4 ms·

17 mentions of Ecotank on the 1st page of comments is a little bit sus. That said it's hard to beat older pre chip Brother laser printers for home use. Can ofte

17 mentions of Ecotank on the 1st page of comments is a little bit sus. That said it's hard to beat older pre chip Brother laser printers for home use. Can often find a used one for around $50.

readingnews 4y ago
I am amazed no one talks about older HPs. I had a 4 with like 5million pages put through it, worked great. I am on a 4300DN now, in my house, got it used. Great printer. I would never buy any of their new stuff. My gosh, HP what happened? You used to make great test equipment. Then great calculators. Then great printers. Now, what? What do you do? Oh, I forgot, you give the customer a printer and hold them hostage. I guess it is the new business model.
- sundvor 4y ago
  I had a HP LaserJet 4L back in the very early 90s, which I used with my Amiga. It was amazing. Still regret not taking it with me as I crossed the continents. I bought it with my own money from my newspaper delivery job when in high school, along with a legitimate copy of Pagestream. The quality and value / advantage I got out of this for my school and later university work was remarkable, just about no-one else (at my age) had anything resembling the same setup. Fond memories; sad to see this nosedive into DRM hell.
  - midoridensha 4y ago
    >Still regret not taking it with me as I crossed the continents. It probably wouldn't have worked on other continents due to different voltage and frequency. You'd need a huge and expensive adapter (laser printers use a LOT of power when printing). Back in the 90s, they didn't have adapters that could convert frequency. Generally, it's best to leave high-power appliances (or sell on Ebay) when you move between continents and buy new stuff at your new home.
    - sundvor 4y ago
      Australia is on the same voltage and frequency (230v/50hz) as Norway, just need a straight plug adaptor. My Rotel system from 1997 is humming along just fine to this date. :)
      - midoridensha 4y ago
        Right, it depends on which two places you're moving between. Your device probably won't work well in North America, for instance, or in Japan. (In NA, it might be workable if the device doesn't care about line frequency since it's 60Hz there. In Japan, it'll work if 200V is close enough, but that's a significant difference from 230V. And the line frequency is only the same if you're in Tokyo or east of it.)
        sundvor 4y ago
        I must admit I never knew about the line frequency, thanks! It's sort of random that it was the same. Aus voltages are a bit up and down; it's actually around 243v at my place, according to my UPSes. I use an APC Voltage regulator in front of my main one.
- b112 4y ago
  Now, what? They make decent laptops, but with incredibly sharp, non-rounded edges, which have actually cut* some user's palms. https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLaptops/comments/iioylp/just_got_the_hp_omen_and_the_only_problem_im/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLaptops/comments/iioylp/just_... edit: * Yes I exaggerate here, but it is annoyingly sharp
  - cfiggers 4y ago
    That seems like a slight exaggeration to me. The linked Reddit poster put the word "cuts" in quotation marks, indicating illustrative use of the word. Most likely they meant harmless (but uncomfortable) pressure indentations from resting their forearms against the edges for a while. It does not seem likely that they meant the edges of their laptop drew blood (which is what you seem to be suggesting).
    - b112 4y ago
      Edited...
- ornornor 4y ago
  RIP HP Laserjet 4L. These were beasts and they worked for 20 years. Even then all they needed was maintenance but the newer ones were more economical, quieter, and faster to run.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    The only time I ever actually saw lights dim because of something I did was an old laserjet warming up in mejico.
- pugworthy 4y ago
  They seem to flail with consumers but there are still some very cool things from HP. For example, the digital dispensers for life sciences. https://www.hp.com/us-en/specialty-printing-solutions/life-science-dispensing.html https://www.hp.com/us-en/specialty-printing-solutions/life-s...
sundvor 4y ago
I found this review which appears quite honest and educated: https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2022/10/12/epson-ecotank-et-8550-printer-review https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2022/10/12/epson-ecota... It would make sense for Ecotank users to reply to the post, given the cost savings it offers - whilst still retaining overall good print quality (according to the above review). I'm presently on a Brother HL-L2375DW (BW laser) myself for my occasional use; love it.
dw_arthur 4y ago
Is brother doing the same thing? I have an old brother wireless printer that takes generic cartridges. I'm not looking forward to the day it dies if so.
- rwaksmunski 4y ago
  I'm not brave enough to find out.
thewebcount 4y ago
I just upgraded my computer and now my older Brother can’t scan anymore because Brother isn’t supporting it anymore. (And the app they point you to for scanning also doesn’t support it.) There are some 3rd party tools you can install apparently, but I don’t know if I want to be bothered with how much time that’s likely to take. I don’t want to support them anymore now that they’ve added a chip to their newer models, and I don’t want to have to buy another used one every few years because I keep hitting the end of the support timeframe for those models. It’s a bit frustrating. I’ll probably try the 3rd party software, but that comes with its own issues.
- sciencesama 4y ago
  just get the ip address of the printer and you can scan from the ip address.
- bombcar 4y ago
  My dad keeps a windows XP VM around simply to scan from an old printer.
rektide 4y ago
There was a flagged post on EcoTank yesterday, that was basically an ad with no news. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35040214 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35040214 My comment is currently I believe the top comment there, talking about how these things have a designed-to-fail Ink Waste Tank or Ink Waste Pad, and an internal Ink Counter that locks up the printer after a certain amount of printing. I'm not 100% absolutely certain, but I've ran into numerous semi-trustworthy reports & videos while searching for printers. (Amid many glowing reviews of people who've had theirs for 1 week to a couple of months.) I seriously lusted after the EcoTank L1800 for a while, after @leashless posted about them being a super interesting "10x" product back in 2015 then 2018. But by then they were already only available in a couple secondary markets (ex: Brazil). For a while though they had been sold widely. It feels quite likely to me that Epson knew they built a deliberately designed-to-fail product, sold it for a bit, realized they were going to get in trouble, sold it only to a couple assorted countries, didn't change the product, & now is trying again. https://twitter.com/leashless/status/630192409293508609 https://twitter.com/leashless/status/630192409293508609 https://twitter.com/leashless/status/630192409293508609 https://twitter.com/leashless/status/630192409293508609 (The cheap Moonman M2 fountain pens leashless linked were/are indeed pretty sweet though.)
- lbwtaylor 4y ago
  > designed-to-fail Ink Waste Tank or Ink Waste Pad Then buy one with a replaceable pad like the Epson 5150. The replacement costs....drum roll ... $10. My last color laser had a non serviceable fuser rated for 20,000 pages and that's what I got out of it. I replaced it with a color ecotank and it's just a better product. Look up the price of my ink vs the price of comparible color toner and there is simply no comparison. Even color toner generics, which are not perfect, are more expensive. It's fine to have scepticism over ink printers, or any printers. But it's not all rainbows and sunshine with other options either (other than a basic black laser I guess)
  - usrusr 4y ago
    There is no ink economy improvement that cannot be countered in favor of dry toner with an even lower printing frequency. Printing frequency used to be thought in pages per day, now it can be years per page and still be too high to forego having a printer. I have toner that would last decades for my old Samsung, unfortunately some element of paper transport ceased working.

