HP & LEXMARK’S CHIPS ARE JUST DUMB

[Anonymous]

HP Smart Chips Are Just Dumb

HP is not the only
printer manufacturer that employs “smart” chips in its devices to get
its customers to buy more of its consumables LEXMARK After all, is the
real champ in that regard. But when it comes to the passion with which
its customers denounce the practice, HP is way ahead of the field.

“I have a huge boat anchor called an HP Office Jet D155xi,” a reader recently
wrote. “I purchased it three years ago as a complete ‘office solution’ — color
copier, color fax, card reader, printer with networking capabilities — for
$1,100 Canadian. Now, it’s dead as spam.”

The reader’s problems began when the printer stopped working shortly after
its warranty expired. “I assumed — incorrectly as it turned out — that the
problem was the ink cartridges, so I bought a new set for $75,” the reader
wrote. “When that failed to fix the problem, I took it in to the local HP
service center, who said the problem was actually the printheads. Thanks for the
obscure error message, HP. I had to replace three of the four printheads, for
which I paid $135 apiece. This took three weeks, as the printheads had to be
special ordered by the HP service center.”

While that was annoying, worse was to come. “Once the new printheads were
installed, these new ink cartridges which has sat idle in the machine for those
three weeks immediately said they were empty,” the reader wrote. “They were well
within their ‘use-by’ date, but they had mysteriously expired. The service guy
told me they had ‘probably congealed’ and that the smart chip wouldn’t let them
work. So, another $75 for new ink. Two months later, the final printhead
expired.”

Rather than continue with this cycle of buying new printheads and ink
cartridges only to have them expire, the reader finally gave up. “Enough is
enough,” he wrote. “I blame the smart chips in these printers for all of my
problems including the unforgivably high cost of new printheads and ink. I used
to have an older HP inkjet. If a printhead clogged, you carefully used isopropyl
alcohol and a swab to clean the head, and it worked again. Ink didn’t run out
until the little cartridges were really empty. Now, thanks to these chips, ink
has a use-by date and supposed smarts. If anything seems out of sorts, the
cartridge simply quits and demands you purchase a new one.”

The reader says he will never buy or recommend another HP product. “This may
not sound like much, but during my career as a software developer and consultant
since 1980, I’ve been in a position to recommend or purchase IT products for
clients ranging from small businesses to huge corporations,” he wrote. “Now when
they call to ask my opinion, I tell them to avoid HP inkjet technology forever.
Those smart chips inside the printheads and ink cartridges were sure a smart
idea, weren’t they?”

[Author]

May 25, 2005 at 12:31 PM