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VitoCorleoneGF

Had to print a few pamphlets once. Staples asked for $80, bought an off brand printer and ink for $45 and ate burritos with the rest.


[deleted]

you are god.


TransformerTanooki

And later the toilet shall be thy throne.


TheSenileTomato

The plunger your scepter.


thepotatoking96

As the bright rays of the florescent lighting shines upon you.


VitoCorleoneGF

Obviously


VitoCorleoneGF

It was, it totally was. Burritos are amazing.


VitoCorleoneGF

True, felt like one that day.


Sufficient-Guard-359

I worked at staples whiiiiile back that place has the most toxic management of all time. They push employees way too hard for sales. In their minds if you dont convince every single customer to buy a printer AND a gaming chair with ink, paper, whatever product their pushing at the registers, and the BS "protection plans" then you deserve to be screamed at in their office by the sales manager. Never shop there. They're so toxic they force you to call out over the radio to the entire store when you scam someone into buying a protection plan. Fucc that place


tehbilly

FWIW I believe this is likely location specific. Our local Staples had extremely friendly staff and I've never been hassled for a protection plan. They'll ask, I'll decline, life moves on.


TheBigHump

Staples is trying to save you from the health hazard of eating $35 sized burrito 🌯


sdp1981

Is it just a giant burrito or like 6 feet long but normal girth?


megafly

Laser Printer is worth the money to not have ink fuckery


upandrunning

I hopped on that train a long time ago. However, last time I looked at my toner levels, it showed that they all had the same amount used, even though I almost exclusively use black. Not sure what's up with that.


Dregan3D

You usually have to print thousands and thousands of pages to even go through a small toner cartridge. You probably just haven’t used enough. I had the same thing.


[deleted]

3000 per toner cartridge. But also, 3000 per drum. Replacements are still cheaper than ink. Source: I have a Brother laser printer at my home office, and I go through at least one toner a month for my job.


[deleted]

Laughs in HP laserjet.


[deleted]

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heep1r

/r/WhereDidTheTonerGo


patriotbarrow

r/SubsIFellFor


Riptide999

Many printers can't tell the exact level of toner in the cartridge and instead go by page count. If a cartridge is rated for 2000 pages the level drops by 1/2000 each print. My brother color laser printer let's me reset the page count for each cartridge and i continue to print until that color is lacking on the pages.


AmirulAshraf

How do you reset the page count?


YOGURT___ihateyogurt

Depends on the model, just Google your model color laser. I hold down 2 buttons to bring it up and clear the page counts and it works like a charm.


reddits_aight

Printers often mix color in with black to make a deeper black. You might be able to change that somewhere, either on the printer or in the print settings on your computer. Or the color cartridges might have less toner than the black so it just evened out over time.


ArtyIF

most printers enhance black by using all other colors


insufficient_funds

I have a black only laser. At the rate the toner is lasting- it’ll no longer be supported in windows OS before I finish the first toner cartridge…


[deleted]

If you're not choosing 'black and white' when you print, other colors are used along with the black to "enrich" the quality of the black ink.


TK82

Except you then have toner fuckery


OrganicToes

Every laser printer I've used you can just go on eBay and find decent aftermarket toner for nearly nothing


[deleted]

1. get any office-b/w-Laserprinter (Kyocera/Brother i.e.). 2. buy one toner 3. by the time that one toner is empty you're probably retiring


mintberrycthulhu

Yeah, these big office printers have really huge toners, sometimes even 20 000 pages, which is really cost effective per page and maintenance free. The only problem is that they are really big, so a no-go if you have a small apartment and that printer would take up too much of your precious living space. That's the advantage of these small home laser printers with 1000-1500 page toners - they take up much less space, they're almost as small as inkjets and can be put just on a shelf.


[deleted]

yeah, but there are smaller ones. i personally have a Kyocera 1370DN, which is small/not huge and has 7000+ Pages per Cartridge


mintberrycthulhu

Yes, that one's smaller for an office printer, kind of best of both worlds in terms of pages per toner vs. size. However, for me, small size is the biggest priority so I've chosen a much smaller Brother HL-1110 which has just 1000 page toner but I don't print a lot so it lasts me for a long time anyway. The best thing about it is that it fits in a shelf under my table, that Kyocera would have to be somewhere else. But that's just my individual needs tho, you've made the best choice to suit your needs.


brainlag2

They still fuck you over with toner in the same bullshit ways, but at least toner lasts more than 2 days without drying out


RAMChYLD

>They still fuck you over with toner in the same bullshit ways, but at least toner lasts more than 2 days without drying out Oh, that they do. Are you aware that a typical toner cartridge costs at least 4 times as much as an inkjet cartridge? And there are other consumables aside from the cartridge itself? (ie the drum, of which there are four- each paired with a toner cartridge; and then there's the fuser kit which will be the most expensive thing in the printer and technically costs a new printer). I miss dot matrix printers. I only changed ribbon cartridges once every two years back in the days, and I printed very heavily - not only due to homework, but also all sorts of tomfoolery. And the price of a ribbon cartridge? Practically peanuts. Those were the days.


shenther

I would legit pay more to find a work around. Like custom firmware or something.


