4 ms·

Also, past the LaserJet 5, their printers started taking a nosedive in quality. In my own experience at work, the 1000 didn't last long before it started spewin

Also, past the LaserJet 5, their printers started taking a nosedive in quality. In my own experience at work, the 1000 didn't last long before it started spewing toner all over the page, and the 4550N, a gigantic color laser with extremely expensive consumables, did likewise. Don't get me started on their inkjets. Nothing like an all-in-one that won't even let you SCAN when it decides to "expire" a costly printhead. My policy regarding HP printers: "Never again."

madengr 8y ago
Ditto. I’ll never buy another HP product. They are now the purveyors of garbage computers and printers. The mid 90’s printers, scanners, and Apollo workstations were the pinnacle of quality. The 85xx line of test equipment was even beyond that. I don’t think something like those would even be attempted now. The true HP is Keysight, though they have quality issues now. The tile floors were to find small parts when dropped, and minimize dust and static electricity. The computer jockeys were in the wrong.
- specialist 8y ago
  In the 90s, HP engineers used to visit our offices, just to see how we used their gear. Printers, large format plotters, workstations, networking, etc. They'd cold call me, arrange visits, hang out for a while. I'd see how they take our feedback and improve their products. I don't think I've loved another brand as much as I loved HP, back in the day. Alas, things change.
- eropple 8y ago
  The HP Spectre 13 is emphatically not garbage. Beautiful machine, great screen, good keyboard. If the keyboard was a little better, and if their support was a little more sane, I would still be using the one I traded in for a ThinkPad T480.
- joezydeco 8y ago
  Except the computer jockeys probably wanted carpeting to cut down on the noise. It's insanely hard to concentrate in an open-office bullpen with every surface being a hard noise-reflective one.
guidedlight 8y ago
The LaserJet 4 used Canon internals, but was a robust printer otherwise. LaserJet 5 onwards continued the outsourcing trend.
krisroadruck 8y ago
Odd, I've gotten to the point where HP printers are the only ones I trust. I've had issues with just about every other major manufacturer of printers, but my HPs always held up like tanks. The only issue I've ever encountered with them seems universal among all inkjets. Namely that the ink cartridges seem to dry out if you don't use them often, even if they ought to have a lot of life left. Perhaps I've just had a lucky streak with HP? My personal nemesis brand for printers is Lexmark.
- dhimes 8y ago
  I'm with you on this. My Lexmark was great as it worked with Linux- until it crapped out and became useless. Now my HP (inkjet) is pretty dependable. Disclaimer: I don't print very much.
mattkevan 8y ago
Mine too. I made the mistake of buying an HP printer a few years ago. What a user-hostile piece of junk. Apparently their ink cartridges are region locked – the first time a cartridge is inserted the printer is permanently set to the cartridge region. I didn't realise this until it rejected the ones I'd got to replace the starter pack. Even though I'd bought it from a big UK retailer it had shipped with US cartridges, meaning it wouldn't work with any UK HP ink. HP's support's response was basically ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Their determination to protect revenue by putting stupid roadblocks to buying cheaper HP ink from abroad meant I just bought third-party ink with unlocked chips. They never saw another penny from me on that printer and never will from anything else.
- drewg123 8y ago
  I haven't had an HP printer for a while, but I HATE my neighbors' HP printers. They're constantly screaming at max signal strength on almost all 2.4G WIFI channels with their wireless direct printing.
Avamander 8y ago
My policy regarding HP is the exact opposite. It's so far the easiest I've ever seen in terms of setup on Linux and the trusty b/w laser has spewed out thousands of pages by now without toner change.
Scarblac 8y ago
What's a brand of printer that doesn't sell the printer at a loss and then has you pay through the nose for tiny cartridges of ink? I made the mistake of buying a Canon once and now I'm looking for a new printer.
- opencl 8y ago
  If you don't do a lot of photo printing I'd highly recommend getting a laser printer. Far more reliable than inkjets, never dry out, and the toner is cheap. I got an $80 black and white Brother nearly a decade ago and it still works fine. These days you can get color laser machines under $200 and the toner remains far cheaper than ink cartridges. The other way to avoid paying through the nose for tiny ink cartridges is to get a printer with refillable ink, i.e. Epson's EcoTank branded models or one of the many third party refillable cartridge solutions. But these always end up drying out and clogging if they're not used frequently enough.
  - ams6110 8y ago
    I second the laser printer for people who only print occasionally. I have a cheap Samsung ML-1710 laser printer. Bought it for under $100. Unfortunately neither Apple nor Foomatic include drivers for it any longer so it's become a doorstop. If anyone knows where to find a working driver from a reputable source I'd love to know. Edit: Apparently splix driver works for this one. https://www.openprinting.org/driver/splix https://www.openprinting.org/driver/splix I swear the ML-1710 model did not show up last time I checked the printer list. Maybe I just missed it.
    - mpol 8y ago
      Samsung gives out drivers for download. A simple search found it: https://driver-samsung.com/samsung-printer-ml-1710-drivers/ https://driver-samsung.com/samsung-printer-ml-1710-drivers/ I own a ML-1660 for now 7 years and the drivers still work fine for me. Just no duplex printing, which is a shame.
      - 8y ago
tonyedgecombe 8y ago
I think it started before the 5, we used to track failures and the 4 was worse than the 3. This wasn't unique though, it happened across the industry.

