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Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: special
Date: August 17, 2024 07:21AM
[www.nytimes.com]

Kind of disappointing to see that they push an HP with "Instant Ink"
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Robert M
Date: August 17, 2024 08:14AM
Special,

I wouldn't buy another HP printer. Not anymore. This is coming from someone who has used their printers since the late 1980s, starting with the HP Deskwriter which was the Mac version of the Deskjet 500. The Officejet Pro 9025e is the last one I'll own. It replaced an Officejet Pro 8620 whose print head was ruined by 3rd party ink.

The 9025e gets the job done but it's proven itself amazingly buggy. I don't use HP's Instank Ink in it nor do I subscribe to the Instant Ink program for any of the eligible printers I have in operation at the moment. They are an Officejet Pro 9025e, an Officejet Pro 8600 and the Officejet Pro 8620 (which the 9025e replaced). I purchased a new printhead for the 8620 and put it back in use in a different location. It's been dandy with the new print head and OEM ink.

HP's Instant Ink program might work for some people but it definitely has its cons:

[h30434.www3.hp.com]

You don't need to use Instant Ink in HP printers. I stick with HP's XL cartridges, which helps reduce the overall cost of consumables quite a bit. There is always a deal available for them from someone. smiling smiley

A note from HP about their printers and chipped cartridges

"This printer is intended to work only with cartridges that have a new or reused HP chip, and it uses dynamic security measures to block cartridges using a non-HP chip. Periodic firmware updates will maintain the effectiveness of these measures and block cartridges that previously worked. A reused HP chip enables the use of reused, remanufactured, and refilled cartridges. More at:[www.hp.com];

That was taken from the HP's spec sheet for Wirecutter's recommend HP Officejet Pro 9125E.

HP's combination of chipped cartridges, bugginess in the software that controls the printer (on models released since the 9000 series and the info in that paragraph are too much for me. If I need to purchase an inkjet printer, it'll be a tank model and likely either an Epson or Brother.

Any all-in-one model I purchase will require single-pass duplex scanning. It's one of the reasons I bought the 9025e over its less expensive sibling the 9015e in early 2020. If you do any scanning at all, single-pass duplex scanning is a game changer. Worth every penny to have the feature in an all-in-one!

Robert
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: sekker
Date: August 17, 2024 09:49AM
Oh, Brother!

Seriously, the issues with HP trying to lock down and lock out 3rd party ink means they are dead to me.

My experience with Apple, Epson, HP, and Brother over the years had lead me to this same recommendation as Nilay Patel:

[www.theverge.com]

'just get a Brother printer'.
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: robfilms
Date: August 17, 2024 09:53AM
i keep reading the Brother printers are so wonky to setup for airprint.

i've had a wired Brother mono laser printer for 20+ yrs and have no complaints.

now that i'm thinking about airprint and maybe a brother aio, i'm concerned about the setup.

thoughts?

thumbs up.

rob
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Robert M
Date: August 17, 2024 10:17AM
Sekker,

All of the major printer manufacturers are using chipped consumables. Newer Brother laser printers require them.

Robert
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Fritz
Date: August 17, 2024 10:29AM
no Canons listed, so that's what I'd buy.
And from experience.

[ishort.ink]

[ishort.ink]



!#$@@$#!

Nolite manducare flavo.

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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: special
Date: August 17, 2024 11:05AM
Quote
robfilms
i keep reading the Brother printers are so wonky to setup for airprint.

i've had a wired Brother mono laser printer for 20+ yrs and have no complaints.

now that i'm thinking about airprint and maybe a brother aio, i'm concerned about the setup.

thoughts?

thumbs up.

rob


I had rare occasions when my Bother printer connected to WiFi did not print. A power cycle fixed the issues.
Since then I managed to run ethernet to all 3 Brother printers I have and no more issues. 100% print every single time.
I keep an older flatbed AOI laser upstairs (duplex printer, single side flatbed scanner) which kids use occasionally and I have a full duplex laser downstairs in my office. I also have an inkjet for occasional color prints, but not for Photos. I use cheap 3rd party ink so I don't even bother to print photos with this one.
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: jonny
Date: August 17, 2024 12:11PM
Quote
Robert M
Sekker,

All of the major printer manufacturers are using chipped consumables. Newer Brother laser printers require them.