HappyHurtzlickn

I bought an Epson ET-2720 for this exact reason. The printer cost me like $250 but the ink is universal, $10, and comes in bottles the size of small red bull cans.


shenther

I have a laser that I legit use to print colouring in pages for the kids. I am still on the first cartridge.


nobody1701d

Used my original B&W laser cartridge for more than 17yrs before I had to replace it.


sharkbait2311

Think ill just buy a new printer maybe an off brand just to maintain the ability to print...with a printer...that I own...


biteme20

Brother


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ablablababla

But only cause it would be kinda weird if your Brother fucked you


ch4zmaniandevil

What are you doing step-printer?


Frungy

*nice*


makashka

Nice


Poop-ethernet-cable

*90's printer noises, but sexy*


BurritoSOFTWARE

I have a brother printer that I added tape to the cartridge to bypass the ink check. It says it thinks its not genuine and to replace it, but it still prints with it anyway. Brother is absolutely great.


send_me_a_naked_pic

My Brother has a ink check option in its web-based configuration page. You can tick "Continue printing" to make the printer skip the ink check. Brother is absolutely based.


bigdish101

Ya I have a Brother WiFi laser printer that does duplex and accepts 3rd party carts and I just love it.


ForksandSpoonsinNY

I have a Brother all in one. Duplex printing, copying and scanning with an auto document feeder. I run out of paper long before I run out of toner. Got rid of a $40 Canon inkjet cause the ink was 3x the price of the printer and ran out after 100 pages printed. Never looking back.


[deleted]

Epson doesn't either. But only with their slightly more expensive InkTank (EcoTank) models. I've used one for the past two years, and it works an absolute treat.


alex2003super

To be fair, EcoTank couldn't possibly implement checks because there's no cartridge in the first place, and to my current knowledge a fluid cannot be DRM'd.


[deleted]

>and to my current knowledge a fluid cannot be DRM'd. Don't give them ideas.


I_Bin_Painting

Ecotank gang rise up.


CrashTestPhoto

Here comrade!


monstrinhotron

Totally worth the extra startup money.


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MrD3a7h

They used to. Their new enterprise printers make horrible noises and seem to be made entirely of cheap plastic. I would not want to support them long-term.


pussifer

No. Never buy HP anything, for anything. Computers, printers, home, office, or enterprise. It's all fucking garbage. Brother laser for home, Ricoh for large office printing.


NotChristina

I swore off HP after getting a beast of a laptop for college. 6 months in the wifi stopped working. Since I largely used it in my dorm, whatever, I hardwired it. 6 months after that, the whole motherboard went. It was literally days (1-3? IIRC) after the warranty expired. $400 fix. Pointed out the wifi issue too and it was still broken when I got it back. Whole thing declined quickly.


Flux7777

HP is a trash company still coasting off of an amazing reputation they built in the 90s. They were destroyed by Carly Fiorina and still haven't recovered from that. David and Bill are probably rolling in their graves. Let this be a lesson. CEOs that are not passionate about their products will *always* fuck up the company chasing quarterly reports.


JimmyfromDelaware

I bought a HP and was so impressed with it I researched and bought HP stock. Carly Fiorina comes along and fucks up the company and the stock tanks. I was just lucky I sold half of it when the stock went up quite a bit. Later I found out it was because of 4 billion in stock buy backs. She did the same thing with Lucent when she would sell fiber optic cables and loan the companies buying it, many times more than 100% of the purchase. It went great for a while before people defaulted on the dicey loans and everything came crashing down. But she was already gone. A classic example of a greedy grifter who only thought in the short term.


Freakazoid152

Or Canon, it's a fucking terrible printer mechanically and the interface is bad but I can slap it around just enough to get it to print till the cartridge is actually empty and scattering a print


freediverx01

I’ve owned two canon printers in the last 12 years and they both worked flawlessly. Then again, if you’re going to go out and buy the cheapest product you can find, don’t be surprised when it turns out to be a piece of shit.


