But half of their modern printers require a monthly paid subscription to even function. They need to stop doing that.
people need to stop buying HP printers
They did.
They now rent them through a monthly paid subscription.
zing!
so shitty, though
Hang on, I’ve had the same Brother laser printer for 10 years. Are you telling me there are for real subscription services for printers now?
Yep.
HP is especially known for pushing ink subscriptions. There was some news about it recently, which is why this article exists, he’s justifying their shitty behaviour.
Well I for one am disgusted
Amateur, I have my HL5170DN from 2006 still going strong
I mean I use the thing like once a year. By some miracle I’ve never changed the toner (ink? Not sure, never bought it)
Here’s my maintenance page, I’m not a heavy user, but when I do print, it’s usually a sizable job.
Is that drum info not reading right or is it due for a replacement?
It needs to be replaced. It’s about 15,000 pages past life expectancy
Ah, that explains it.
Yup, a subscription that sends you ink and paper as needed (printer reports you need ink soon, sends an order automatically)
Some are even billed per-page printed.
If you cancel or remove your payment method: the ink you currently have stops working.
There have always been for all brands, but they are usually part of a leasing contract for businesses. The new thing is that HP is trying to trick consumers into similar contracts even though most have no need for it.
The ink plan isn’t required, you can still use regular cartridges.
It depends on the model, some actually require some level of subscription to even function.
Really, which ones?
Any model that comes with an HP+ free trial subscription will stop working after the trial ends. You can then go out and buy “non instant ink” cartridges for a high price or you can sign up for their monthly subscription and get new ink and paper in the mail whenever it runs low. It’s a scummy aggressive marketing tactic.
But they do require you create an account and register the printer before it will function with their newer consumer printers.
Business/Enterprise printers too, at least some of them…
Wait, what? I’ve never heard about this before. It doesn’t change my mind that HP can go fuck themselves. I boycott because they have shit products and customer support. And I tell everyone I meet about it. Imagine me as a CrossFit vegan, only with an unhealthy hatred for HP.
