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HP Printers Have A Pre-Programmed Failure Date For Non-HP Ink Cartridges (myce.com)
An anonymous reader quotes some harsh allegations from Myce.com:
Thousands of HP printers around the world started to show error messages on the same day, the 13th of September... HP printers with non-HP cartridges started to show the error message, "One or more cartridges appear to be damaged. Remove them and replace them with new cartridges"... When [Dutch online retailer 123ink] emailed their customers asking them if they wanted to check if their printer also had issues, they received replies from more than 1,000 customers confirming the issue...
Consumers who complained to HP were told the error was caused by using non-HP cartridges. A day later HP withdrew that statement and explained the issues were a side effect of a firmware update, [but] printers without any internet access started to reject non-HP cartridges. Therefore it's very unlikely that a firmware update caused the issues and the only other logical explanation is that HP programmed a date in its firmware on which non-HP cartridges would no longer be accepted.
"Printer worked fine for nine months," complains one of many angry users on HP's web site. "Then on 9/13 HP uploaded without my permission a firmware update that caused a message 'damaged cartridge' for all my cartridges and then it refused to print."
Consumers who complained to HP were told the error was caused by using non-HP cartridges. A day later HP withdrew that statement and explained the issues were a side effect of a firmware update, [but] printers without any internet access started to reject non-HP cartridges. Therefore it's very unlikely that a firmware update caused the issues and the only other logical explanation is that HP programmed a date in its firmware on which non-HP cartridges would no longer be accepted.
"Printer worked fine for nine months," complains one of many angry users on HP's web site. "Then on 9/13 HP uploaded without my permission a firmware update that caused a message 'damaged cartridge' for all my cartridges and then it refused to print."
Thanks HP, now I know to never buy your products agaim.
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I gave up on inkjet printers last century
About 5 years ago, my Brother laser printer said it was low, so I taped over the window. A couple of years later, I did get off my lazy ass and ordered a new cartridge so that I wouldn't interrupt my workflow. However, the original cartridge that came with the printer still hasn't run out. I have no idea when and if I'll ever need to install the new cartridge.
As you can guess, I don't do very much printing. However, the "low toner" light probably started blinking after printing only about 1/4 of the total number of pages I've gotten out of it so far.
This whole episode does reinforce the decision I made before buying the laser printer: I will never, ever buy another inkjet printer as long as I live. Those cartridges seem to dry up, clog and die even if I don't use them. I got sick of spending $30 on a set of cartridges, only to get a hundred pages out of them before they became useless from age. At least laser printer toner seems to have an almost unlimited lifespan.
It isn't that HP are bad printers here, it's that HP are trying to deceive their users into thinking the OEM cartridges are defective. And the timing reveals that its a trick in their software not a true fault.
i.e. pre planned attempt to deceive consumers about the quality of third party cartridges.
At this point the cartridge makers should sue (tortuous interference in business), and the authorities should look at this in terms of the Dieselgate scandal, since its an attempt to deceive consumers.
That's the nature of inkjets. They dry out. Just print something small every couple of weeks or buy a laser. Unless you want your printed pages to smudge, you want the ink to be able to dry out. There's no easy way around it. It's the ink prices that are the only problem with this.
Blame Carly Fiorina.