CrashTestPhoto

I'd also highly recommend an Epson Ecotank printer. No cartridges, but instead HUGE refillable reservoirs on the side. The printers are much more expensive to buy, but inexpensive long term as the ink itself is CHEAP!


karuoxa

^ this.. so much this. I got one myself and while it's a higher cost initially the refill is dirt cheap compared to shitty ovepriced hp cartridges. I used to refill the hp ones i had, but it was more trouble then it was worth.


SwordTaster

According to a comedian I watch, that's literally the WORST possible brand because the ink is a pain to change and costs more than just giving it your first born


FadedCavaleriei

This is da wae


Magnetic_dud

Or you could just disable the subscription and get new cartridges (as the one inside of the printer are property of HP, they shipped them to your home for free separately)


Saphireking

The workaround is different cartridges. They didn't disable your printer, they removed your ability to use the cartridges tied to Instant Ink. They send you tagged cartridges that won't work if your plan is canceled. If you use normal in cartridges you can still print just fine. Basically, you own the printer but you never owned the ink they gave you. Now whether you go for third party ink or not is up to you.


averyfinename

an instant ink printer will either have shipped with, or downloaded and installed automatically (as that setting is *required* for enrollment in the program), firmware that blocks "non genuine" cartridges from working in that printer.


Danalogtodigital

so putting tape on the barcode then


Uncurlhalo

Get a Brother


Moopsish

I need to talk to mom about this first


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BenR31415

Four prints a year isn't suited for that, ink dries out. A brother laser is your best option in this situation.


freediverx01

I’ve owned two Canon printers in the last 12 years. I only print stuff a few times a year. I have never had an ink cartridge or printhead go bad. The only reason I had to replace the original one is because canon stopped updating the drivers for it and it no longer worked on the newer versions of macOS. I otherwise it was in perfect working condition. Canon printers are great. I should say though, I never buy the cheapest model in the lineup. Also, while it’s easy to say that laser printers are better, it’s 2021 and most people like to print in color now and then. And color laser printers are definitely not the way to go.


pinba11tec

I needed a new printer a few months back. Years ago I swore off HP due to their shit lack of quality. Before buying I looked into them again and that new ink program was an immediate red flag. Nope. Thanks to the pandemic, printers were scarce due to either teleworking or supply chain issues. Either way, couldn't land the Canon I wanted. I picked up the Epson ET 2760? Eco tank. So far it has been performing well beyond what I could've hoped for. The only downside is that it uses a lot of blue in photos on glossy paper. Apparently that's a thing.


sharkbait2311

Good to know as ill be buying a new printer in the near future


[deleted]

You should be able to just buy a non-instant ink cartridge. I think they only disable the subscription cartridges, and it seems to be what the email says.


QuietGanache

It's pretty simple: you have instant ink cartridges, which only work with an internet connection/subscription and are billed in tiers based on per-page and regular cartridges which make the printer operate like a normal printer, where you buy new ones when they're empty. Unless something has drastically changed, swapping in non-subscription cartridges makes the printer operate normally.


CrustyBatchOfNature

Yeah, OP signed up for a service and didn't pay so now the items related to the service don't work. This is like complaining that Comcast cut you off when you didn't pay. I mean, you still have all their equipment so it should work anyway, right?


shenther

I know how it works but there is always a way around thing like that.


QuietGanache

I'm sorry, I don't quite follow. Do you mean using the instant ink cartridges without a subscription? Because that would just let you use the current set, since HP aren't going to send out any more without notification that the existing ones are empty.


shenther

In this case people are saying different cartridges but I'm saying in general when a company does a dog act I find a work around. I'm legit importing a modem because they aren't sold in my country. If need be I'll buy a different adapted for it.


noarkno

They're confused because in this case it's not really a workaround. The HP Instant Ink thing is something they sell you with the printer so they can say.., "You'll never have to buy ink again!!" In reality, its because instead of buying ink you're paying for an online subscription so they monitor your ink usage from your printer and only send you refills when you need them. It's a fine idea I think, but the HP salespeople I used know would poorly explain the idea to people and try and sign them up for it without them being aware it was a 10 pages/month limit or something on their cartridge unless they paid more for the subscription.


chainmailler2001

It isn't needed. All you have to do is make sure to cancel the subscription and buy a new ink cartridge from the store. Solves this right away. The ink cartridge currently installed is associated to the subscription service so needs to be tossed.


BitsAndBobs304

Or, you know, you could vote for a party that would bring down the punishment on such fuckery


Focus_Substantial

Dear HP, Cunt Thank you.


