HP is extremely worthy of all the hate they ever get.

That's why you support projects like this: https://www.crowdsupply.com/open-tools/open-printer

and never ever buy a hp product.

FYI the usual advice of just getting a Brother laser no longer applies, because they too, have enshittified and started adding toner DRM.

The "best" no frills printers remaining are either: old Brothers or new Kyoceras (for laser); or Ink Tanks. For the Ink Tanks, ironically the ones by HP are the best, with the ones by Canon and Epson either being designed to fail, or also having DRM.

Brother printers causing issues with third party inks - Consumer Rights Wiki - https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?title=Brother_printers_causing_issues_with_third_party_inks&_quality_sabotage=

I got rid of my printer years ago and just go to my local library to print things now. $0.10 per page is not a great deal in the grand scheme of things, but it goes to a place I want to have more money, so I still call it a win.

I hate to tell you this, wendigoon, but that's not your printer. It's theirs.

My printer has the same network blocks on it as my smart tvs. None are allowed access to the internet.

Oh that brings back a memory I had damn near repressed. I had a printer/scanner combination (Canon in this case) and I was coming up on a deadline to scan a butt load of important documents.

That's the exact moment the printhead on the printer part of the printer/scanner decided to crap out.

Well thankfully I didn't need that part to work if I just needed to use the scanner, right? Wrong.

Why would you buy something if it’s not yours? At least the printer should be free, and you use as you pay the subscription…

This should never be legal

I hate that Apple stopped making printers. I think they realised printers are inherently shit, so they stopped trying. Then again, their standards on the iPhone have fallen so far (and while I still like the Mac, and I don't hate Liquid Ass... er, Glass, I think what it did to Finder (our file manager) is absolutely atrocious), they might as well start making printers again.

Also, there's this:

https://www.theverge.com/tech/641940/best-printer-2025-just-buy-a-brother-laser-printer-middle-finger-in-the-air

Note that The Verge recently started paywalling all of its articles. This one appears free. I think there are a few that they don't paywall because they know they get shared on social media. It's still a shit site and source, but I love the snark in this article.

Also note, it's likely you've seen the same article with a better name. It used to be called something like "Stop looking for printers and buy the Brother printer everyone else is buying and stop worrying" or something like that. Guess someone told them it was too snarky. But yeah, $120 laser printer, it costs more than an inkjet but you're not trapped in endless subscriptions until the thing falls apart.

Lastly IMO, HP's subscription service is probably a good deal for home users who rarely print, if it still covers free shipping of new ink and free replacement of the printer itself when it goes out. I have no printer. My Mac mini sits where my printer would go, and it's surrounded by a bunch of anime figures. I've thought about print-by-mail options, but the truth is, I can put something on Proton Drive, download it at work, print on the laser printers there, and carry it home. You're not supposed to but no one really cares, people waste paper and toner left and right. The amount of forms I see with half the page straight up black... like bro, why? Why not just use the line fill in Excel? They say nothing should be written there. Okay so you're gonna use 50 pages' worth of toner on one sheet, but fuck it, company pays for it? Then no, no one cares if I print a three page letter among the 200-400 pages I print a day. ...but anyway, if you need more than a few sheets printed here and there, you should just pony up for a laser printer already, and fuck The Verge, do your own research. They give you the model number. Search that on your ethical search engine (or Google it, IDGAF) and see what other people say about that printer. But I don't have it, so I can only point to what others say.

Seems to be something built in to consumer level devices. I forked out several years ago for an entry-level commercial model because I got sick of all the BS surrounding inkjet refill prices as well as preventing refills, preventing third party brand refills, and just locking up the device for whatever the f reason the manufacturer decides. You can’t do that to a commercial device, an office would lose their shit if their devices started getting held ransom because of some account credit card expiration. The commercial printer was expensive, but worth it.

I fucking love Wendigoon

I bought a Brother off craigslist for $60 and it's been solid.

I see them at Goodwill all the time but I'm in a bigger city.

They put a sticker over the USB port to pigeon hole you into using their shit software hp smart. Hp smart then tries to get you on the ink subscription.

Credit card and email harvesting. Hoping you forget.

They're easily the worst but even brother has an ink subscription now. They're just not as fuck you about it. One day I'm sure.

I have never heard a better reason to take a bat to a printer.

I was radicalized when I found out you needed a subscription in order to rotate a pdf in Adobe.

Brother.

Its printers used to be kinda so-so, but HP and the other brands decided to become so shitty - Brother became number 1 by remaining stagnant.

HP Printer stories. You think, "Ah, I haven't seen one in a long time. I guess everyone finally understands what a huge fucking nightmare they're designed to be."

*click*

Oh. Well. Hahahahaha. Welcome to the party, pal.

I fucking love Wendigoon

This can't be true, right?

I used to short circuit HP ink canisters, back when that was doable anyways. Like fuck, even if the color inks are empty, so what if I wanna print in black/white/grey?

That was before HP enshittified their printers..

Don't know what everyone is bitching about. They have an option to enter a bank routing and account number option so this won't happen.