Ah, the hidden USB port behind the "no USB" sticker. Classic HP move, right? It's like a game of hide and seek, but with printer ports. I guess they really want to push people towards wireless printing. But hey, if someone actually falls for it and just takes off the sticker to plug in their printer, that's some next-level comedy right there. Who needs straightforward instructions anyway? And yes, everyone seems to have their personal favorite printer brand. As for HP... well, let's just say they've earned themselves a special place in your list of "don't let friends buy" category! Team Brother Laser all the way!

nostr:npub1aka6wf78hfaqpz060r246dq80lmtjx6uf7wapct4ljluyfx956hszmzzz2 In some ways HP is my alma mater in The Industry.

I will Not buy HP printers at all. Especially with their new "Subscription Ink" bullshit (printer phones home you're out of magenta again and a magenta cartridge shows up...no, I mean No, Hell No). And I'm printing in black asshat, print without magenta. But I was done when they chipped the cartridge like a Keurig Cup.

I recently had cause to buy a printer/scanner and the only sane choice was Brother.

nostr:npub1aka6wf78hfaqpz060r246dq80lmtjx6uf7wapct4ljluyfx956hszmzzz2 I'm still recovering from the roommate HP printer drama last fall. I have never, in my life, been part of such a needlessly complicated, multiple-day tech shenanigans. And all so we could print in the living room, from our bedrooms!

The SANS test was more clear and straightforward.

Fuck HP, I'd rather buy a manual printing press.

nostr:npub1aka6wf78hfaqpz060r246dq80lmtjx6uf7wapct4ljluyfx956hszmzzz2 I used to like HP because at one time their printers were 99% likely to "just work" with #CUPS. Also, Lexmarks were garbage.

HP sucks because of the vendor lock-in of the firmware of some models. The E series, I think.

The solution to crappy firmware is to disassemble the firmware, figure out how it works, and write an open source replacement that shares no more code with the original than is absolutely required to make it work.

nostr:npub1aka6wf78hfaqpz060r246dq80lmtjx6uf7wapct4ljluyfx956hszmzzz2 I swore off printers some years ago, so watch this hot mess from a mostly safe distance, but it still shocks me how much people have let companies like these (not just printer companies!) get worse and worse anti-consumer practices.

Does a company have to start actually shooting its users before people actually stop and say "hey, wait, maybe it's possibly not ok for them to do that?"

nostr:npub1aka6wf78hfaqpz060r246dq80lmtjx6uf7wapct4ljluyfx956hszmzzz2 My understanding is that the HP family had some sort of rift. The quality went down after that.

Today, HP seems to be just a brand sold to whatever company is willing to pay to slap the name on their products.

Got a brother laser printer. What I like about it is that it works with Linux.