Hacker News Reader

Comment by drewzero1 | Hacker News Reader

I have an HP printer/scanner from ~2007 and when it eventually dies I plan to replace it with a similar unit of the same vintage, because it seems the ink shenanigans have only gotten worse with newer technology. I can at least still buy 3rd-party refilled cartridges online without worrying about them getting deactivated.

My dad's printer is affected by this news, and between this and other recent issues it's having I doubt he'll ever buy a new HP printer again. He's been a lifelong (dare I say lifetime) customer since buying his HP 12C calculator in the 80s, and has owned only HP printers since his first DeskJet 697c in '96.

View on HN

>I plan to replace it with a similar unit of the same vintage

Buy a non-shit brand that doesn't connect to the internet, eg. something from Brother without internet connectivity.

My recent experience with Brother was decidedly shitty: an inkjet printer that died after a few months.

On the other hand, I have a Brother laser printer that's still working after 17 years - and they still manufacture toner cartridges for it. (It's so old that it has a parallel port[1] in addition to a USB port.)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_port

The one I have sets up its own wireless network which is definitely a security risk, but it doesn't connect to my LAN or the internet. I've seen newer ones that do connect to the internet and it only seems like trouble.

I was thinking about this a few weeks ago because I found an identical printer at a thrift store for $4. I didn't get it but thought it would be nice to be able to keep using my stash of 3rd-party cartridges.

Also, forgot you mentioned Brother. I decided not to get another yet printer because I already have a spare Brother MFC with just USB and parallel connections. I've had worse experiences with Brother software than HP, but it still seems to work with my computer.

I also have a dot matrix printer with enough ribbon to last me a decade or so. So I really don't need to look for another printer for a while.

The problem is that in the modern world, a printer needs some sort of net connection, even if just to the local router. People aren't just printing from their computers; they need to print from their tablets and phones too.

I'll have to check, but I don't think mine is connected to the router at all. Pretty sure it sets up its own ad-hoc network for wireless printing, which I would imagine has its own vulnerabilities but at least requires an attacker to be physically trespassing on my property. :-)

Well sure, if you want to print wirelessly, you're going to need wireless (LAN is enough, no need for WAN though) :)

I always put our printers on a separate vlan that only accepts connections from our primary vlan. No magic firmware updates anymore.

Second that, owned several Brother things, never had trouble or any shenanigans like HP does.

To be fair, the 12C is pretty amazing.

I've got a couple of pre-2008 HP scanners and laser printers that I intend to keep going as long as at all possible, because the alternatives are just so horrible. Fortunately, they're pretty repairable, and all the consumables are still reasonable. And, frankly, I don't print that much any more. SCSI is getting slightly more interesting to support, but not unreasonable.

Agreed on the 12C, I hope to inherit that someday.

That first DeskJet lasted us around a decade until we replaced it with a couple of DeskJet 3500s that didn't need a parallel port and were cheaper than new ink. I still have one of those squirreled away just in case.

Those printers are refreshingly simple, with no screen or wifi and only one button (power) and one port (USB).

Just make sure to change the batteries periodically in that 12C. About the only thing I've found that can kill an old school (pre-2008) 12C (and the 16C and the rest of the series) is leaking batteries.

I have a relatively new printer and it accepts cartridges from whatever I happen to click on Amazon, no problemo. I think it's just shittiness unique to HP (maybe some other brands?) - avoiding them would avoid the trouble.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com