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I'm glad that the gouging of printer manufacturers' has been recognized and cheaper replacement ink options are being mandated.

The ink jet printer market has always followed the razor blade model - sell the handle at a loss and get 'em with the blades.

Which leads me to the question, has Gillette or any of the other shaving blade manufacturers been investigated by the DOJ or is it just that the gouging was so extreme in the printer market that people stood up and took notice?

AFAIK Gillette does not prevent you from sending your used cartridges to a 3rd party for refurbishment and resale. Not that anyone does that. Nor do they have a rip-through license agreement on the packing like Lexmark did, forcing you to accept a EULA for them (http://media.lexmark.com/www/doc/en_US/lexmark_end_user_license_agreement__2_.pdf).

They are allowed to charge what they want and patents are still a valid thing. This case was about what the consumer did with the product after they purchased it. It also did not involve the DOJ. It was one company suing another one.

Why sign a contract at the register, when you can just seal the cartridge in a bag that says, "Opening this seal constitutes agreement with the EULA"?

Lexmark actually does this. I bought a cheap Lexmark laser printer back in the mid 2000's and it had a tear-through agreement on the box that basically said you would not transfer the toner cartridge to any third party but would send it back to Lexmark for recycling. They leaned on their patent to support it, so I can't wait to see what they come up with now.

You can see the kind of text it had here: http://media.lexmark.com/www/doc/en_US/lexmark_end_user_license_agreement__2_.pdf

I have a Lexmark T522 that I got for free when a company moved and didn't want it shipped. After the toner ran out, I bought a 20,000 page cartridge through Office Depot for $150. It's worked for the last 3 years with no issues other than on cold mornings (takes a while for the fuser to reach proper temp).

You can find the Lexmark S405 for around $100 and it includes a sheet-fed scanner/fax/copier.

http://www1.lexmark.com/US/en/catalog/product.jsp?prodId=5284

I rather have more driver hardware support from vendors in Linux first. Apps will follow soon after.

I rather have more driver hardware support from vendors in Linux first. Apps will follow soon after.

Do you write to them and tell them that? Here are some addresses, write to one or two:

Creative (Webcams) http://asia.creative.com/contactus/presales/

Logitech (Webcams) http://logitech-en-amr.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/logitech_en_amr.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php

Lexmark (Printers) http://www.lexmark.com/lexmark/sequentialem/home/0,6959,204816596_689444666_0_en,00.html

Nokia (PIM sync software with OpenSync) http://www.nokia.com/A4126575

Epson (Printers) http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/AboutContactUs.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes

Gigabyte (New motherboards should ship with Linux drivers) http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Company/ContactUs.aspx?CompanyWebPageID=6

Linksys (Networking equipment) http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Content_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1114037291276&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper

SIS http://www.sis.com/support/support_tech.htm

ASUS http://usa.asus.com/aboutasus.aspx?show=3

Write to the hardware vendors and let them know that we want to buy and use their products on Linux. Here are the addresses of some other hardware vendors. Copy the list and write to one every week:

Creative (Webcams) http://asia.creative.com/contactus/presales/

Logitech (Webcams) http://logitech-en-amr.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/logitech_en_amr.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php

Nokia (PIM sync software with OpenSync) http://www.nokia.com/A4126575

Epson (Printers) http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/AboutContactUs.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes

Gigabyte (New motherboards should ship with Linux drivers) http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Company/ContactUs.aspx?CompanyWebPageID=6

Linksys (Networking equipment) http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Content_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1114037291276&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper

Mostly this is because most users are clueless and don't understand 3 things about inkjet printers:

1) Using plain (uncoated) paper is a bad idea. The paper dust gets in the print heads and clogs them.
2) If your printer has sat along time without being used, it probably has some dried ink stuck in the print nozzles. You need to clean the nozzles in order to get the best print results after it's sat for more than 2-3 days without being used. Even after cleaning, if image quality problems don't go away, you need to throw away the ink cart, no matter how much ink is in it.
3) Old ink carts (there's an expiry date on the box, usually) should be thrown away and not used.

I probably spent far more than the printer was worth over 4 or 5 ink cartridge purchases... I printed near nothing, but I would've saved money under the "fair pricing for printer and cartridges" model.

