View Full Version : HP printers
Squeegee Longtail
14th Nov 2009, 02:10
Why do all HP printers take over my computer? I don't want 100 pop-ups, reminders, offers, upgrades, updates continually interrupting me.
When I try to uninstall the SH!t software, it always leaves bits behind to come back and annoy me more.
AArgh - I will never buy HP stuff again!
Is it just me?
Rant over.
No, not just you. Brilliant hardware but very invasive software.
RiscOS
14th Nov 2009, 03:16
Brilliant hardware NOT! :=
Take the word of one who has used, sold and repaired most brands of printer ( and other stuff) over quite a few years, HP are an absolute no no on every possible ground.
Of the brands likely to be chosen for home use, there are three:-
Brother, good cheap laser stuff, solid, reliable.
Canon, very high reliability, good results on paper.
Epson, best results for money on paper, lower reliability than Canon, but still good.
Everything else will probably be HP, regardless of name badge. Uses, boat anchor, aircraft tie down, target for rifle practice.
In case I haven't made it clear, I don't like them. :E
I take it you don't agree with me then? My experiences differ from yours. I have yet to have any hardware issues with any HP hardware.
However, I would never buy HP by choice because of the software issues.
PS Is that wagging finger really necessary?
pigboat
14th Nov 2009, 03:45
I'm posting this on a HP TouchSmart with Windows Vista Home Premium. Other than daily App Failures, App Crash, Blue Screen and Start Drive Failures, it works a treat.
RiscOS
14th Nov 2009, 04:58
ZFT,
I read what I had written and thought "that's a bit harsh, he's as entitled to his opinion as I am to mine. I should soften it a bit."
They are called "smilies", dont you know, and I thought " the waggly finger is so far over the top that he'll understand."
I apologise if I offended. That was not my intention.
ZEEBEE
14th Nov 2009, 05:12
As a once great admirer of HP, I've become appalled at what they've become.
In the seventies, their test equipment and mini-computers (HP21MX) and the like were things to aspire to.
Not no more...:{
I have had several printers, mini-pc's, notebooks and they've got worse as time goes on.
My latest acquisition Mini-2133 has had three motherboard replacements, puts out enough heat to keep the house warm on the coldest night and puts us into a new ETS/Carbon Tax category.
Ok...so I'm a slow learner. :*
Sprogget
14th Nov 2009, 05:54
HP software is rubbish imo, but under windows, it is possible to run the things with the native software only I.e. install the driver & nothing else, let windows run the beast. Works for me.
11Fan
14th Nov 2009, 06:09
HP Business Inkjet 1000 seems to work OK. Mrs. Fan uses it though.
A Lexmark C534dn is my primary printer. Sucker will just about sing for you if you send it a .wav file.
Had some previous HP's. No software problems but they just didn't last. They did make for some good tax write off donations though.
RiscOS
14th Nov 2009, 06:19
The story of Hewlett Packard is one of the saddest stories in electronics history.
As ZEEBEE states, HP was for many years the most respected name in electronics.with their equipment being leaders in military, space and test equipment during WW2 and through the US's space history into the 80s.. With the retirement of Mr Hewlett and Mr Packard their shares in their company were sold and their former company went off in new directions without them. Both, I believe, made desperate attempts to buy back control but to no avail. What has been done on the back of thier excellent reputation is sad to say the least.
Their printers are crap. (So, I believe, are their computers.)
llondel
14th Nov 2009, 07:01
If you want to use an HP printer then scrape up an old Laserjet 4 or 5 from eBay or similar. Very well behaved, built to last (unlike modern cr*p) and still good. Mine are just fine, they sit on the network and wake up when someone wants to print something, then go back to sleep afterwards.
gas path
14th Nov 2009, 08:15
That's interesting on the comments on the other printers! I had an Epson 750 photo for years until it failed, I then replaced it with an Epson DX5000 and that was nothing but a nightmare with software issues, and forever doing its inkjet cleaning thing if not used for a few days. (I even contacted Epson at one stage). It currently languishes boxed up in the loft.
