I don't know anyone who would accept an HP printer even as a gift. If I got one, I would recreate that scene from "Office Space" and bust it up with a sledgehammer.
Don’t destroy it, I’m glad a perfectly working one got trashed. I recently found a small office B/W LaserJet MFP from 2014 next to an e-waste bin with no obvious damage. I was glad this was a pre-Instant-Ink model, as signing up to the service would permanently remove the otherwise legally mandated ability to use aftermarket supplies. I carried the heavy thing home and disassembled it just enough to wipe the condensation from the previous night’s rain off the scanner glass. I factory-reset it and it turned on without errors but printed with terrible streaks despite claiming 80% toner left. Turning the cartridge’s drum manually still produced the streaks, so I bought a different one for 10 % of HP’s price (twice as cheap ones were available too from less reputable brands), and it works perfectly. There is only one warning per aftermarket cartridge installation, the rest can be disabled. Unfortunately, it always advertises HP paper when it runs out but I will never be giving money to these scumbags. I use it via Ethernet (it has no Wi-Fi) and disabled its internet access with a firewall rule. My roommates do a lot of printing on our Epson inkjet EcoTank and this one is way faster and more capable (but B/W).
This is the reason why I started to block Internet access for all devices that don’t need it for their normal operation. I don’t trust the „disable updates“ function at all.
Go Brother, go Epson.
HP adieu!
epson ecotank ftw!
yes, they have a page counter that bricks the printer, but you can reset it with sketchy software and a 10€ key.
they have a page counter that bricks the printer
They have what? Does the printer stop working after a set amount of pages printed or what does this mean?
yup, i don't know how they do it for the newer models, but older ecotank models stop printing after 18,000 pages and show a warning about the purge tank being full.
you can clean the purge tank yourself and reset the counter with a key. there are plenty of tutorials on youtube.
afaik, epson doesn't even intend for the tank to be cleaned. at least not by the customer, otherwise it would be a dismissable message. the keys are probably meant to be used by epson themselves but are being leaked by someone.
Newer versions should have a replacable waste tank, but the tank does have a chip with serial number.