Cooked Crack Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Quote HP launched a subscription service today that rents people a printer, allots them a specific amount of printed pages, and sends them ink for a monthly fee. HP is framing its service as a way to simplify printing for families and small businesses, but the deal also comes with monitoring and a years-long commitment. Prices range from $6.99 per month for a plan that includes an HP Envy printer (the current model is the 6020e) and 20 printed pages. The priciest plan includes an HP OfficeJet Pro rental and 700 printed pages for $35.99 per month. Quote HP calls this an All-In-Plan; if you subscribe, the tech company will be all in on your printing activities. Advertisement One of the most perturbing aspects of the subscription plan is that it requires subscribers to keep their printers connected to the Internet. In general, some users avoid connecting their printer to the Internet because it's the type of device that functions fine without web access. A web connection can also concern users about security or HP-issued firmware updates that make printers stop functioning with non-HP ink. But HP enforces an Internet connection by having its TOS also state that HP may disrupt the service—and continue to charge you for it—if your printer is not online. Quote The All-In-Plan privacy policy also says that HP may “transfer information about you to advertising partners” so that they can "recognize your devices," perform targeted advertising, and, potentially, "combine information about you with information from other companies in data sharing cooperatives" that HP participates in. The policy says that users can opt out of sharing personal data. Quote Last month, HP CEO Enrique Lores declared that HP's "long-term objective is to make printing a subscription." The All-In-Plan is HP's latest attempt at that goal, hoping people believe that the subscription service will simplify things for themselves. And by including high cancellation fees, HP is looking to lock subscribers in for two years. HP will charge subscribers who cancel their subscription before its end date up to $270 plus taxes (the amount decreases to as little as $60, depending on the printer rented and the length of the subscription). After two years, users won't see a cancellation fee if they return the rental printer and ink cartridges within 10 days after canceling their subscription. With these tactics, HP is creating the same type of subscription reliance that has made companies like phone carriers rich while limiting customer options. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/02/hp-wants-you-to-pay-up-to-36-month-to-rent-a-printer-that-it-monitors/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfitzo53 Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 https://www.theverge.com/23642073/best-printer-2023-brother-laser-wi-fi-its-fine Quote Best printer 2023: just buy this Brother laser printer everyone has, it’s fine. The Brother whatever-it-is will print return labels for online shopping, never run out of toner, and generally be a printer instead of the physical instantiation of a business model. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 1 minute ago, dfitzo53 said: https://www.theverge.com/23642073/best-printer-2023-brother-laser-wi-fi-its-fine Yup, pretty much this. Black and white brother laser printer is the printer to get. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CousinsCowgirl84 Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 20 pages for 7 bucks seems steep. Maybe if it were 100. Not to mention, all those pages you print off that are plank except for “page 7 of 7” printed on the bottom 😒 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88Comrade2000 Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 40 minutes ago, PokerPacker said: Yup, pretty much this. Black and white brother laser printer is the printer to get. That’s what we have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 No thanks. All this means to me is that I’m less likely to use an HP printer. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 If you want to print from a printer you don't own, there's always the Public Library. Hell, these days you can even 3D print at the library. I just had something 3D printed at my local library just this week. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 From the Ars Technica article, this is just fantastic writing. Quote Seriously, ask around or just look in the background of Zoom calls: there’s a black Brother laser printer sitting there. Some people have the bare-bones Brother HL-L2305W, which costs like $120. We have the $270 Brother MFC-L2750DW, which adds a sheet-fed scanner, because my wife is a lawyer and scans things for judges or whatever she does with it. It doesn’t matter. We only bought that one to replace our previous Brother laser printer that we lost in a move, and even then, I didn’t even look at the model numbers. It has been connected to our Wi-Fi for like six years straight, and I have never replaced the toner. It prints Amazon return labels from my phone without complaining, and it does not feel like the CEO of Inkjet Supply and Hostage Situations Incorporated is waiting to mug me or enable DRM at the slightest provocation. Here’s a button to buy whatever Brother laser printer our commerce team is getting the best affiliate rates on right now: 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 (edited) Most of our printing is with a BW laser printer. I haven’t read the article but I also have a color HP printer that I agree to pay $1 per month for ink that meets our infrequent color printing needs. Occasionally I get shipped a new cartridge without needing to request it. In the few years I’ve had the cheapo HP printer I’ve never found that I was out of ink because the ****ing cartridges were either out of ink or dried up. This contrasts with prior decades where home color printing was often just a source of frustration. i guess HP’s profitability model is based around people printing all sorts of **** they don’t need on a color printer. Edited March 2 by Corcaigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Wiggles Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Do the cartridges still dry out after six months even tho I printed out maybe three pages in that time? 🤣 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 7 minutes ago, Captain Wiggles said: Do the cartridges still dry out after six months even tho I printed out maybe three pages in that time? 🤣 So far it’s worked. The cartridge status is monitored and they have supplied several new ones even though our use is very infrequent. Alexa, which manages a bunch of devices in our home, including lights, plugs, doors etc., offered to connect to it and without thinking about it I agreed, and now Alexa is offering to ship me replacement printer cartridges via Amazon. 🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Wiggles Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 (edited) I got my dad a HP printer/copy/scanner years ago. I told him he didn't need to sign up the the instant ink subscription they push but he did. Most companies seem to have something similar. Meh. He replaced it with another HP printer taboot and told me it didn't work. I took it, replaced the cartridges, and the thing works fine. 🤣 Oh n the current one he now has drops its connection to the wifi like every week. Da fuq? Edited March 2 by Captain Wiggles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 6 hours ago, Captain Wiggles said: Do the cartridges still dry out after six months even tho I printed out maybe three pages in that time? 🤣 Six months? I set a job on a timer to print a test page once every two weeks and little **** still dried out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CousinsCowgirl84 Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 19 hours ago, Captain Wiggles said: Do the cartridges still dry out after six months even tho I printed out maybe three pages in that time? 🤣 I have one of those epson printers without a cartridge and it seems to be fine after a year… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Wiggles Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 2 minutes ago, CousinsCowgirl84 said: I have one of those epson printers without a cartridge and it seems to be fine after a year… The ink tank ones that Shaq shills for? Was wondering how those held up. 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Just now, Captain Wiggles said: The ink tank ones that Shaq shills for? Was wondering how those held up. 🤔 My mother has one and she swears by it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CousinsCowgirl84 Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Just now, Captain Wiggles said: The ink tank ones that Shaq shills for? Was wondering how those held up. 🤔 Yea. It’s fine. I haven’t had to refill it since I bought it but I probably only print about 10 pages/mo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoCommiesGo Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 21 hours ago, Captain Wiggles said: The ink tank ones that Shaq shills for? Was wondering how those held up. 🤔 We bought one last year ET-2850, thing has been great. Easy and no issues with the ink even with very limited usage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ixcuincle Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 I don't own a printer (I used to) so I either used the work printer to print out important forms. Now that I don't work in an office anymore I have to resort to putting pants on and leaving the house to print at the library. It usually goes flawless, and sometimes it's free too. Just walk into any library even in DC and print. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDoyler23 Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 It's wild to rent a product as cheap as a printer. We are being conditioned to rent everything and own nothing right now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now