Ah, but I don't understand... Lexmark was one of the first printer companies to offer drivers (and now even a developer kit) for Linux. In fact, for many models, foomatic recommends the Lexmark drivers over their own, suggesting you foomaticize them to use CUPS.

You're right about IBM's attitude towards legacy products. But the Selectric is not a good example. First, IBM spun off the printer and typewriter business back in 91. Second, the Selectric typewriter, though out of production, is still widely used ("I need it to fill out forms!"), and you get "support" for it from any office supply store.

I'm not quite there on the 'largest collection of beer on the planet', but then again, I'm a military brat, and spent some time in Europe. The couple of times I've been to The Brickskeller, they've been surprisingly out of a number of things. They stock the stuff people drink on a regular basis, and they keep a token bottle up there so they can claim they have a lot of variety.

I was more impressed with Marikkas, in Lexington, Kentucky, which seemed to have a larger selection when I was there. [And good German food, too]. Of course, geek wise, there's not much reason to go to Kentucky, unless you're looking for alcohol, as there's not much else there but horses and basketball. Except for Lexmark, I guess... and the place they used to make the old heavy duty IBM keyboards.

According to ThisIsLondon, Ink for home printers are 7 times more expensive than vintage champagne.

They also claim that ignoring low ink warnings can double the life of ink cartridges. I wish I could ignore the warnings, as my Lexmark printer forbids me to print once 75% of ink is gone!

Those greedy pigs!

Actually HPs are disguised Cannon technolgoy and possibly some Xerox tech. Lexmark develops their own technology (it's in the second to last paragraph), but licenses it to others, notably Dell's new printer line. I can't recall seeing that HP ever licensed tech from Lexmark, but it is possible.

Lexmark's claim is that their standard cartridge is refillable. They offer a discount for a cartridge which you agree to return to them when empty. Customers are violating the agreement that they made when purchasing the discount cartridge and selling it to refillers. This all looks reasonable, except how do you get stores to carry two identical cartridges, one of which costs more?

Oh, they call this an "environmental" program, since they don't want their cartridges ending up in landfills. Heh.

The U.S. Copyright Office should not be used as an substitute yet uber-patent office. By adding any sort trivial addition to a mechanical device to lay a DMCA claim, one can create in effect a de facto patent protection of a commercial device, but with a much longer or unlimited term, and with a free ride of enforcement by the U.S. Government. This is clearly not what Copyrights are intended to protect.

Imagine an automotive company wishes to force people to purchase only tires manufactured by themselves. They first attempt to force consumer choice by patenting the idea of round tires, but the US Patent Office rules (correctly) that their design has not unique and denies the application. All the MBA's in upper management are crushed.

"Fear not," their lawyers cry, "we'll get something better...we'll get you protection -- and not for a patent's measly 20 years. No we'll give you 120 years of protection...AND the U.S. Government will investigate violations and enforce this 'uber-patent' for you."

"But How?" cry the hopeful executives grateful disbelief.

"But won't our better priced competitors just put the same dime's worth magic in their tires and we'll be back where we started?" wails a VP from under the table of the conference room where they've all gathered.

"...Patents?..." offers a hopeful senior manager.

"But the car's owner...isn't he already the, um, owner of the car and can do what he wants with his property?" worries the CEO aloud. "Isn't he allowed to buy from the competition? Won't we have to forced him to signed a service contract or something that say he must make all future purchases from us."

--

For those concerned that 120 years isn't long enough, a company needs only every 119 years just to change the "Quality Verification Tag" and get a whole new Copyright to fend off any and all competition -- for literally until the end of time (or at least the end of the DMCA)." Disney's aspirations ain't go nothin' on Lexmark.

Those who help create the U.S. Constitution wrote in Article I, section 8,

"Congress shall have power . . . to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries..." [Note: though already clear, emphasis added]

That's not a solution, that's sticking your head in the sand. We need to do both; boycott Lexmark (be sure to tell them why), and use this outrageous abuse of the law to get the DMCA overturned.