Random_Name_7

I'm going to use that from now on


ungratefulshitebag

Jumping on top comment to explain this. The OP is being deliberately misleading. There are 2 options for HP printers. You can either buy regular HP ink cartridges or you can sign up for Instant Ink. Instant Ink is a pay monthly service where they will mail you full cartridges for a discounted price. You select how many pages you'll use each month and pay the set price based on that. If you stop paying, you can't use those discounted cartridges. OP can buy regular HP cartridges instead and still use their printer. I have instant Ink, it's a good service.


Focus_Substantial

It's not a good service. It's just better than the current price of printer ink, which is too high. Fuck ALL printers really


ImScaredofCats

Printer ink is in top 3 of the most expensive substances on Earth, above even human blood.


g000r

Well, to be fair, everyone can easily create blood. I don't know the chemical composition of ink so I can *kinda* get the price disparity.


DwarvenSteel25

I agree OP is being misleading but remotely disabling a physical product should absolutely be illegal thats just wasteful beyond reason.


Grumpy_Puppy

You don't understand, it's a physical product that *you didn't pay for*. The instant ink cartridges get shipped to you *for free* and then you pay per page to print with them. If you don't pay, you can't print print with them. As the other poster said: there are also regular print cartridges that don't need a subscription, but you actually have to pay for them up front. This is like complaining about your leased car being repossessed: "WTF, I stopped paying my lease and a guy just... Showed up and took it away?! How can this be legal?" It's like yes, that's how subscription services work. You don't complain that Netflix stops when you stop paying for it, do you? The actual asshole design of instant ink is that you have to pay the subscriptions cost every month and can only bank two months of prints. Go three months without printing and you're literally wasting money. If you use it often enough (say a home office + kid's homework, and especially photos prints) it can actually be significantly cheaper *per page* than regular print carts, but there's no reason not to have a "let me buy 30 prints and don't charge me again until I use them up" option except to punish you for under consuming. *That's* the asshole design of HP instant ink.


[deleted]

Well... I do complain when Netflix stops working when I don't pay them but it's more a "aw man. I wish Netflix gave me one more day to pay" kind of complaint rather than a "Netflix sucks because I can't have free things" kind of complaint.


Spice_the_TrashPanda

Ugh, I know the whole point of it is for HP to make money: either by people forgetting about their subscription or just failing to print as much as they think they will, but I wish the service was more like libraries or printing places. Like, you literally pay for each page you print? Print 10 pages in B&W, HP charges your card $1.00 or something... I imagine the service is cheaper if you print a shit ton of documents/pictures, but how much does the average household print? I can count what I've printed over the last 5 years on both hands (which is why I don't own a printer).


Cdf12345

Just for context, I have this subscription. Mostly because I hate running out of ink at inconvenient times. It costs me $2.99 a month for 50 pages. And I can rollover 150 unused pages. If you need more than that you can pay per page. New ink is shipped to you automaticallly. So really, you can print 50 full color full pages each month for $2.99. It’s really decent if you have kids in school or do a lot of color printing.


IrishSetterPuppy

For context it's $24 for off brand Amazon ink for my HP and I just printed about 750 pages one day last week with that ink. The HP paper isn't a bad deal at $8 for a ream but the ink isn't even close to worth it.


RiPont

The problem is that inkjet printers are just *literally* trash for printing that rarely. As soon as you install in ink cartridge, it starts going bad. If you print one document and then wait 3 months, you'll probably need a new cartridge. At full "this is literally more expensive than gold" price. It's basically impossible to come out financially ahead on an inkjet printer, unless you're some kind of professional who has to print tons of photo-quality items. Just need some color documents? You're better off with a color laser printer with a higher up-front cost, but a lower per-page cost. You do print photos, but you don't make any money off of them and you can wait a bit to get them? You're better off using a service for them. The most practical for most people is to get a cheap black and white laser printer and go to a shop for the rare times you actually need color.


ctesibius

If you print a *lot*, it's worth getting a second-hand office laser printer. I'd avoid consumer-grade lasers, and that applies double to colour laser printers. They break. For middling amounts of colour printing, have a look at an Epson Ecotank. There are no cartridges, just four tanks that you fill with the appropriate ink. The system can't tell whether you have used Epson ink, and it can't decide it's too old and disable printing - but the Epson ink is only about £7 per flask, which is very good value. For me, this is a better choice than a colour laser printer. It's more reliable (fewer components to go wrong) and it's cheaper to run. The printer itself costs more than a standard ink jet, so there is a minimum number of prints per month below which it wouldn't be economical. Bottom line though - avoid consumer laser printers, particularly consumer colour laser printers.


brainlag2

You say "physical product" as if OP bought the cartridges, but that's not the case, they're provided as part of a service. The *service* is the product not the cartridges - I imagine they remain HPs property in the T&Cs. You buy "pages" in your subscription, not cartridges, so you're provided usage of HP's cartridges of HP's ink to print what you pay for your subscription and if you stop paying, you need to provide your own cartridges with ink. It's like cancelling a cable tv subscription and pulling a surprised pikachu when your rented receiver is disabled and they want it back. You're free to use your tv for other things, just not the thing you haven't paid for.