Robert

Ecotank
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I don't trust Wirecutter at all.
Posted by: RAMd®d
Date: August 17, 2024 12:38PM
Too many of their recommendations just don't seem well thought out.

A huge number of them are available at Amazon, and I thing that's for an affiliation kickback.

And reviews of those product are very often negative enough to wave me off.






I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.
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Re: I don't trust Wirecutter at all.
Posted by: special
Date: August 17, 2024 01:51PM
Quote
RAMd®d
Too many of their recommendations just don't seem well thought out.

A huge number of them are available at Amazon, and I thing that's for an affiliation kickback.

And reviews of those product are very often negative enough to wave me off.


100% agreed.

Before NYT bought them, their reviews seemed well thought out. Now they review literally everything. A few months ago it was something about nipple covers IIRC. And other weirds stuff like that.

Regarding the Amazon and possibly Walmart affiliated links: they always did that and always disclosed it.
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: sekker
Date: August 17, 2024 03:23PM
Quote
Robert M
Sekker,

All of the major printer manufacturers are using chipped consumables. Newer Brother laser printers require them.

Robert

My most recent Brother printer is one of the newer variety (~3 years old). I can and readily still do use 3rd party inks just fine.
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Dennis S
Date: August 17, 2024 04:16PM
Quote
Fritz
no Canons listed, so that's what I'd buy.
And from experience.

[ishort.ink]

[ishort.ink]

I heard it on NPR that Canon is quitting laser printers.
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Fritz
Date: August 17, 2024 04:34PM
oooo, that'd be a bummer.



!#$@@$#!

Nolite manducare flavo.

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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Robert M
Date: August 17, 2024 04:55PM
Jonny,

Nope. Ecotanks have a chip though I believe it is for the tank that stores waste ink. I see chip resetters readily available for Epson printers including Ecotank models.

Sekker,

That confirms what I said... All of the manufacturers have printers that require chipped cartridges. That you're using 3rd party ink tanks doesn't change this. 3rd party ink cartridges doesn't equate non-chipped. I could use 3rd party chipped cartridges in my HP inkjets but I got burned by that once to the point that it killed a printer. I mentioned it in a previous post to this thread.

Here is the thread about the 8620, the printer whose print head was ruined by 3rd party ink from reputable companies. 3rd party ink. The cartridges were chipped to make them work in the 8620.

[forums.macresource.com];

Ended up getting a new print head for the 8620 via a super sweet deal and resurrected it. The formerly dead 8620 operates flawlessly now. And, like my other inkjet printers, I only use HP ink in it.

Robert
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Markintosh
Date: August 17, 2024 05:09PM
Despite all of the hate around here for HP and Instant Ink, I'll chip in my opinion. I know, it's often radically different.

I will preface this by saying that I hate subscription things, except for where they work. We have now been using HP Instant Ink and the HP ENVY 7100 printer/scanner/copier for 6 years. The thing is that it just works, always. Yes we have had a jam or two, but when it comes to ink. It's always worked, never a clog and we never run out. Whether we print 500 pages in a month or one page in two months, it's ready to go.

It works well for B&W, color prints or photos with photo paper. It works well via WiFi and accepts print jobs readily from laptops, phones, iPads or whatnot.

When we got this thing, my wife was still actively teaching, and during the COVID years we were producing a lot of stuff at home. We had one of the bigger plans at 10.99 a month and it was worth very penny to always be able to print without drama. Now with both of us retired, we have ratcheted down to the plan to the cheapest plan. 5 or 6 bucks a month...we don't even notice it anymore. The simplicity about not thinking about a functioning printer is worth it.

There's my 3 cents.



“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
Loving life in Lake Tahoe, CA
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: jonny
Date: August 17, 2024 05:40PM
Quote
Robert M
Jonny,

Nope. Ecotanks have a chip though I believe it is for the tank that stores waste ink. I see chip resetters readily available for Epson printers including Ecotank models.

That's a new one. My ET-4550 is still error free 8 years on.
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Fritz
Date: August 17, 2024 05:46PM
Quote
Dennis S

I heard it on NPR that Canon is quitting laser printers.

goog reveals nothing. just discontinuation of the ES line of photo printers.



!#$@@$#!

Nolite manducare flavo.