No major manufacturer except for Sony endorses memory stick.

http://www.konica.co.jp/global/press/020924_8e.htm l
http://www.konica.com/products/digital/cameras/kd4 00z_features.htm
http://www.konica.com/products/digital/cameras/kd3 10z_features.htm
http://www.samsungelectronics.com/news/digital_med ia/com_news_1042258148609_001300.html
http://www.samsungelectronics.com/news/digital_med ia/com_news_1042258779765_001300.html
http://www.samsungelectronics.com/camcorder/digita l_camcorder/b_scd590.html
http://www.samsungelectronics.com/camcorder/digita l_camcorder/g_scd87.html
http://www.brother.com/usa/fax/info/mfc5200c/mfc52 00c_ove.html
http://h30015.www3.hp.com/products/detail.php?prod num=Q3000A
http://h30015.www3.hp.com/products/detail.php?prod num=C8443A
http://h30015.www3.hp.com/products/detail.php?prod num=Q1605A
http://www.lexmark.com/US/products/overview/0,1224 ,MzM1NHwx,00.html
http://www.i-love-epson.co.jp/products/printer/ink jet/pm860pt/pm860pt1.htm
http://www.i-love-epson.co.jp/products/printer/ink jet/pm850pt/pm850pt1.htm
http://www.kenwood.com/j/products/home_audio/digit al_avino/sj_7ms/index.html
http://www.pioneer.co.jp/catalog/sys/x-sv7dv.php
http://www.pioneer.co.jp/av-sys/hd1/index.html
http://www.sun-denshi.co.jp/scc/bb/index.htm
http://www.sharp.co.jp/sc/eihon/wahp1/text/index.h tml
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pioneer/CDA/CarP roducts/CarProductDetails/0,1429,21417,00.html
http://www.mitsubishielectric.co.jp/mobile/mova/d2 51is/index.html
http://www.sharp.co.jp/products/sh712m/
http://global.acer.com/products/pda/s60.htm
http://global.acer.com/products/pda/s50.htm
http://www.global.acer.com/products/pda/n20w.htm
http://www.global.acer.com/products/pda/s15.htm
http://www.clevo.com.tw/products/images/8880.pdf
http://pr.fujitsu.com/jp/news/2002/10/8-2.html
http://www.nec.co.jp/press/ja/0210/1004-30.html
http://121ware.com/product/pc/lavie/200205/pro/spe c01.pdf
http://www.alpine.co.jp/alpine/navi02/n02.html
http://www.datatec.co.jp/sr/index.html
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_prod uct_lobbypage.asp?product=847

Shall I go on?

And yes, the memory stick format is much more expensive

I just paid $30 for 128 MB MS. Show me a better price for CF or SD/MMC.

not to mention has various confusing variations (e.g. magic gate)

You mean 2? Magic gate, non-Magic gate? Boy, that is confusing.

and is still proprietary

"Proprietary", eh? Guess what? All of the major formats are proprietary. Want to sell a CF device? You can if you ante up to the CF org. Sony has released quite a few specifications (http://www.memorystick.org/topics/eng/aboutms/for mat.html).

You might find prices on Amazon.com come close to CF or SD/MMC but I can walk into any camera shop and be offered compact flash cards by 3 or 4 manufactures where I'd be lucky if could find 2 for memory stick.

I count 6 manufacturers of Memory Stick: Lexar, SanDisk, Sony, I-O Data, Apacer Tech.

These are not $30 inkjet cartridges, more like $300+ laser printer toner cartridges. The printer I bought last year is no longer available this year, and guess what, the toner cartridge for this year's model is more expensive, by about $50, even though they look almost identical.

Others have suggested that Lexmark is trying to recoup their losses from selling their printers as a loss leader, but again we aren't talking about $89 inkjet printers. These are $1,100 laser printers. I really can't believe the hardware is sold at a loss.

When the toner runs out, I have 2 choices. I can pay lexmark $300 for a replacement cartridge, or I can take it down the street and have it rebuilt (toner refilled, image drum replaced, wiper blades and other internal parts replaced, etc) for $150 and the print quality is just as good. The guy that refills them for me says that $50 of that cost is for the computer chip that has to be replaced each time. If the print quality is still good, the cartridge can be refilled, without having to be rebuilt, but the chip still has to be replaced.

You see, if you simply refill the cartridge, and try and put it back into the printer, the printer says "wait a minute, last time I saw this cartridge, he was empty, and now he's full. Something fishy is going on here, so I'm not going to let him print".

We have used Lexmark laser printers exclusively for the last 8-10 years, and have been pleased with them from a quality standpoint (we are producing camera ready copy for printing, so quality is important) but over the years, the printers haven't gotten any cheaper but the toner costs have tripled. It's getting hard to justify staying with lexmark when they have such a restrictive business model, not to mention the environmental costs of having to buy a new cartridge each time as opposed to reclycling a perfectly good cartridge.