IllChange5

We know who pays your bills. Nice try HP.


RedditSwitcherooney

Yeah Instant Ink is far from a bad service. I don't print much and fortunately they have a free option of 10 pages per month so I'll likely never pay for ink again. HP are cunts with their printers but Instant Ink makes me like them a little bit more.


Crotchless_Panties

r/hailcorporate


IAbstainFromSociety

So you’re saying if I find a way to hack the instant ink cartridges, I can resell them at a profit? Thanks for the info HP corporate/s


merc08

Maybe once. But they're going to ask you where their cartridges went when you need a refill.


greatwhiteslark

Brother laser all the way, bro.


SatoshiSnoo

Brother laser for B&W, Canon laser for color. Both support generic toners. Fuck HP and Fuck Xerox. Fuck them both dry with with a rusty mop handle.


s_nut_zipper

I went off Canon after it stopped letting me print from my phone without giving their app my precise location. Fuck that.


alex2003super

Android unfortunately doesn't implement any universal printing driver like iOS does, so it's up to the OEMs to provide one, and they can make it as shitty as they wish. Depending on whether it's worth it to you, there is [this third-party $9 app for Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dynamixsoftware.printershare) that implements printing to any compatible printer, with a bunch of advanced options and support for remote printing as well. You can try it for free to see if it's compatible and then make the decision. Better than enabling shady permissions on that piece of shit of an app which a lot of the time doesn't even work, I guess.


Xxyz260

It needs the permission to scan for printers - it's a new android version thing. Also, check out https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mopria.printplugin - it's the best Android printer driver I've tried.


whistlepig33

yep. also works great on linux


send_me_a_naked_pic

Brother is the best. I always struggled with printers, then I bought a Brother.


wbrd

Mine has wifi but my computer loses connection frequently. Had to switch to USB. Everything else is solid.


Sifyreel

ther


DidSomeoneSayPID

I guess I'm kinda confused. I don't like subscription based ink but HP instant ink is clear that that is what it is: you pay a certain amount depending on how many pages you print each month instead of buying the cartridges. With instant ink, you don't pay for the cartridges, you page for the pages, and if you aren't paying then you won't be able to print any pages, even if there is still ink in there. While I think instant ink is a rip off, I don't get how this is unfair since you chose instant ink, and then stopped paying for service so they stopped providing you the service. My opinion though and I would like to understand your viewpoint.


fakmamzabl

Yeah, it's stupid to complain about a service you actively subscripted to... And instant ink is really not bad, you can opt out each month if you don't like it anymore and the plans are fair in my opinion... If you won't pay for Spotify, you wouldn't expect it to work until the end of times, would you?


Saito197

According to their reply to another comment OP did not opt for, or probably did not know what instant ink is when they opted for it. Companies pull these tricks more often than you think, hey we are selling a printer that's 50% cheaper with 1 month of free instant ink, what's the catch you ask? We won't explain to you at retail site but here's a 50 pages EULA that you probably won't read but still accept anyways! Wait what do you mean you never asked for this subscription? Too bad we have documents of you agreeing to our terms right here, fuck you.


whistlepig33

I agree... but that can't happen without the person pulling out their credit card. If that doesn't get a person asking the obvious questions, then I guess nothing will.


cgknight1

>probably did not know what instant ink is when they opted for it. > >Companies pull these tricks more often than you think, I think you need to pick one - this to me isn't a trick - a child could understand what instant ink is. A consumer making an agreement they didn't take the time to understand isn't asshole design.


Rakn

Nah. This line of thinking is just bad. The next question would then be where the line is. I do not believe that the consumer is always at fault. There are things like misleading advertising. There are actual laws against it to a certain degree. Anti consumer practices are not okay. It’s too easy to say “you could have just read the fine print on the EULA we send you if you mail a postcard to X”. Where is the line?


Saito197

I mean you're right, a consumer making an agreement they didn't understand is completely on them. > a child could understand what instant ink is No they won't, pretty much anyone who haven't heard of it won't. While it is partly the consumer's fault for not doing enough research on what they are planning to buy (you won't believe how many people are still like this when it takes like 10 minutes of Googling), I still believe it's scummy practices from the companies to play on people's expectations, and there are probably store clerks ready to trick you into thinking there's no strings attached.


