, but this is neat
I know it’s prevalent. I’m just surprised it never happened to me. Neither printer was a particularly high end model either.
HP used to make a lot of great stuff. Their spectrum analyzers were the best in the business. At some point they flipped a switch and went into full enshittification mode. They burned all their bridges with their most loyal and informed customers.
Seems like it’s a consistent recurring issue with… capitalism? Whatever you want to blame it on. Profit-taking instead of consistent quality. Some assholes take over and trade on the previously good name of a company while killing it. It’s so stupid and short-sighted.
I would say that, but… there are a lot of, for example, Japanese companies that have been around for decades or centuries making great stuff the way they always had. Unless you’re saying Japan isn’t a capitalist country (I’d love to see how that argument plays out), I’d say there’s some difference in company culture that leads to enshittification.
I’ve heard in some cases it happens when a new CEO takes over and they have no respect for the existing culture, and just want to “make their mark” by chasing short term profits.
Give me Brother printers or give me death.
Hmm. Not sure that’s a line I’m willing to draw… but they are certainly pretty decent. hehe
Brother has also started down the proprietary toner road. Source.
Damn it, didnt know this. Need to find another not shitty printer when my current printer decides to die later on
idk about the don’t but inkjet… i don’t print much but got an epson surecolor (large format; prints up to a1 off a roll of paper… i got it because i think the idea of being able to do that is excellent more than actual use case) and it’s been absolutely glorious… the ink doesn’t dry out fast, and because it’s a borderline professional printer they don’t gouge you on the ink: they just sell you the printer for what it’s worth, and then sell the ink for what it’s worth
i think there are reasonable arguments for ink, but i guess that if you have to give 1 recommendation (outside of a brand to go with), laser is probably a safe bet
Nobody buys HP anymore , HP stands for Has Problems
Made the mistake of buying a HP “gaming laptop.” The goddamn thing chugs if you have five browser tabs open.
I thought it stood for Horrible Product.
Yeah, the problem is that they’re anti-consumer.
I used to work with a lot of HP’s industrial printers. The automated maintenance routines always take so damn long, and they break all the time. We always said HP stands for Have Patience.
Nah… My office does, and then pays a vendor to handle the issues (I work in IT, fixing those problems is literally my job) and they still cheap out on knock off toner (some of which works). It makes me sad…
The last time we tried using them, the computer came with Windows 98…
They were horrible back then, not really sure how they are still in business.
Good, it’s about time
From the article:
According to the GEC’s published criteria, printer vendors have three compliance paths. They can avoid firmware changes that disable remanufactured cartridges, offer approved cartridge solutions that maintain device functionality, or make remanufactured options available for purchase through their own channels. Each route is meant to encourage a model in which printing components are reused rather than discarded.
So far, more than 38,000 products remain listed under the older EPEAT 1.0 registry, while only 163 have transitioned to the new 2.0 standard – none of them printers.
It’s not binding. Maybe articles like this one will shame hp into stopping that bs one day ☀️ (only joking)
Time for a small fine
HP: “just some business cost.”