17 mentions of Ecotank on the 1st page of comments is a little bit sus. That said it's hard to beat older pre chip Brother laser printers for home use. Can often find a used one for around $50.

readingnews 4y ago

I am amazed no one talks about older HPs. I had a 4 with like 5million pages put through it, worked great. I am on a 4300DN now, in my house, got it used. Great printer. I would never buy any of their new stuff. My gosh, HP what happened? You used to make great test equipment. Then great calculators. Then great printers. Now, what? What do you do? Oh, I forgot, you give the customer a printer and hold them hostage. I guess it is the new business model.

sundvor 4y ago
I had a HP LaserJet 4L back in the very early 90s, which I used with my Amiga. It was amazing. Still regret not taking it with me as I crossed the continents. I bought it with my own money from my newspaper delivery job when in high school, along with a legitimate copy of Pagestream. The quality and value / advantage I got out of this for my school and later university work was remarkable, just about no-one else (at my age) had anything resembling the same setup. Fond memories; sad to see this nosedive into DRM hell.
- midoridensha 4y ago
  >Still regret not taking it with me as I crossed the continents. It probably wouldn't have worked on other continents due to different voltage and frequency. You'd need a huge and expensive adapter (laser printers use a LOT of power when printing). Back in the 90s, they didn't have adapters that could convert frequency. Generally, it's best to leave high-power appliances (or sell on Ebay) when you move between continents and buy new stuff at your new home.
  - sundvor 4y ago
    Australia is on the same voltage and frequency (230v/50hz) as Norway, just need a straight plug adaptor. My Rotel system from 1997 is humming along just fine to this date. :)
    - midoridensha 4y ago
      Right, it depends on which two places you're moving between. Your device probably won't work well in North America, for instance, or in Japan. (In NA, it might be workable if the device doesn't care about line frequency since it's 60Hz there. In Japan, it'll work if 200V is close enough, but that's a significant difference from 230V. And the line frequency is only the same if you're in Tokyo or east of it.)
      - sundvor 4y ago
        I must admit I never knew about the line frequency, thanks! It's sort of random that it was the same. Aus voltages are a bit up and down; it's actually around 243v at my place, according to my UPSes. I use an APC Voltage regulator in front of my main one.
b112 4y ago
Now, what? They make decent laptops, but with incredibly sharp, non-rounded edges, which have actually cut* some user's palms. https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLaptops/comments/iioylp/just_got_the_hp_omen_and_the_only_problem_im/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLaptops/comments/iioylp/just_... edit: * Yes I exaggerate here, but it is annoyingly sharp
- cfiggers 4y ago
  That seems like a slight exaggeration to me. The linked Reddit poster put the word "cuts" in quotation marks, indicating illustrative use of the word. Most likely they meant harmless (but uncomfortable) pressure indentations from resting their forearms against the edges for a while. It does not seem likely that they meant the edges of their laptop drew blood (which is what you seem to be suggesting).
  - b112 4y ago
    Edited...
ornornor 4y ago
RIP HP Laserjet 4L. These were beasts and they worked for 20 years. Even then all they needed was maintenance but the newer ones were more economical, quieter, and faster to run.
- bombcar 4y ago
  The only time I ever actually saw lights dim because of something I did was an old laserjet warming up in mejico.
pugworthy 4y ago
They seem to flail with consumers but there are still some very cool things from HP. For example, the digital dispensers for life sciences. https://www.hp.com/us-en/specialty-printing-solutions/life-science-dispensing.html https://www.hp.com/us-en/specialty-printing-solutions/life-s...