Then there's their "prebate" program where they charge you an additional $50 for a non-prebate cartridge (with a prebate cartridge you agree to return the empty cartridge to lexmark and not have it refilled). Lexmark's justification is that for the extra $50, you gain unrestricted use of the cartridge, and can refill it if you like, but guess what, now that they are destroying the aftermarket chip suppliers, you won't be able to use the cartridge that you paid extra for, because you won't be able reuse it without a chip. Figure that out. Basically it's a EULA for toner cartridges.

These are not $30 inkjet cartridges, more like $300+ laser printer toner cartridges. The printer I bought last year is no longer available this year, and guess what, the toner cartridge for this year's model is more expensive, by about $50, even though they look almost identical.

Others have suggested that Lexmark is trying to recoup their losses from selling their printers as a loss leader, but again we aren't talking about $89 inkjet printers. These are $1,100 laser printers. I really can't believe the hardware is sold at a loss.

When the toner runs out, I have 2 choices. I can pay lexmark $300 for a replacement cartridge, or I can take it down the street and have it rebuilt (toner refilled, image drum replaced, wiper blades and other internal parts replaced, etc) for $150 and the print quality is just as good. The guy that refills them for me says that $50 of that cost is for the computer chip that has to be replaced each time. If the print quality is still good, the cartridge can be refilled, without having to be rebuilt, but the chip still has to be replaced.

You see, if you simply refill the cartridge, and try and put it back into the printer, the printer says "wait a minute, last time I saw this cartridge, he was empty, and now he's full. Something fishy is going on here, so I'm not going to let him print".

We have used Lexmark laser printers exclusively for the last 8-10 years, and have been pleased with them from a quality standpoint (we are producing camera ready copy for printing, so quality is important) but over the years, the printers haven't gotten any cheaper but the toner costs have tripled. It's getting hard to justify staying with lexmark when they have such a restrictive business model, not to mention the environmental costs of having to buy a new cartridge each time as opposed to reclycling a perfectly good cartridge.

Then there's their "prebate" program where they charge you an additional $50 for a non-prebate cartridge (with a prebate cartridge you agree to return the empty cartridge to lexmark and not have it refilled). Lexmark's justification is that for the extra $50, you gain unrestricted use of the cartridge, and can refill it if you like, but guess what, now that they are destroying the aftermarket chip suppliers, you won't be able to use the cartridge that you paid extra for, because you won't be able reuse it without a chip. Figure that out. Basically it's a EULA for toner cartridges.

Anyone know any good replacements for HP laser printers?

Lexmark has one for $100 (@ OfficeMax). Of course, the replacement toner is $90 a shot, so....

They own Lexmark!

No, they don't. Lexmark is a publicly-traded company with some close business links to IBM.

Can't say it enough, working in your chosen field during college gives you a huge advantage in this regard. I work in embedded development, and my work experience during school was invaluable in jumpstarting my professional career.

During my junior and senior years, I worked at a laser printer manufacturer, maintaining and upgrading code for older products. It wasn't super glamorous, but I also wasn't just getting coffee for people, and I learned more in that year and a half than I did in the entire rest of my academic career.

After graduation, I had no trouble getting exactly the kind of work I wanted. I went to work on transportation projects at a major defense contractor for a few years, went back into the printer industry for a few years after that, and am now a senior engineer at a consulting firm working on several traffic management and wireless messaging solutions.

When I graduated in 1994 the market was already fairly competitive, and someone who had real experience working in a team with other engineers, burning ROMs, documenting software, and producing embedded code which ran in real products, had an obvious advantage over someone whose experience consisted solely of implementing linked lists and writing papers on finite automata. With today's large numbers of out of work developers, and the proportionately larger number of CS graduates entering the market, it's incredibly important to distinguish yourself.

Here

In my experience, Lexmark has wonderful Linux support for its products. $79 at Best Buy got me a very high quality 1200dpi inkjet printer (the Lexmark Z23) with both Windows and Linux support. The Linux side actually works better than its Windows counterpart, oddly enough. It runs as a daemon process, does PostScript exactly the way it should, and the fact that its a USB printer doesn't complicate the situation either. It all just plain works, out of the box. Even has a nice graphical config utility

Kudos to Lexmark for doing it right!