Current machine is an HP photsmart C5180 and has been 'as good as gold'
XP pro for what it's worth!
WestWind1950
14th Nov 2009, 08:40
The HP software and constant update pop-ups were driving me crazy! And the menu got more confusing then it was before. grrrrrrrr
Then the hardware paper pull died on me (the printer wasn't that old, either) so I dumped it for an Epson. Since my comp was in the workshop recently, I haven't had a chance to use it yet.... but HP's are no longer my first choice.
jimtherev
14th Nov 2009, 08:41
Yes to everything about the software, but (once drivers installed... good news, W7 finds them by itself) my HP3600 color laser prints quickly, economically and fusslessly. But:
Just about everyone knows what carp the HP software is - why don't HP????
GROUNDHOG
14th Nov 2009, 08:53
Have an HP PSC1610 all in one printer, it does a tolerably good job. Now though it tells me the colour cartridge is not compatible, but I know it is as I have been using the same ones for the last year. Take it out, put it back in and no difference! Flaming thing still doesn't work. Should I just ditch it or is there perhaps a simple explanation? Suggestions please?
M.Mouse
14th Nov 2009, 08:54
My first HP inkjet broke a small plastic piece which was easy to see and replace except that parts are 'not available, we do an exchange service for £x'. I swore never to buy another but then was given an all in one K60 which is now 10 years old and still going strong.
The disadvantage is that although W7 runs it HP do not offer W7 specific software. So it works for most things with the W7 inclusive drivers except for stuff like printing a PDF where it will print in colour but omit all the text! Or omit the coulour and it will print the text.
Irritating that the thing is effectively becoming obsolete.
Also on the subject I asked the ink refilling company I use if they had any recommendations for a new printer. He demonstrated to me that my ink cartridges hold approximately double the ink of most of the latest printers and he more or less said that unless I had good reason to change stick with my old printer.
ShyTorque
14th Nov 2009, 09:02
I threw my HP Photosmart in the skip and bought a Lexmark X5650 for £48, a combined copier, fax, scanner. It can use cheap cartridges without penalty (a major gripe for me with the HP was rip-off, short life, cartridge prices).
No complaints here now. :ok:
My HP printer is very old and "just works". Windows 7 found drivers for it with no input from me, and no fuss. Toner cartridges are £80 from HP or £25 from the bloke on eBay, and last over a year. I'm very happy with it.
I bought an HP scanner many years ago and it was excellent - instant results, quick photocopying with a few keypresses ("copy" - pick number - "go") etc. It died of old age a few years ago and was replaced by an Agfa which was even faster. Sadly, the Agfa was SCSI and Win7 has no driver for the SCSI card, so I'm now using a USB Agfa which isn't a patch on it.
A friend of mine bought the latest HP - and got rid of it within the week. Any attempt to do any scanning brought advertisements, graphics of grinding gears etc, and copying was a marathon. Any activity took minutes rather than seconds. Never again.
As RiscOS says. It's very sad to see the market leader fall off the perch.
gas path
14th Nov 2009, 09:23
I must admit to using 'compatibles' in my HP. No problems though. Free delivery, from Jersey I believe, less than half price and they supply a 'freepost' recycling bag.
gas path
14th Nov 2009, 09:27
All these problems other people are having I'm beginning to feel left out!:{
Blues&twos
14th Nov 2009, 09:36
Don't feel left out gas path, like you (and like my experience with BT Broadband on another thread), I haven't had any problems with HP hardware....yet. The comments about the software I agree with, however.
Our 2 year old Canon printer/scanner broke a small plastic part which I couldn't get hold of. That had to go up the tip. Our 10 year old Lexmark still works but is horrendously expensive in respect to the ink cartridges.
Ancient Observer
14th Nov 2009, 11:35
My 5 year old all-in-one HP seems to be a decent piece of hardware, in that it (used to) do what it says on the tin, but HP's software - and especially its updates - is AWFUL. (Sorry about the shouting)
The software update that HP said that I should install did nothing that I can see, other than disabling the scanner.
