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
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
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
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.