HP raising Instant Ink subscription pricing significantly - gHacks Tech News
HP is informing customers by email about an upcoming HP Instant Ink price increase. Prices increase by up to 50%.
I'm astounded this business model somehow continues to exist.
Feels like they waited just long enough for the initial controversy to die down. It's so pathetic to see HP reduced to the tech equivalent of a pay-day-loan business.
I'm astounded anyone buys inkjet printers anymore, except for perhaps niche uses (photos maybe?). I will never not use laser as long as the options are that or inkjet.
Who the fuck still buys HP printers?! Or really HP anything?
I have a Lexmark color laser that's been rock solid. I know people love to push Brother, but I had a bad experience years ago that's left a sour taste in my mouth. I usually opt for Canon or Lexmark.
I bought an Epson ink tank and couldn't be happier
their business-grade laptops are decent ish i guess, like the elitebooks
A lot of folks don't know this, but your local library very likely has printing services for dirt cheap.
sometimes i think about buying a printer and then i remember my library let's me print 10 pages per day for free then it's 15¢ for each additional page
That's a great perk that you can save by printing at the library. I don't know that it's feasible for most, or really anyone not on a school campus or living next door to a library. To the rest of us, I recommend a used laser printer for 50 dollars. There's probably still enough toner in it to print 500-1000 more pages of text.
Just recycled my printer due to this. Totally worth the inconvenience to not support shitty practices and the environmental impact of so many personal printers that only get used once or twice a year before ink dries.
Years ago I had an HP all-in-one. Every time I'd turn it on it would do a "print test" wasting ink. I got fed up one time and stomped that fucker to death office space style (without the Ghetto Boys accompaniment). Fuck HP in the ass with a rusty razor wire wrapped pipe.
sounds like a real cathartic moment you had there smashing your machine, but when I was fed up with my printer I simply took it back to the store and got a refund.
🤑 💰
I think I was detoxing at the time. Your solution was much more mature.
Keep buying third party ink, y'all.
Except at least some of the printers will refuse to work with anything except genuine HP ink cartridges.
The solution is never to have anything to do with Hewlett Packard, especially printers.
People that sell third party ink are unfortunately opening themselves up to getting lawyered out of business. I only have anecdotal evidence from my own experience, but it wouldn't surprise me if the big boys intimidate 3rd party ink sellers (which are always smaller companies) with legal threats and the little guys either give up or go bankrupt from paying legal fees against a megacorp that drags out litigation as long as possible because they have lawyers on retainer so might as well put them to work.
All the more reason to support them I'd say.
People that just bought those printers and are still using the free ink cartridges that come with it are about to find out that when the cancel their subscription that the one that they are using will be disabled even if it wasn't part of the subscription.
HP stated that most customers save about 50% compared to normal printing. So, unless that number changes to 25% or less, then it is likely their ink cartridge prices are also going to increase or they'll add an asterisk for an out-of-date survey or whatever. Maybe both.
We'll see what happens but it will be cheaper to buy a printer that allows you to refill the ink in a market where businesses can compete or buy a laser printer where the initial cost is higher but the long term costs are much cheaper.
Let's see if the market creeps back up on inkjets to peak consumerism where it is just as expensive to replace the entire printer with a sampler ink pack than it is to buy a new ink pack.
Who only prints 10 pages in a month?
Finally switched from HP to Brother earlier this year and very happy with the upgrade. No more dealing with ink that dries out in under a year. Toner's more expensive but lasts longer and the quality is great for anything that's not supposed to be a photo-quality print (which I never have needed to do).
I've come to rely on the brother app. It works decently well and prints everything you ask it too with little hassle.
Man, I'm so happy I switched to Epson. Their ink lasts a lot longer for me and I haven't had as many problems with the printer itself as I did with my HP one.
I'm usually against these kinds of comments, but HP CAN DIE IN FLAMING INFERNO OF HOG SHIT.
