HP Printer Rip-off

[BobHeisler]

I have a hardly-used Office Depot color cartridge in my HP OfficeJet printer. It was installed months ago. All of a sudden this week I keep getting an error message saying that an incorrect color cartridge has been installed and it has incapacitated my printer. Someone told me its a software ploy by HP to force consumers to buy only their brand of cartridges. Does anyone know if this is true and is there away around the problem of wasting a perfectly good, almost new color cartridge?

[Barry]

I have a hardly-used Office Depot color cartridge in my HP OfficeJet printer. It was installed months ago. All of a sudden this week I keep getting an error message saying that an incorrect color cartridge has been installed and it has incapacitated my printer. Someone told me its a software ploy by HP to force consumers to buy only their brand of cartridges. Does anyone know if this is true and is there away around the problem of wasting a perfectly good, almost new color cartridge?

I had a similar problem. Sorry, don't remember what I did about it. My new printer, an Epson, does something even more obnoxious: after it warns you a couple of times that the ink is low, it just stops functioning altogether, even though the last page that printed looked just fine. Even the scanner which doesn't even need ink!

[Ted Pole]

If a printer manufacturer wanted to really own the market, they would allow a printer to continue to print even though one color is low/empty. My Epson and my wife's HP won't let you do that. Out of yellow, but want to print a black and white file? Tough.

Off-brand and recycled printer cartridges can but not usually be problematic. First, I would try taking the cartridge out and re-installing it. That has worked for me sometimes.

Good luck. We're all in this together.

[Gina Williams]

I have a hardly-used Office Depot color cartridge in my HP OfficeJet printer. It was installed months ago. All of a sudden this week I keep getting an error message saying that an incorrect color cartridge has been installed and it has incapacitated my printer. Someone told me its a software ploy by HP to force consumers to buy only their brand of cartridges. Does anyone know if this is true and is there away around the problem of wasting a perfectly good, almost new color cartridge?

I have an HP PhotoSmart printer and the challenge I've had with the ink cartridges is that if you don't do much printing, they will dry out before they get used up. The Ink Store over by Curves in Sebastopol sells recycled cartridges that are less expensive (not HP brand but compatible with HP printers). Mostly, I've had good experiences with them.

[Ted Pole]

I use that ink store, too. A lot. They are usually well stocked for my Epson and the prices are great.

[Braggi]

If a printer manufacturer wanted to really own the market, they would allow a printer to continue to print even though one color is low/empty. My Epson and my wife's HP won't let you do that. Out of yellow, but want to print a black and white file? Tough. ...

My Canon inkjet has no problem in this department. It reports a specific cartridge is low or empty and then prints the document, usually with no obvious degradation in print quality.

My Brother laser printer can be fooled into thinking the toner cartridge is full even after it reports it's empty. You can google that fix.

I'd never buy HP hardware. They do not support their customers (in my experience).

-Jeff

[hotrodess]

I am sorry to learn you're having such problems. If anyone were to ask me (I know they didn't - lol) my experience with HP printers or HP all in ones, I would say they are the best. I had my first HP for 5 years, my last HP printer I had for 10 years and just traded it in for a new HP.

I've used the new HP for year and love love love it! I am sorry it does not help you, but it does show that perhaps there are some lemons and some good ones.

All my HP devices accept Office Depot ink cartridges without any error messages or problems. I do not re-ink my cartridges because over a long period of time, it will cause problems with how the ink is dispersed, and cause the unit to perform incorrectly.

Regarding the printer you have that won't let you print black only (you have black ink but none of the other colors). I was able setup my printers to use Black Ink only. Have you tried looking at your printers setup for that issue? Try checking the setup of that printer either the software and/or the hardware. Sometimes you have to make the request in both places. It's just a thought ~ See if you might have luck trying to setup to print that way. All the Best! Good Luck! Regards, Lori Ann

[Claire]

Regarding the printer you have that won't let you print black only (you have black ink but none of the other colors). I was able setup my printers to use Black Ink only. Have you tried looking at your printers setup for that issue? Try checking the setup of that printer either the software and/or the hardware. Sometimes you have to make the request in both places. It's just a thought ~ See if you might have luck trying to setup to print that way. All the Best! Good Luck! Regards, Lori Ann

That is very interesting about the settings. I had never heard that before.
Is it easy enough to go back and forth on the settings?
So as not to waste huge amounts of money I decided to only buy printers that have separate ink cartridges. It may cost more initially but I would not be wasting loads of expensive ink all the way down the line.
PS. If a cartridge won't print but you hear ink inside, try a Qtip with alcohol on the jet.
It should dissolve the crust that formed.

[David8]

I agree about HP - they are the worst on customer service & planned obsalescence. I had to get rid of my perfectly good multi-function when I upgraded to windows 7 and found drivers which support the network and scan functions are simplyn not available. I'll never buy another.

I just bought a Lexmark Pinnacle Pro 901, and I love it. Touchscreen, full featured, and the lowest black ink price on the market, at $5 MSRP for the large capacity 300 page black cartridge.