sundvor 4y ago

I found this review which appears quite honest and educated: https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2022/10/12/epson-ecotank-et-8550-printer-review https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2022/10/12/epson-ecota... It would make sense for Ecotank users to reply to the post, given the cost savings it offers - whilst still retaining overall good print quality (according to the above review). I'm presently on a Brother HL-L2375DW (BW laser) myself for my occasional use; love it.

dw_arthur 4y ago

Is brother doing the same thing? I have an old brother wireless printer that takes generic cartridges. I'm not looking forward to the day it dies if so.

rwaksmunski 4y ago
I'm not brave enough to find out.

thewebcount 4y ago

I just upgraded my computer and now my older Brother can’t scan anymore because Brother isn’t supporting it anymore. (And the app they point you to for scanning also doesn’t support it.) There are some 3rd party tools you can install apparently, but I don’t know if I want to be bothered with how much time that’s likely to take. I don’t want to support them anymore now that they’ve added a chip to their newer models, and I don’t want to have to buy another used one every few years because I keep hitting the end of the support timeframe for those models. It’s a bit frustrating. I’ll probably try the 3rd party software, but that comes with its own issues.

sciencesama 4y ago
just get the ip address of the printer and you can scan from the ip address.
bombcar 4y ago
My dad keeps a windows XP VM around simply to scan from an old printer.

rektide 4y ago

There was a flagged post on EcoTank yesterday, that was basically an ad with no news. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35040214 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35040214 My comment is currently I believe the top comment there, talking about how these things have a designed-to-fail Ink Waste Tank or Ink Waste Pad, and an internal Ink Counter that locks up the printer after a certain amount of printing. I'm not 100% absolutely certain, but I've ran into numerous semi-trustworthy reports & videos while searching for printers. (Amid many glowing reviews of people who've had theirs for 1 week to a couple of months.) I seriously lusted after the EcoTank L1800 for a while, after @leashless posted about them being a super interesting "10x" product back in 2015 then 2018. But by then they were already only available in a couple secondary markets (ex: Brazil). For a while though they had been sold widely. It feels quite likely to me that Epson knew they built a deliberately designed-to-fail product, sold it for a bit, realized they were going to get in trouble, sold it only to a couple assorted countries, didn't change the product, & now is trying again. https://twitter.com/leashless/status/630192409293508609 https://twitter.com/leashless/status/630192409293508609 https://twitter.com/leashless/status/630192409293508609 https://twitter.com/leashless/status/630192409293508609 (The cheap Moonman M2 fountain pens leashless linked were/are indeed pretty sweet though.)

lbwtaylor 4y ago
> designed-to-fail Ink Waste Tank or Ink Waste Pad Then buy one with a replaceable pad like the Epson 5150. The replacement costs....drum roll ... $10. My last color laser had a non serviceable fuser rated for 20,000 pages and that's what I got out of it. I replaced it with a color ecotank and it's just a better product. Look up the price of my ink vs the price of comparible color toner and there is simply no comparison. Even color toner generics, which are not perfect, are more expensive. It's fine to have scepticism over ink printers, or any printers. But it's not all rainbows and sunshine with other options either (other than a basic black laser I guess)
- usrusr 4y ago
  There is no ink economy improvement that cannot be countered in favor of dry toner with an even lower printing frequency. Printing frequency used to be thought in pages per day, now it can be years per page and still be too high to forego having a printer. I have toner that would last decades for my old Samsung, unfortunately some element of paper transport ceased working.