5 ms·

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

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 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...