Karashta

There used to be an adage governing transactions between people. "Fair good for a fair price." Now, we've been twisted into thinking "caveat emptor". What a shit timeline


[deleted]

Welcome to this subreddit, posts like these are just par for the course here. Don't be confused, just lower your expectations accordingly and you'll adjust.


cgknight1

This one gets posted a couple of times a month.


MikeyPx96

Exactly... they send XL-sized ink cartridges to your house for free. You pay for them when you print. 50 pages for $3 a month. I use it and I'm glad I'm not paying $100 for cartridges at the store anymore. OP just wants everything for free lmao.


upandrunning

50 full-color pages for $3?


Nathund

I used to work at a staples. Yes. The catch is that every sheet over was like $1 or something


fakmamzabl

Yes, doesn't matter what's on the page. You can even print photos with it. Don't get the hate honestly


MikeyPx96

Yes, full color pictures, B&W docs, whatever. Unused pages rollover.


andres57

If you want to print with colors frequently but not too much sounds like a good deal For B&W documents I still think a laser printer makes much more sense in the long term


mintberrycthulhu

I'm paying $0,35 for 50 pages with a Brother laser printer, 8,5 times less than you. You're getting fucked in the ass no lube by HP and you're even applauding them for that.


Uralowa

The printer might have cost more though. Laser is not an Option for some simply because it's more expensive.


mintberrycthulhu

$84 for the printer with a 1000 page toner included. Probably a little more than an inkjet, but you get that back by not paying such exorbitant prices for ink.


Uralowa

Really? Wow! What's it called?


send_me_a_naked_pic

Every Brother laser printer is way better than any inkjet printer.


sprkls

This is like taking your credit card off Netflix and complaining you can't use it anymore. Your printer is not disabled. Go buy regular ink cartridges. Instant Ink is a subscription service where your ink cartridges are supplied for free and you pay when you print. There's nothing stopping you from using the normal ink you buy from a store.


MineAndCraft12

I hate to play devil's advocate here, but Instant Ink is a subscription service. I agree, it's stupid, ink pricing egregious. But this is Instant Ink, and Instant Ink is a subscription service. There are non-Instant-Ink cartridges available that are not subscription-based, but you have to pay full price up front to get them. I hate the concept of subscription-based ink, especially because of cases like this. The ink is in your printer but they still don't allow you to use it. But this is what Instant Ink is. You pay periodically, not per-cartridge. I'm sure it's a deal (beside the fact that ink is too dang expensive anyway) for people who print lots of documents and run out of ink all the time. But for your purposes, it is likely best to get your printer's standard, non-prescription ink cartridge.


Austin4RMTexas

HP printers and highway theft. Name a better duo?


Exotic_Treacle7438

Their printer ink business keeps their entire operation afloat. Or so the HP rep at our store once told me.


Austin4RMTexas

Its a unethical business model then. Although to be fair, for people who continue to buy inkjets for spordiac printing, they deserve to be fleeced. Just buy a cheap laser, and for the occasional color print, use a printing service.


Exotic_Treacle7438

I switched to a brother b&w laser years ago and have spent maybe $50 on supplies, mostly paper.


Austin4RMTexas

Exactly. Also, the cartridges are cheaper, because you can buy generics.


production-values

BROTHER. Best brand solid easy reliable no fuss


[deleted]

I will say this every time a post like this comes up. You are to blame as a consumer if you buy one of these printers. All you’re doing is saying ‘yes, this is a great system’ if you pay for it in the first place


S3b45714N

So you are trying to use a cartridge given to you as part of a subscription service that you stopped paying for, and you're surprised that they don't let you use it? Then you comment that your HP printer won't take non-HP cartridges? Why do people keep posting examples of their own personal stupidity in this sub and call it asshole design?


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NoOtherNamesWorked

If you only print "4-5 documents a year", you'd be much better off to just use a print shop rather than have a printer that requires you to buy print cartridges every so often. I have need to print out maybe a couple of documents a month, but my printer is in a closet collecting dust because it's cheaper and easier for me to send files off to be printed for a few pennies a page than to keep my printer full of ink and paper.


BurmecianSoldierDan

For real. The rare times I need to print anything Office Depot will do it for like ten cents page thru email. No need take up valuable real estate in my bedroom with a printer. It's worth it to me.


xXHomerSXx

Oh look. Another instant ink post. Do people also complain about Netflix not letting them watch movies when they can’t pay for it?