madengr 8y ago

Ditto. I’ll never buy another HP product. They are now the purveyors of garbage computers and printers. The mid 90’s printers, scanners, and Apollo workstations were the pinnacle of quality. The 85xx line of test equipment was even beyond that. I don’t think something like those would even be attempted now. The true HP is Keysight, though they have quality issues now. The tile floors were to find small parts when dropped, and minimize dust and static electricity. The computer jockeys were in the wrong.

specialist 8y ago
In the 90s, HP engineers used to visit our offices, just to see how we used their gear. Printers, large format plotters, workstations, networking, etc. They'd cold call me, arrange visits, hang out for a while. I'd see how they take our feedback and improve their products. I don't think I've loved another brand as much as I loved HP, back in the day. Alas, things change.
eropple 8y ago
The HP Spectre 13 is emphatically not garbage. Beautiful machine, great screen, good keyboard. If the keyboard was a little better, and if their support was a little more sane, I would still be using the one I traded in for a ThinkPad T480.
joezydeco 8y ago
Except the computer jockeys probably wanted carpeting to cut down on the noise. It's insanely hard to concentrate in an open-office bullpen with every surface being a hard noise-reflective one.

guidedlight 8y ago

The LaserJet 4 used Canon internals, but was a robust printer otherwise. LaserJet 5 onwards continued the outsourcing trend.

krisroadruck 8y ago

Odd, I've gotten to the point where HP printers are the only ones I trust. I've had issues with just about every other major manufacturer of printers, but my HPs always held up like tanks. The only issue I've ever encountered with them seems universal among all inkjets. Namely that the ink cartridges seem to dry out if you don't use them often, even if they ought to have a lot of life left. Perhaps I've just had a lucky streak with HP? My personal nemesis brand for printers is Lexmark.

dhimes 8y ago
I'm with you on this. My Lexmark was great as it worked with Linux- until it crapped out and became useless. Now my HP (inkjet) is pretty dependable. Disclaimer: I don't print very much.

mattkevan 8y ago

Mine too. I made the mistake of buying an HP printer a few years ago. What a user-hostile piece of junk. Apparently their ink cartridges are region locked – the first time a cartridge is inserted the printer is permanently set to the cartridge region. I didn't realise this until it rejected the ones I'd got to replace the starter pack. Even though I'd bought it from a big UK retailer it had shipped with US cartridges, meaning it wouldn't work with any UK HP ink. HP's support's response was basically ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Their determination to protect revenue by putting stupid roadblocks to buying cheaper HP ink from abroad meant I just bought third-party ink with unlocked chips. They never saw another penny from me on that printer and never will from anything else.

drewg123 8y ago
I haven't had an HP printer for a while, but I HATE my neighbors' HP printers. They're constantly screaming at max signal strength on almost all 2.4G WIFI channels with their wireless direct printing.

Avamander 8y ago

My policy regarding HP is the exact opposite. It's so far the easiest I've ever seen in terms of setup on Linux and the trusty b/w laser has spewed out thousands of pages by now without toner change.

Scarblac 8y ago

What's a brand of printer that doesn't sell the printer at a loss and then has you pay through the nose for tiny cartridges of ink? I made the mistake of buying a Canon once and now I'm looking for a new printer.

opencl 8y ago
If you don't do a lot of photo printing I'd highly recommend getting a laser printer. Far more reliable than inkjets, never dry out, and the toner is cheap. I got an $80 black and white Brother nearly a decade ago and it still works fine. These days you can get color laser machines under $200 and the toner remains far cheaper than ink cartridges. The other way to avoid paying through the nose for tiny ink cartridges is to get a printer with refillable ink, i.e. Epson's EcoTank branded models or one of the many third party refillable cartridge solutions. But these always end up drying out and clogging if they're not used frequently enough.
- ams6110 8y ago
  I second the laser printer for people who only print occasionally. I have a cheap Samsung ML-1710 laser printer. Bought it for under $100. Unfortunately neither Apple nor Foomatic include drivers for it any longer so it's become a doorstop. If anyone knows where to find a working driver from a reputable source I'd love to know. Edit: Apparently splix driver works for this one. https://www.openprinting.org/driver/splix https://www.openprinting.org/driver/splix I swear the ML-1710 model did not show up last time I checked the printer list. Maybe I just missed it.
  - mpol 8y ago
    Samsung gives out drivers for download. A simple search found it: https://driver-samsung.com/samsung-printer-ml-1710-drivers/ https://driver-samsung.com/samsung-printer-ml-1710-drivers/ I own a ML-1660 for now 7 years and the drivers still work fine for me. Just no duplex printing, which is a shame.
    - 8y ago

tonyedgecombe 8y ago

I think it started before the 5, we used to track failures and the 4 was worse than the 3. This wasn't unique though, it happened across the industry.