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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Robert M
Date: August 17, 2024 05:54PM
Markintosh,

Be glad you have an older model. The VP of my company has gone through an Officejet Pro 9015e and an Officejet Pro 9018e. Both, along with the 9025e, are members of HP's 9000 series Officejet Pro inkjets. All are buggy. The only reason he bought another 9018e is because it uses the same ink cartridges as our office's 9025e. That way, we have multiple printers using the same model ink cartridge.

This lets us save bucks by purchasing larger quantities of cartridges at discounted rates when replenishing the consumables. We never pay full price for OEM cartridges and only buy them when absolutely necessary. No subscriptions. No need to have HP monitoring our usage of the printer or giving it the authority to shutdown the printers on a whim. (Yes, HP can do that if you use Instant Ink!).

I'd've never purchased the 9025e in the first place if I'd known much it was affected by software bugs on the printer itself. Not the computers using it - that's never been an issue - but on the printer itself. Cancel a copy? Never ending loop more often than not. Start a copy or send a fax? It might start the process but never complete it. The only thing you can do is unplug the printer, let it restart and ignore the complaint that you didn't shut it down properly. We never had these issues with any other HP printer be it an inkjet or laser.

The only good thing about the 9025e is that it has single-pass duplex scanning. Despite that, I'd love to put the 8620 back in place at my office and put the 9025e into storage to use only in an emergency except thats not going to happen anytime soon. I made the mistake of giving the 8620 to my dad after I resurrected it. He loved it when he worked at the office and he's thrilled to have it at home. He'll never give it up.

Robert
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Dennis S
Date: August 17, 2024 05:58PM
Quote
Fritz
Quote
Dennis S

I heard it on NPR that Canon is quitting laser printers.

goog reveals nothing. just discontinuation of the ES line of photo printers.

Thanks. NPR has been wrong before.
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: special
Date: August 17, 2024 06:06PM
Robert M,

Do you really need color for your business? I imagine that invoice and shipping labels can be printed just fine on a B&W Laser printer. Just curious why do you need an inkjet at the office.

Thanks
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Robert M
Date: August 17, 2024 06:39PM
Special,

The vast majority of the paperwork we produce is black and white and done on a couple of Bother HL-2270DW laser printers. Invoices. Packing slips. single item product labels on address label media. Occasional shipping labels when our Fedex and UPS systems decide to act up and dislike printing to our thermal printers. The HL-2270DW laser printers are rock solid as long as they are hardwired to the network. Wireless tends to be buggy.

There are several things we do in color on the 9025e including financial reports, inventory tables and graphs, occasional product docs for customers, color labels for special tasks and labels for several customers. Enough that it is worth keeping a color printer on hand. We have an Officejet Pro 8740 in storage to use if/when the 9025e craps out. It's a beast of a inkjet all-in-one and was given to me by someone who no longer needed it.

He was going to just toss the machine even though it was in perfect working order. How could I not grab it? smiling smiley

We also have an HP laserjet M1536DNF all-in-one in storage, too. The auto document feeder no longer works but it is fine otherwise. It'll be dandy for monochrome tasks including printing and flatbed copying and scanning in the event one of the Brother printers craps out. Too bad it uses chipped toner cartridges. I might consider 3rd party chipped toner for this one since it doesn't have a print head that can get skewed like an inkjet printer.

Robert



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/2024 08:49PM by Robert M.
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Fritz
Date: August 17, 2024 06:49PM
Quote
Dennis S
Thanks. NPR has been wrong before.

say it ain't so!

have you seen In the Know?



!#$@@$#!

Nolite manducare flavo.

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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Michael
Date: August 17, 2024 07:44PM
Quote
Robert M
All of the manufacturers have printers that require chipped cartridges. That you're using 3rd party ink tanks doesn't change this. 3rd party ink cartridges doesn't equate non-chipped. I could use 3rd party chipped cartridges in my HP inkjets but I got burned by that once to the point that it killed a printer. I mentioned it in a previous post to this thread.
Robert

I just bought a 3rd party pair of laser cartridges for my cheap Samsung printer that cost $29 for two of them. I've been buying the same brand for 5 years simply because they had good reviews when I first bought one and it worked--I use about a cartridge a year. They say they're chipped. Each time I put one in I hold my breath but they've always worked. I've never updated the printer simply because I've read that sometimes results in a 3rd market cartridge not working anymore.
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Forrest
Date: August 18, 2024 06:14AM
I’ve had perfect service of HP Instant Ink for the past 6 years and highly recommend it to everyone. Extra ink has always arrived before I need it and the subscription cost in much less than buying ink. Despite Robert M’s comments, HP cannot shut down your printer once you’ve signed up and continue to pay your associated credit card. It will be costly once you’ve printed 3x your agreed monthly pages, but you get a warning once that happens.