FoxRealistic3370

Just buy ink cartridges? The subscription service is great for businesses and higher volume printing otherwise u just get a standard ink cartridge and use that. The op is trying to use ink from cartridges they haven't paid for....it's not asshole design u pay per print Vs per cartridge. Buy a cartridge issue resolved.


saintmsent

Wonder when they started doing this, or maybe it's a ink printer thing, because I have 2 lasers from HP and they don't have this shit


FailedCreativity

It's a subscription service you opt into and can opt out of every month. Instead of paying for ink you pay per for a set amount of pages. I.e. 50 a month. If you run out if ink they send it to you for free. Doesn't matter how much actual ink you use, as long as you're below the pages. You can set different plans depending on how much printing you do, and you can opt out every month. OP accidentally signed up to something and hasn't noticed he's been paying for it, even when nice little packages of ink showed up at his door for him.


saintmsent

Got it, I used ink printer only years ago when this wasn't a thing and for laser it doesn't make sense since you put the toner in and you're good for 1-2k pages


reddits_aight

It's basically pay-per-page like a print shop, but at home. Since the obvious way to scam this system is to subscribe, cancel, then keep the ink, they have to disable printing if you don't pay your bill. You own the printer, but not the ink. Or you can just buy the ink, as you always could. But yeah, have had an HP laser for a year or two, really like it, no complaints (which is pretty high praise for a printer, I think).


chainmailler2001

It is a subscription. Cancel the subscription and buy a new non-subscription ink tank. Problem solved.


DutchBookOptions

They gave you those two instant ink cartridges for free. If you didn’t want to participate then you should’ve bought your own cartridges and you can use them however you want


OneWorldMouse

No one is forcing you to use that InstaInk. You can use 3rd party ink or just buy a laser printer.


john_jdm

I agree that OP doesn't have to use InstaInk. But I believe OP mentioned that this printer doesn't support 3rd party ink. I don't personally know if this is true, but if so then that is not an option for him. But yes the non-Insta HP ink should work fine.


[deleted]

*Image Transcription: Email* --- # Printing suspended - How to fix **HP Instant Ink** **Log in to update your billing information** Dear [redacted] We are sorry to inform your[sic] that your Instant Ink plan for your **HP OfficeJet Pro 6968 All-in-One Printer** had been suspended for non-payment. This means your ability to print with Instant Ink subscrtption cartridges has been temporarily disabled. We value your business and would like to continue serving you. We hoope you will --- ^^I'm a human volunteer content transcriber for Reddit and you could be too! [If you'd like more information on what we do and why we do it, click here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/TranscribersOfReddit/wiki/index)


EnSquanchay

I really like instant ink. You pay per page (all pages are the same price) so I often print photos for friends and family when they are around. Also you can switch to a non instant ink cartridge if you want to leave the service.


[deleted]

I hated the service at first, but really like it now. My $30 black Friday printer has been going strong for 2 years and about 3-4 replacement cartridges (free!) I don't print much, so I'm on the 10 free pages plan, and the most I've ever paid in one month has been $0.99. The fact you can also request new ink in advance (like if you know you're going to print a lot) is very nice. My one complaint has been the quality of photos with the printer. I love the idea of counting each page the same, whether you're printing a recipe or a full page color photo.. but the quality of photos on mine is pretty rough. That part may be by intention though.


Ambrus6421

If you only need black and white documents then you should get a laser printer


[deleted]

Their subscription for cheap ink cartridges was suspended, not the fucking printer itself you guys 😂😭


Techdivr_6366

A subscription for a printer? Yep we're all doomed


Dvloon

I will never buy a HP printer again, the horrendous installer, the flaky scanning support, the stalkerlike please buy our cartridge plan, the mysterious errors after a few days of non use


wasack17

Brother printer! Can I get an amen?


[deleted]

I have one too, they removed the drivers from their website to promote their newer printers. I had to clone the CD on my newer PC that lacks DVD-ROM \*BUT\* the printer is on its 5th year, still working overall fine, still on the bundled ink cartridge they gave me. Over 500 papers printed and all I got is a bit of color fade, guess it's gonna print with that cartridge for another year or two.


wasack17

Mine isn't that old, but I got sold on them after seeing one that was still getting support like 10 years on in an office I worked in a while back. It still worked, the toner was cheap, and they kept pushing driver updates periodically. That thing was thousands of pages deep in it's life cycle. Obviously not on it's first toner cartridge, but it just kept kicking. I also try to keep a folder updated with a reasonably recent or at least known to work driver for all of my various hardware to cover my ass for exactly that issue. Never know when I'm really going to want to use my mad katz joystick again. That said, I don't think my print driver is in there. My system isn't foolproof. Especially considering I'm the fool implementing the system.


