Why does routine printer ink replacement need to be so problematic? I have a bog standard €49.95 HP DeskJet 1050. I sensed trouble when I first needed to replace cartridges. I ‘wasn’t disappointed’; the shop sorted it.
The second time I needed to change the cartridges it was far worse. The screen tells me it will not accept compatibles - though these are, under EU law legal. Trying to get it to function would try the patience of a saint.
Back to the shop. The expert works on it for 10 / 15 minutes during which he goes through a procedure of mind-boggling complexity. If he can do that he can remotely land a craft on Jupiter’s surface after it has looped several other planets during its trajectory.
I once again get it home and the printing is crap. There is no ‘maintenance’ option. I give up after about 20 minutes and take it back to the shop. It will be ready tomorrow - hopefully. The shop’s proprietor says he has sold a few HP 1050s, no problem. Really?
All this palaver simply to change cartridges. The entire morning gone; three visits to the store. I have been replacing ink cartridges for years. My wife, who is computer literate, was bemused too.
According to a newspaper investigation the ink cartridges I paid €42 for contains about 10c ink in each. Okay, so this is why printers are inexpensive? Not so. In truth, with advances in cheap Chinese mass production manufacturing, there is likely to be a tidy profit from the €49.95 printer. I won’t lose any sleep over a so-called loss-leader.
With the benefit of hindsight I would have been better off, time and money, by buying a new printer - not an HP printer, with cartridges installed. How crazy is that? When that sort of situation arises there should, in my opinion, be a ‘Customer Beware’ notice on HP products. I think the term, ‘Not fit for purpose’ applies. God forbid HP ever starts manufacturing cars.
I think Hewlett Packard and its customers would be best served by their company producing a printer that actually works. One that is user friendly and their providing printer and ink cartridges that cost a reasonable price. Is there an alternative? Do we really want to go back to typewriters? The FSB (Russian Secret Service have). I rest my case, m’lud.
quite_write@yahoo.co.uk