As I'd bought the bloody thing partly for the scanner, I was not much impressed.
As others have said, it is almost impossible to uninstall their software. I once got the instructions from a techie about how to do it, but it looked like a full week-end job. I have a life!
Even though HP finally admitted that it was thier software that caused me the problem, they made no effort to do anything about it, and made no attempt to keep me as a customer.
(Shouting again)..........I HATE them!!!!
jimtherev
14th Nov 2009, 11:47
Perhaps we should ask Carlsberg to write software :)
Liftboy
14th Nov 2009, 13:41
Just bought an "ALL-IN-ONE" HP Printer for my homeoffice.
I didn't installed the orginal software...."HP Universal Driver" is your friend... works fine with WIN XP/VISTA/7/Server
We usually use it in our virtualized windows printserver (>1500 clients). Very small and has everything you need.
Simon
[Yes I work for HP-]
I was delighted to see that Windows 7 recognised my C7180 wireless printer and installed the drivers without requiring me to install all the HP software. That is also possible with the Vista and XP drivers, but you have to use WinRAR to extract the files from the executable and install using the .inf file, which not everyone is able to do. HP assumes that people will not already have Picasa or whatever installed.
Feline
14th Nov 2009, 16:45
I think that someone's previous comment that hp software is "intrusive" is something of an understatement - it is HUGELY and GROSSLY Intrusive! And extremely difficult to get rid of - I had to get some removal software from hp themselves: hp 1315 scrubber (gr_uninst.exe and HpAioScrubber-v2038.exe) which does the trick.
I was however somewhat loathe to ditch hp because I have a reasonable inventory of hp laserjet cartridges (some have been refilled 30 times and still going strong).
Spoke to my cartridge refiller and he pointed out that the print engine used in most hp printers is actually manufactured by Cannon. So purchased a Cannon LBP2900 and installed their s/w - and no more problems. And I still get to use my original hp cartridges.
FWIW
cessnapuppy
14th Nov 2009, 18:34
One of the most memory hungry and aggressive with its deep memory and cpu cycle hooks into your OS.
It all started when they decided to dumb down the printer as much as possible, and put all the page rendering code on the computer. :(
obgraham
14th Nov 2009, 20:24
The last straw for me was HP's idea of making your cartridge useless after their "expiration date", regardless of how few pages you might have printed.
My old Laserjet III and IV worked just fine for years, as did a 10 year old HP inkjet multifunction, until a vital part snapped recently. To heck with any more HP modern crap, a Canon multifunction, $30 from WalMart, works just fine.
Captain Gadget
14th Nov 2009, 21:15
I bought a secondhand HP LaserJet 4000N in 2000.
It sat, untested, in its box, in my mother's garage for a year or so. It gets cold in there.
I moved into my current house in Nov 2001, installed the printer (with a brand-new HP cartridge that I bought off a well-known auction site) and it worked - brilliantly.
It has seen off 3 PCs, and earlier this year, with the latest one, it was networked for the first time. It still worked brilliantly.
Recently, I upgraded to Windows 7 and Windows found the correct driver and installed it. I assume that it's an HP driver, since I now get an unobtrusive popup with an HP logo that tells me it's doing what I asked it to do. It still works, brilliantly.
The original printer cartridge that I installed now tells me that it has low toner (1500 pages to go). A year or so, then, at a guess. I have a spare in the cupboard.
The thing is built like a tank and works.
Tick in box from the Gadget household.
Gadget :ok:
RiscOS,
No apology necessary. I just hate wagging fingers. (Probably something to do with 33 years of marriage!!).
I left myself wide open for that didn't I.
Shack37
16th Nov 2009, 15:15
Current machine is an HP photsmart C5180 and has been 'as good as gold'
XP pro for what it's worth!
