HP’s long-running use of firmware updates that block third-party ink and toner cartridges is drawing scrutiny again – this time under a new global sustainability standard that explicitly forbids the practice.
The International Imaging Technology Council (Int’l ITC), a trade group for cartridge remanufacturers, says HP’s latest printer firmware rollout conflicts with the requirements of the General Electronics Council’s (GEC) updated Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, or EPEAT 2.0.
Just bust the printer mafia already!
I paid $0.01 for a flash drive at Microcenter and $0.10 per page(or job, I don’t know) to print at the library. I don’t even have a library card there. I learned enough about printers taking an A+ class to not want to fuck around with printers at home.
Wow you have to really suck for the joke certification EPEAT to be mad at you. It’s a fake label that manufactures control to greenwash unrepairable garbage.
I bought an open box color HP LaserJet from Microcenter 10 years ago for ~$200. I’ve always bought 3rd party toner and never had any issues. HP will never get a dime from me for shit like this and that printer will last the rest of my life lol
Was given a HP LaserJet before 2020. It’s been over 5 years. I have yet to replace toner in it. And I was given a BUNCH of toner for it. Injets are a joke.
A colour laser ?
Yeah, it took us probably 7 years to use the first batch of lower volume ones lol. Then, my wife and I both independently bought a set of black and all three colors. So, we are set with toner for the rest of our lives too
It isn’t just third party ink.
They block their own damn cartridges from being used in their own damn printers if that cartridge has been used in another printer.
They also block it if a cartridge was purchased through their subscription plan and you no longer subscribe.
I bought an HP printer once and im never doing that again. The best printers ive had has all been Brother.
One of the only things I regret leaving my ex-fiance was our Brother Wifi Scanner/Printer. That thing was awesome.
The laser jets are actually fine for small office use. It’s the ink jets that you have to avoid.
Hp printer is in my banned list for decades already.
New rule: printer cartridges, ink, paper, drums, or any supply needed to operate the device may not be sold with authentication features. The printer can not know any detail about what’s put into it aside from is or is not present. Done.
HUEY PACKA doing the usual enshittification.
If a third-party ink cart can introduce a “cyber threat,” your unbelievably shoddy firmware would be the problem, you disingenuous Hamburglars.
Time for a small fine
HP: “just some business cost.”
EPSON is probably the second worst printer system. we use laser printer instead now. any expensive color pictures, words we need, we just go to a kiosk/print store to do it, or large number of pages at once.
I did tech support for HP DeskJet printers in 1996 - the 600, 600C, and 660C. I had a DeskJet around that time, but that was the last one I got because they started screwing around with the drivers.
Back in the 80s/90s, HP made some great printers. Had a LaserJet 4 that lasted a long long time.
But not long after I moved on to another job - I never bought HP again. And that’s now been a recommendation for literally 30 years.
Do not buy HP!
Also, unless you print a LOT of pictures, don’t buy inkjets. The ink has so many issues. Get a laserjer. Brother is a good simple brand. I have had a Brother color laser since 2018 and it’s still chugging along perfectly. I’m on around my second set of cartridges because I don’t print a lot. But whenever I do print, it’s there and ready to go.
There’s a couple of other brands that are alright, too.
But do not buy HP. Jesus, people, it’s been a full generation of people since this has been true! Nobody should be buying HP inkjet crap!
HP used to make a lot of great stuff. Their spectrum analyzers were the best in the business. At some point they flipped a switch and went into full enshittification mode. They burned all their bridges with their most loyal and informed customers.
Seems like it’s a consistent recurring issue with… capitalism? Whatever you want to blame it on. Profit-taking instead of consistent quality. Some assholes take over and trade on the previously good name of a company while killing it. It’s so stupid and short-sighted.
I would say that, but… there are a lot of, for example, Japanese companies that have been around for decades or centuries making great stuff the way they always had. Unless you’re saying Japan isn’t a capitalist country (I’d love to see how that argument plays out), I’d say there’s some difference in company culture that leads to enshittification.
I’ve heard in some cases it happens when a new CEO takes over and they have no respect for the existing culture, and just want to “make their mark” by chasing short term profits.
Give me Brother printers or give me death.
Hmm. Not sure that’s a line I’m willing to draw… but they are certainly pretty decent. hehe
Brother has also started down the proprietary toner road. Source.
Damn it, didnt know this. Need to find another not shitty printer when my current printer decides to die later on
idk about the don’t but inkjet… i don’t print much but got an epson surecolor (large format; prints up to a1 off a roll of paper… i got it because i think the idea of being able to do that is excellent more than actual use case) and it’s been absolutely glorious… the ink doesn’t dry out fast, and because it’s a borderline professional printer they don’t gouge you on the ink: they just sell you the printer for what it’s worth, and then sell the ink for what it’s worth
i think there are reasonable arguments for ink, but i guess that if you have to give 1 recommendation (outside of a brand to go with), laser is probably a safe bet
Nobody buys HP anymore , HP stands for Has Problems
I thought it stood for Horrible Product.
Yeah, the problem is that they’re anti-consumer.
I used to work with a lot of HP’s industrial printers. The automated maintenance routines always take so damn long, and they break all the time. We always said HP stands for Have Patience.
Nah… My office does, and then pays a vendor to handle the issues (I work in IT, fixing those problems is literally my job) and they still cheap out on knock off toner (some of which works). It makes me sad…
The last time we tried using them, the computer came with Windows 98…
They were horrible back then, not really sure how they are still in business.
Good, it’s about time
From the article:
According to the GEC’s published criteria, printer vendors have three compliance paths. They can avoid firmware changes that disable remanufactured cartridges, offer approved cartridge solutions that maintain device functionality, or make remanufactured options available for purchase through their own channels. Each route is meant to encourage a model in which printing components are reused rather than discarded.
So far, more than 38,000 products remain listed under the older EPEAT 1.0 registry, while only 163 have transitioned to the new 2.0 standard – none of them printers.
It’s not binding. Maybe articles like this one will shame hp into stopping that bs one day ☀️ (only joking)
