Want a Dell printer? Unlucky – they've just stopped selling them Ahead of the mega-merger with EMC, Dell has decided to quit selling printers as part of its hardware portfolio while its imaging business is being scaled back. Dell's decision to quit the printer business in the EMEA and Asia-Pacific Japan regions was first noted by Stuart Gilbertson over at Consider IT. Gilbertson wrote that …
"Only if you're trying to use non-HP ink"
Also on /. https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/09/18/0013203/hp-printers-have-a-pre-programmed-failure-date-for-non-hp-ink-cartridges
I can't believe el Reg missed this one.
HP's reputation takes another turn down the spiral.
"Only if your trying to use non-HP ink"
I have known that HP have had the ability to recognise third party cartridges for many years. It was shortly after making this discovery that I stopped recommending HP printers. They have got around to implementing it at last, it is only surprising they took so long.
What makes you think that the laser printers Dell sold that were also sold by Xerox were actually made by Xerox?
Canon, Ricoh, Kyocera and Epson definitely make some of their printers themselves. Xerox make the nice wax printers. Oki make the LED printers. Beyond that I have no idea.
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They were absolutely w*nk.
I sold 13 of their multifunction CXXXX Series laser MFP's and EVERY SINGLE ONE suffered the same, catastrophic failure even after multiple replacements from Dell. (Horrific grinding noise deep inside the printer, no particular cause or fix might I add).
I wouldn't touch another Dell printer with a 10ft barge pole, between them and Lexmark.... urgh, sorry if I sound like I have an axe to grind. I do!
Those who have had a printer last over 5 years in the last decade.
Didn't think so.
As for HP, the very last straw for me (as opposed to the last straw and a haystack of previous straws) was when my HP multi-function emitted a loud bang and literally popped its lid while doing absolutely nothing. There was a time when HP made stuff that was mechanically pretty solid, just with crappy software. Then they decided to set the same standards for both.
Xerox Phaser 6140 (basic colour laser with duplex unit and Ethernet as standard. A bonus was drivers for Win 7, Mac and Linux).
It's done about 1000 pages a year since purchase in early 2010. The cartridges are a bit pricey but the print quality is as good as the day it was unboxed. The printer claims the imaging unit is only 20% through it's life too so fingers crossed it will keep going a while yet!
I wouldn't know about lasting five years. First off, I buy all my printers secondhand. Secondly, I tend to replace printers when I find bargains on better ones, repurposing the old one or turning it in to a charity shop. But for the record, I haven't had any of them really break except for a LaserJet 6L that IIRC tended to lose grip with its main paper feed roller after some time (a problem it shared with the 5L).
We binned the HP's at home in favour of Dell 'lasers' direct connection ie cable has caused less issues in eighteen months than the HP's did in one day. The only downside being network wifi printing was flaky at best at worst you would need Harry Potter skills to connect. Would I buy another certainly if there is a box shifter selling them at discount I'll have an A3 size please :-) or one with a flat path for printing card.
Those who have had a printer last over 5 years in the last decade.
Lexmark T522. Got it second hand in 2005 or 6 with a 500 sheet tray, duplex unit and a 2,000 sheet tray on the bottom. Cost me AUD$150 and came with a half full tone plus a new hi-capacity cartridge. In the last 3 months it has started ghosting on the lower half of the page. Now need to get a replacement mono laser as I don't want to waste the drum and fuser on my 2 year old Oki C531 just printing black. Does a not too bad colour image AND it has a 3 year warranty. :big-smile:
Samsung CLP-500. A seal broke on the waste toner container and got toner spilling onto the pages. It was 8 years old and due to the 4ppm colour rate decided to replace it with the Oki C531.
Someone mentioned the HP 5L and 6L with the feed problem. It sent the last 12 pages through the feed together and HP had a fix for this. I emailed them when it first became an issue and they sent me 2 boxes with about 20 fixers in each box. Gave one to a mate and every 5L or 6L spent 30 seconds (took 20 seconds to open the container the fix came in) and fixed each and every one. Later got another box of fixers from HP. I still have 2 of these things left is anyone is having feed problems with an HP 5L or 6L. The HP 1100 required a different part.
After 32+ years in business, we have seen our share of exits by OEM's. This is one we predicted a few years ago after we lost a major account to them. I for one, will watch for a "Brand X" to appear soon, using the Dell and Lexmark models as a base.
On the bright side, we now might have a chance reacquire this account...or at least a portion of it. Others like us who have stood the test of time (not selling out) are still standing firm. Trust the transition will be swift for all.
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