I bought a Lexmark T522 Series printer and the optional ImageQuick a while ago and not only didn't it work with Linux, when I opened it up it was full of big rocks of crack cocaine!. Ha ha Lexmark, BUSTED !

So I got addicted to crack and now my supply's running low and refils on crack cost a hell of a lot more than toner refils. I called "Lexmark" to have a salesman contact me and he showed up in a gold Lexus with mega-bass and tinted windows so I took off. Now Lexmark's threatening to kill my dog and I"m in the witness protection program.

Thanks a lot, mafia boy, thanks a lot!

I bought a Lexmark T522 Series printer and the optional ImageQuick a while ago and not only didn't it work with Linux, when I opened it up it was full of big rocks of crack cocaine!. Ha ha Lexmark, BUSTED !

So I got addicted to crack and now my supply's running low and refils on crack cost a hell of a lot more than toner refils. I called "Lexmark" to have a salesman contact me and he showed up in a gold Lexus with mega-bass and tinted windows so I took off. Now Lexmark's threatening to kill my dog and I"m in the witness protection program.

Thanks a lot, mafia boy, thanks a lot!

Career-wise, the dot com madness has certainly benefited me, even though I wasn't a part of the "dot-com industry". I've been a software developer my entire career, but it's always been in embedded stuff, either in the public sector or in consumer peripherals, never in web development or any of that. I've risen through the ranks as a wage-slave programmer and then project manager, and am now a happy consultant in a small, specialized firm. I'm sure the better economy, helped in large part by the Internet boom, was a factor in my upward mobility -- but I work hard and I suspect I would have done fairly well regardless. I'm no dot-com millionaire, but I'm not crying either.

To me, the best thing about the web hype was the commoditization of the internet. Sure that's got its ill effects, for example the millions of idiots, the script kiddies, etc, etc, but it also means good things like $40/month 1500 kbps ADSL connections, cable modems, etc. Despite being stingy and greedy, the big corps realized that there was a gold mine out there on the web (or thought there was), and they knew that if they were going to keep the hype going they were going to have to deliver a better experience -- thus the higher bandwidth, lower PC prices, etc. Whether or not we like the content, the fact is that the dot-com boom benefited everyone by motivating big slow businesses to improve the communications infrastructure.

And, more importantly for me, the inescapable hype surrounding the internet caused vast numbers of ordinary, non-Internet-oriented companies and consumers to realize that the Internet exists and that it can make their life easier. That certainly hasn't hurt my consulting career...

For instance, check out the Lexmark 5770 which can print images off of flash cards from most digital cameras. Also, take a look at the Kodak PM100 which can print pics from the following cameras.

OK, end of troll. To be fair, both these printers are sold by Lexmark, and I am an employee thereof. On the other hand, I'm also a 5770 owner, and it really performs. I quit using film the day I hooked it up.

and, o'course, the fact that you can buy a cd to allow the 5770 to run on Solaris never hurts :)

For instance, check out the Lexmark 5770 which can print images off of flash cards from most digital cameras. Also, take a look at the Kodak PM100 which can print pics from the following cameras.

OK, end of troll. To be fair, both these printers are sold by Lexmark, and I am an employee thereof. On the other hand, I'm also a 5770 owner, and it really performs. I quit using film the day I hooked it up.

and, o'course, the fact that you can buy a cd to allow the 5770 to run on Solaris never hurts :)

For instance, check out the Lexmark 5770 which can print images off of flash cards from most digital cameras. Also, take a look at the Kodak PM100 which can print pics from the following cameras.

OK, end of troll. To be fair, both these printers are sold by Lexmark, and I am an employee thereof. On the other hand, I'm also a 5770 owner, and it really performs. I quit using film the day I hooked it up.

and, o'course, the fact that you can buy a cd to allow the 5770 to run on Solaris never hurts :)

For instance, check out the Lexmark 5770 which can print images off of flash cards from most digital cameras. Also, take a look at the Kodak PM100 which can print pics from the following cameras.

OK, end of troll. To be fair, both these printers are sold by Lexmark, and I am an employee thereof. On the other hand, I'm also a 5770 owner, and it really performs. I quit using film the day I hooked it up.

and, o'course, the fact that you can buy a cd to allow the 5770 to run on Solaris never hurts :)