My next printer will definitely be a HP also.
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Robert M
Date: August 18, 2024 08:53AM
Forrest,

If it works for you, great. It definitely doesn't work for everyone. HP can even shut down your printer if you use ink from a competitor in it. Some examples of the recent nonsense from HP:

Disable a printer but kaiboshing cartridges after cancelling an Instant Ink subcripcretionn and the steps necessary to get the printer working again:

[h30434.www3.hp.com]

Disabling a printer when used with 3rd party cartridges:

[www.eevblog.com]

Not an issue for me since I'll only use OEM cartridges but still a concern since it tells me HP can shut down a printer remotely and Instant Ink has nothing at all to do with it. That's a big concern.

Those are just examples. Combine them with seriously buggy control software in the 9000 series models and I'm ready to try a competitor's product.

Robert
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Markintosh
Date: August 18, 2024 12:33PM
But why would i put in a third party cartridge when HP makes sure I have enough ink plus a "just in case" backup?



“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
Loving life in Lake Tahoe, CA
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Robert M
Date: August 18, 2024 12:51PM
Markintosh,

That is you. Not everyone. Many people don't want to subscribe to an ink service, give HP the authority to watch their usage of their printer, and/or use HP ink at all. If you're good with all of that, stick with it. Me? It bugs me to no end that HP can mess with the controls of my printer. For all we know, HP could decide _everyone_ using their consumer printers needs to sign up for Instant Ink and kaibosh the ability to use standard chipped non-Instant Ink cartridges. Based on the articles I've read about what HP is doing, I wouldn't put it past them to implement something so ridiculous.

Robert
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Tiangou
Date: August 18, 2024 02:05PM
Quote
Markintosh
But why would i put in a third party cartridge when HP makes sure I have enough ink plus a "just in case" backup?

Scenario: You run out of ink and put in the "backup" cartridge, which has been sitting a long time and dried up. It's useless.

You need to print TODAY to get a document notarized in time for a meeting with your lawyer, so you run to BestBuy and find that the replacement HP ink is $200 and the generic is $19.

So, you pay $200 bucks and get the HP ink.

...And it permanently bricks your printer because HP's firmware doesn't recognize their own chipped ink cartridge which was made for "North America" distribution, but doesn't specifically indicate that it was made for the U.S. market.*

Solution: Don't buy printers that are designed to brick themselves.






*This actually happens. It's a feature, not a bug.
[support.hp.com]



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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: special
Date: August 18, 2024 02:12PM
We made so much progress; we gave AI that can do useful things for us. We can find information easier than ever. We can videochat across the world fro free. We have multiple choices of operating systems both for computers and for mobile. Yet printing seems to go backwards. Chipped cartridges, firmware locked devices.

We need an open source printer. We already have open source 3D printers. We need open source 2D printers.
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Markintosh
Date: August 18, 2024 05:16PM
Okay with me. I have bigger fish to fry than fret about my printer...



“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
Loving life in Lake Tahoe, CA
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: sekker
Date: August 18, 2024 06:34PM
Quote
Markintosh
Okay with me. I have bigger fish to fry than fret about my printer...

Just don't take it cross country lines!
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Forrest
Date: August 20, 2024 12:11AM
No way in heck I would use third party ink when HP sends me all the ink I can use as part of the subscription.

Robert M, Would it surprise you that you can’t watch any of your recorded shows on your cable company provided DVR AFTER you cancel the service?
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Re: Wirecutter printer recommendations
Posted by: Robert M
Date: August 20, 2024 04:48AM
Forrest,

Nope. Wouldn’t surprise me in the least. However, I'd have a serious cow if I'm paying for the TV service and Verizon updates its boxes to only support TVs with X generation of HDMI or newer and mine is no longer compatible. It'd be just like HP updating the firmware of my printer to only support 3rd party and OEM cartridges with Y chip or newer, rending older cartridges unusable even if they are brand-new. My anger would 100% be justified.

Robert



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2024 10:28AM by Robert M.
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