“HP pre-programmed failure date of unofficial/ non-HP ink cartridges in its printers”

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#1

We’ve just posted the following news: “HP pre-programmed failure date of unofficial/ non-HP ink cartridges in its printers”[newsimage]http://www.myce.com/wp-content/images_posts/2016/09/myce-hp-error-message-95x75.jpg[/newsimage]

Investigation of an online printer ink retailer shows that HP has programmed a date in its printer firmware on which unofficial non-HP cartridges would fail. Thousands of HP printers around the world started to show error messages on the same day, the 13th of September 2016.

            Read the full article here: [http://www.myce.com/news/hp-pre-programmed-failure-date-unofficial-non-hp-ink-cartridges-printers-80457/](http://www.myce.com/news/hp-pre-programmed-failure-date-unofficial-non-hp-ink-cartridges-printers-80457/)

            Please note that the reactions from the complete site will be synched below.
#2

The end result should be a huge increase in HP printers ending up in the dump.

#3

[QUOTE=CDan;2780902]The end result should be a huge increase in HP printers ending up in the dump.[/QUOTE]

…and the replacements for them will not sport the hp brand.

#4

Isn’t this the sort of anti-competitive practices that e.g. the FTC and EU should be looking into?

#5

Printer makers have been chipping ink for many years to prevent use of compatibles. This was a bit more sneaky but is no different. They never sold them promising compatibility with generics.

#6

In the Volkswagen scandal, cars still [FONT=&quot]drive as usual and [FONT=&quot]pe[FONT=&quot]ople can fi[FONT=&quot]ll up at any gas sta[FONT=&quot]tion.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]…[/FONT] If this HP case is true, this seems to be even worse, some people wou[FONT=&quot]ld perhap[FONT=&quot]s even call it[/FONT][/FONT] sabotage-software for cartridges. Like if an owner of a Volkswagen could drive his car, but only after buying Volkswagen fuel… Would people and EU Commission and FTC accept that?! So the question is: will HP get away with this worldwide?[/FONT]

#7

[QUOTE=CDan;2780906]They never sold them promising compatibility with generics.[/QUOTE] Not promising compatibility and deliberately sabotaging competing consumables are two entirely different things.

#8

YEP! They’ll get away with it along with Epson. RIP OFF Merchants…

#9

[QUOTE=CDan;2780906]Printer makers have been chipping ink for many years to prevent use of compatibles. This was a bit more sneaky but is no different. They never sold them promising compatibility with generics.[/QUOTE]

They probably never sold them saying the owner would be forced to use only hp branded cartridges.

#10

No one is going to bust HP. Governments frequently take the side of large corporations over everyone else. After all, where else would those running said governments get their bribe money? If some small corporations, or better yet, an individual, does some bad thing, government enforcement agencies are all over it, especially if the crime negatively impacts big businesses. However, if HP puts several ink manufacturers out of business, screwing over their customers in the process, nothing happens at all.

#11

Well I used and loved my OLD HP 990 from about 90 to just now. Carts were HUGE and it usually took the generics fine too. Very advanced and quite capable straight printer that still prints great today.
My problem has been the generic rebuilt carts have been garbage lately and original OEM carts are usually hard to find and expensive.
I finally bought a expired one that at first wouldn’t print one color but did after I forcibly primed it through the fill plug for the bad color and it prints OK with a occasion re prime or cleaning.
I finally upgraded to a Epson WorkForce all in one 3640. It does everything from auto duplex, fax, and auto feed double sided? scanner.
Of course the starter carts are small and I had to tweak the print settings to get it to look good like my 990 but now it prints great and fast. Pretty sure there are generic carts for it and the OEM ones are spendy but not outrageous if you know where to buy.
I’m really liking the full network support and being able to print from my phone or tablet to it too.
Sounds like HP has gone away from their original heavy duty excellent printers for mostly consumer grade crap with all kinds of locks to limit what carts and things will work with them to force you to buy their also over priced ink.
The 990 even auto alignes the heads when you install a new one, Epson still doesn’t do that and not sure if any of their printers do. Of course I don’t think most of the newer small cart HP printers do that now either.:frowning:

#12

New reports on the HP cartridges story. About the cartridge sabotage software or, if people feel it should not be called sabotage, it could also be called pre-programmed cartridges-blocking software. Interesting new move: after the first reactions of Dutch HP Customer Service employees speaking about an awful mistake that would be repaired as soon as possible, now it seems that HP is trying to create some sort of legal way out.

#13

NOS Dutch national TV: http://nos.nl/artikel/2132765-hp-bevestigt-blokkeren-inktpatronen.html . Technical details and some extra explanation of what is going on: http://www.123inkt.nl/news/Persbericht+123inktnl+reageert+op+geblokkeerde+HP+printers-589.html …Google translate is a must :slight_smile:

#14

SO, wonder if you can either disable firmware updates or just flash back to the earlier version that doesn’t have the shutoff code built in?
Haven’t read the latest links but that would be something most of us would try if a firmware messed something up.

#15

[QUOTE=Dartman;2780983]SO, wonder if you can either disable firmware updates or just flash back to the earlier version that doesn’t have the shutoff code built in?
Haven’t read the latest links but that would be something most of us would try if a firmware messed something up.[/QUOTE]

The article alludes to the idea that even printers on their original FW are affected. That’s not to say that there wasn’t an earlier version which didn’t implement the lockout, but it sounds unlikely if what’s said here is true.

#16

Printers are cheap. We all know Epson, HP etc make their money off cartridges and not necessarily from the sale of their printers. Manufacturers seek money for their ink. "We will charge you what we to if want to keep to keep your printer up and running."
Cost me $100.00 to keep my Epson XP-820 chugging along. Even with their Xtra big cartridges it’s still a huge ripoff. I flip them the bird, but what can I do?

#17

^^^
Ditto, the printer is cheap and disposable, anyone using HP can get a new printer - complete with ink - for less than the cost of a set of OEM HP tanks. How is that a difficult decision?

#18

Canon is doing the same thing.

#19

In 1993 I purchased an HP550 Deskjet. It was one of the first inkjet printers that held a black AND colour cartridge and it printed really nicely. I became an HP fanboi even though the printer cost $1,800 and the cartridges a measly $15 each. I had HP machines everywhere and recommended them to friends and customers. Hell, I still remember the local HP Helpdesk number 131 047 and those guys were brilliant. The HP website was IMO one of the easiest to navigate and find drivers for their products at the time.

Now, I would not touch an HP product even if they were giving them away with a 3 year warranty. Their reputation and product quality went downhill so fast that they lost me in less than 6 months. The only HP product I have left is a 2005 iPAQ PDA because it has a good bowling game on it. Now I will only purchase devices that have 3, or 2 years warranty if I absolutely need it now and I don’t believe HP have ever had a more than 1 year warranty without paying a kings ransom for extended warranty. A client had an HP LC3 NetServer in 2001 that cost $5,500 (PII 400, 64MB RAM, 4GB HDD) and they wanted $160 for a 3.5" Floppy Drive. I would rather a Greyware Server than something with an HP badge now.

The HP executive must were armoured footwear as they are always shooting themselves in the foot but still manage to keep walking.

[/rant off]

#20

With EPSON promoting their “Ecotank” range, maybe the writing is on the wall for high priced limited capacity cartridges