Ditto
Mine is the C3180 and no problem in two years of use other than a refusal to use non HP cartridges.:ok:
four_two
18th Nov 2009, 20:12
My wife uses one of all in one HP printers and she's always complaining about the frequency of having to change the cartridges. She was also told that the printer phones home regularly, I don't know if that's true but I do know it loads an incredible amount of guff on to the hard drive.
On the other hand I've got a HP laserjet4L, had it for at least 10 years and it's been absolutely fantastic. Not a hiccup, has run with at least 5 machines. And the best thing it is only on it's second cartridge! I'm not a heavy printer user but even so...
IBTheseus
20th Nov 2009, 09:04
6 years ago I had a HP psc 2410 photosmart all in one. I was extremely happy with it. Its always hard to judge if your getting good value for money in ink but life was good.
Neverthless when it came to up grade, bully for me, I did no research and just jumped in to get a HP Photosmart C7280 all in one.
It is total rubbish. It prints photos well, but general purpose printing is rubbish. I have tested many types of paper, but the only paper that moisture wont run the printed ink is expensive HP paper.
The printer seems to pick one of the 6 ink catridges to use extemely fast. I have no idea why, but one colour always runs down extremely fast. I spend a fortune on ink. I haven't tried the recycling of ink though.
It is frustratingly slow (and noisy) to print and copy. The printer seems to spend an extraordinary amount of time in its cleaning mode, or reedying mode, or what ever mood its in other than doing what I want it to do
I have spent some hours of the phone to HP disinterested techs trying to solve the problems, with no success.
There are continuous software problems with VISTA with it closing programs and refusing to print. HP says these are known problems, but dont seem to have the ability to fix.
Not happy Jan.
No more HP for me.
I’ve been using a C6180 All-in-One at home for about 2 years now and just haven’t had a single issue in any mode. (I don’t have Vista on anything at home and HP upgrades are turned off so maybe that’s why?)
It prints well on any type of paper, cartridge life seems good, fax and scan functions work very well.
In the office we have mainly HP scanners and printers (can’t recall model numbers) most only 2-3 years old, no Vista (except laptops), HP upgrades are turned off and again no issues.
Maybe I’ve just been lucky!
Having said this, will now think twice before any other HP purchases in view of above comments.
driftdown
27th Nov 2009, 09:28
I read this thread and thought was pretty lucky having two HP printers (photosmart C4400 and Photosmart C4580) and no problems.
Well the C4580 came out of the box and insisted on using Japanese as the language on the little screen. Tried like hell to get it to change, in the end my wife sorted it :ok:
And then the other day the C4400, only 4 months old started making a noise like a machine gun at the start of every print session. Took it to the authorised service agent who verified that indeed it was making a noise like a machine gun and that it could not be repaired and would be replaced under warranty So far so good :ok:
Except I am in the Middle East and the replacement has to be sent from the UK. I could walk into my local electrical store and pick up a replacement in 15minutes but no, not an option must wait 5 - 7 days for it to arrive. Now that is dumb :ugh:
My company provided laptop HP Compaq 6710b battery gave up after 18 months. The Toshiba my wife uses and purchased at the same time is still going strong, lighter, faster and overall a much better machine for about the same money as the Compaq.
driftdown
9th Dec 2009, 20:30
Not that it is of any real interest,
" And then the other day the C4400, only 4 months old started making a noise like a machine gun at the start of every print session. Took it to the authorised service agent who verified that indeed it was making a noise like a machine gun and that it could not be repaired and would be replaced under warranty So far so good"
WRONG
Printed 5 pages and then paper jam, even without paper in the damn thing. It was sorted with a quick visit to the service centre, yet still 5 pages on a new machine and its broken :*
What sort of junk is this stuff :mad:
Carbon Bootprint
9th Dec 2009, 20:57
As a once diehard supporter of HP and former owner of numerous of their printers and computers, a while back I completely gave up on them. The bloatware and adward and popups played a role, but there also seems to have been a noticeable drop off in product quality and innovation.
For printers, I have been far more impressed by Canon (though it takes some effort if you're a Linux user). IMO a number of PC makers surpassed HP yonks ago, which was the last time I owned one.