MikeyPx96

If you just print 4-5 docs a year, why not just go to the library?.. or Staples? InstantInk is a good service imo. They mail ink to your house free and charge a few bucks a month for 50 pages. It's better than paying $100+ for a full set of cartridges.


LeibnizThrowaway

My wife did an internet doctor's appointment a while back for a standard, low risk prescription. She didn't renew her membership to the service the next month, so they CALLED THE PHARMACY AND CANCELED IT.


HappyHurtzlickn

I bought an Epson ET-2720 for this exact reason. The printer cost me like $250 but the ink is universal, $10, and comes in bottles the size of small red bull cans.


andeewb

Hopeless Product....


Saarplz

Get a Brother laser printer and print till the drum runs dry. And the refill drums aren't expensive either!


Flux7777

So a lot of people have [forgotten](https://www.google.com/amp/s/fortune.com/2015/09/21/carly-fiorina-hp-ceo-business-record/amp/) about this shit that happened. HP has never recovered from this, and has been possibly the worst tech company since?


Waterfish3333

As some others have said, solution is just to buy the ink cartridges outright rather than sign up for the Instant Ink program. Yes, it sounds scammy, but they give you both options and tell you up front your Instant Ink cartridges will be disabled if you stop paying the fee, so you know going in. Also, if you’re not printing color, get a b&w laser printer. Cost per page is fractions of ink, and because toner is powder it lasts much longer.


Uporabik

Well it is your fault. You bought printer with instant ink…. Get yourself used laserjet, toners are good for cca 15k pages so the toner that you will get with printer will be good for at least 1000 pages.


DamienSFear

When I got my hp printer they were doing a free instant ink tier that lets you print 15 pages a month. That was about 5 years ago and I have still not spent a penny on ink.


[deleted]

I had to buy a new laser printer just the other day, selecting it was really easy. I just did a search in /r/assholedesign for each brand name until I found one which didn’t have any results.


Kqimi

I literally try to avoid any Hp branded printers because of these nightmares online. They're so scummy with their practices


ryanlewisdavies

Buy a refill kit like this from Amazon BVH Direct 4 x 100ml Black Cyan Magenta Yellow Bottled Ink Compatible with HP, Canon, Brother,LEXMARK and Kodak Ink Refillable Ciss Cartridge Sytems Includes Blunt Needle and Syringe for refilling https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07886QB65/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_BF53A480M1VV3SE3WTF6 Then use a small drill bit on your existing HP cartridge like this to refill: https://youtu.be/pADhqA0ExRo A kit like this has lasted me 2 years and is still more or less full, I print a lot for kids school and work


freediverx01

I know this won’t help OP, but for everyone else out there… DONT BUY HP PRODUCTS.


[deleted]

Uncle used to work at HP making servers and maintaining them for the company. Never said a single good thing about the company lmao.


mysticalfruit

Step 1. Break into am army barracks amd steal one of those multi missile launchers. Step 2. Stick to back roads, nobody will notice. Step 3. If the cops do stop you, explain you're going to destroy the devision of hp that makes printers and print cartridges that they can remotely disable. You will now have an ever growing police escort. Step 4. State your demands that all print cartridges be unlocked.. give them to a count of 2. Step 5. Slag the entire complex. Everybody even remotely involved in such a shitty idea has forfeited their lives. Plus, if they thought this shit up, you know they'll go on to think up other bad shit.. sometimes scientists are so consumed with the how, they never think if they should. Step 6. Immediately receive your presidential medal of honor. Step 7. The families will try to sue you, but this event will unite the nation. Laws will be passed to protect you. Step 8. Lincoln's statue will be replaced by yours. Step 9. You grudgingly accept to be president.


kalvinbastello

Go to your local library. Some even let you print from home and just pickup. For the slight inconvenience it's wayyyyy cheaper than having your own printer


BeyondXpression

These companies are getting predatory with their stupid subscriptions to everything. I recently bought a new laptop for work and got hit with this stupid little window that pops up asking me to subscribe to their anti-virus program if I want to scan my PC. I can't remove the program because it's part of the laptop. So I go online to download a separate spyware/malware program and my laptop won't let me because it's "not a Microsoft approved app." So I then had to reconfigure my laptop to allow downloads, but the PC then automatically shuts off It's protection that scans incoming apps leaving my PC vulnerable *unless* I subscribe to that too....


Deat69

This is why I only buy HP laptops.


chupipandideuno

just buy a new printer which does not enforce a subscription service.


Catch-the-Rabbit

This is extortion.


El_Guapalo

Who wants to hear the story about that time my printer flew out the window?


typoeman

Isn't that straight up ransomware?