What gifts that you received for Christmas this year are already in the trash?
For me, there were several dollar store trinkets that already broke, and one toy for my kids that was a huge sparkly styrofoam mess waiting to happen, so I threw it out rather than curse anyone else with it.
You are viewing a single comment
Not trash, just returned to the shop. HP Smart Tank 580 printer.
Good call lmao, #FuckHP
AMEN. HP used to innovate technology. Nowadays they innovate new ways to fuck their customers around.
I like the hp-48 calculator
Did you buy a brother instead?
I currently have a printer, also HP, but an old one (20 years).
When I'll finally need a new printer, I'll be deciding between HP and Brother. I am not sure about Linux support with Brother printers. I heard it's great, but I need to search more. I know HPLIP works well, but I also heard these new HP printers don't last long. Then there's also the thing called HP+ (not to be confused with Instant Ink) that many of those printers have, which REQUIRES HP account AND a connection to internet.
Linux user here, can confirm a Brother multifunction laser printer/scanner monster from around five years ago works flawlessly and painlessly out of the box with multiple Debian derivatives.
Also the first toner I bought with it is still sealed in its box because the free starter toner which came with the printer still hasn't run down. I'm never going back to inkjets!
My 2 year old brother (all in one, not a human) same story. Works great with Linux. Better than my hp, even.
Recently went through this, did not continue with hp and went brother, couldn't be happier.
Be a member of the Brother-hood. I have a big black multifunction Brother printer, scanner (even fax, wtf!), and it works on both Linux and Windows. Bought four years ago. It just wants a quiet corner and a wifi connection. I think it'd even print from my Android phone if I tickled it a little, but can't be arsed now. It's happy with cheapo ink as well. It also cleans itself and has survived in a definitely-not-an-office environment. If it makes another year I'll give it a pet name, it deserves one!
I have had three Brother lasers since 2006 and they are workhorses. Can’t help with the Linux question.
Why did you get 3 printers in 17 years, did they break or anything?
Two were for work. One I have at home.
Maybe used them lots?
My first laser printer was an HP Laser Jet MP5 that my boss threw away because 'it was noisy'. Workhorse beast printed easily another 15,000 pages before I replaced it with a color laser from Brother. That beast (purchased in 2013) has gone through 3 toner carts for CYMK, and printed high res great output in glorious color for over a decade now.
Moral of the story: HP wasn't always garbage, but they certainly are today; Brother makes a damn good printer.
Oh yeah, in college I bought an HP color ink jet that lasted probably 2 decades. No bullshit, it just printed stuff, and it was fantastic.
The Canon version of that has been good for me. No subscription or anything, just fillable ink tanks.
Wow that's a big gift! Do you have a different preferred solution for printing?
Not really preferred, but I do have a printer already. A 20 years old HP PSC 1315. It still works, and I don't even know how after my USB port replacement attempt which was also my first soldering attempt, and it ended terribly. But, it does seem to make a connection, so it works for now. I didn't know what flux is, and I used the highest temperature, 520°C. As I said, no idea how it works, but it's been like that for over 2 years.
It's not perfect, but it works. It only has partial support by HPLIP, so to print in high DPI I need to use a Windows 7 VM with the drivers. That then takes 20 minutes per A4 page. The colors are quite poor and it has quite large borders. If scanning anything with color, I need to play with contrast and saturation in Scan2PDF, otherwise most colors are just invisible.
On the plus side, I found an app called NokoPrint that allows me to print from Android phone using this printer via USB.
So yeah, that smart tank would have been much better, but there would also be extra e-waste. I can deal with this printer. Actually, I got this from e-waste, so I even saved some. Also, they took it with extended warranty and some insurance, making it €207!!! I don't want such an expensive gift.
Far be it from me to get in the way of your self-imposed suffering.