Drag thought Brother were supposed to be the makers of user friendly printers. Are they enshittifying?
Brother accused of locking down third-party printer ink cartridges via forced firmware updates, removing older firmware versions from support portals
Submitted 1 day ago by misk@sopuli.xyz to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
dragonfucker@lemmy.nz 17 hours ago
ayyy@sh.itjust.works 12 hours ago
At least they aren’t transphobic.
scroll_responsibly@lemmy.sdf.org 6 hours ago
redbr64@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Fuck I just got rid of my 2008 BW laser brother and bought a new one that hasn’t arrived. Thanks for the warning, at least I will be able to set my firewall before I even connect it to my network
flavonol@lemmy.world 1 day ago
If it’s not already under the umbrella of right to repair, do we now need right to refill?
catloaf@lemm.ee 1 day ago
if the update doesn’t allow the printer to calibrate with this aftermarket ink the cheaper carts become basically unusable
This isn’t true. It just means you have to do the registration manually.
This is scummy behavior for sure, but it’s also being exaggerated for clicks.
Sanctus@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I think its time we deprecate most forms of printing. Clearly corporations cannot be trusted to operate these kinds of companies.
AppearanceBoring9229@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
They were the last good guys :(
I guess it’s time to buy the printer I’ve been postponing
Ledericas@lemm.ee 13 hours ago
try looking for laser jet printers, only use toner cartridge. Ink-based printers are pretty much scams. we spent an untold amount on ink for epson, until the printer failed completely
AppearanceBoring9229@sh.itjust.works 3 hours ago
Sadly i need an ink printer. I already hace a laser one but sometimes i need to printer on papers that don’t work on laser
DFX4509B_2@lemmy.org 22 hours ago
It’s going to get to the point where you might be better off going back to dot matrix if tank-based inkjet printers are somehow locked down via chemical DRM too.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Oh, Brother.
spooky2092@lemmy.blahaj.zone 19 hours ago
I fear the day my 2014 hp LaserJet dies. There won’t be a decent printer on the market…
BroBot9000@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Anyone know which ip addresses to block to stop the updates?
lemming741@lemmy.world 1 day ago
If you set the wrong gateway in the static IP settings or a reserved DHCP lease, it won’t be able to get out.
Scrollone@feddit.it 12 hours ago
But will it be able to be reachable by other printers on the network?
elvith@feddit.org 1 day ago
Why? Does the printer need to be connected to the internet at all, if not for firmware upgrades? (Note: LAN != internet)
Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 23 hours ago
Many people use WiFi to connect to their printers for the sake of convenience
SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 20 hours ago
Haha, my crappy ass old HP printer still takes refills. No printer company shall ever see another cent of mine 😈
MapleEngineer@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Buy an Epson EcoTank printer. My family owns three. You pay more for the printer but just dump in bottles of ink when they need refilling.
wildbus8979@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Just make sure you schedule a test print every couple off weeks to prevent clogs, is a little wasteful but if you get aftermarket ink it’s cheap enough that is worth it, otherwise a new head will run you down around 50 bucks.
MapleEngineer@lemmy.world 1 day ago
They do require maintenance to keep them running smoothly. I’m fairly mechanically and technically capable so I can disconnect the head and run DA-2A through the mechanism to clean it out.
user224@lemmy.sdf.org 23 hours ago
I just got an old HP inkjet that doesn’t care about reported ink levels and cheap ink bottles from AliExpress.
I print white on black because I have so much damn ink and nobody expects dark mode documents. Kinda funny when I take out a sheet of paper and have to dry it out. 120g/m² is absolutely the minimum when doing such crap though. Regular 80g/m² just wrinkles up and leaks through, although that’s also a property of dye ink vs pigment ink.
But I also lucked out on sales combined with coupons
ImageCurrently it’s €18.50, though for 0.5L (~1 pint) that’s still cheap. Honestly I am surprised I actually received that.
MapleEngineer@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
Nice. We had one printer or another that required expensive ink cartridges before we got the Epson. I used to refill some cartridges but it was a pain. Now I just open a set of bottles and top up the tanks whenever it’s thirsty.
MisanthropiCynic@lemm.ee 22 hours ago
Someone needs to Luigi Brother’s CEO
werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
I’m actually looking for a good multifunctional printer. Our Samsung is dying. It was an LED printer and we only changed toner 1 time in 15 years.
Treczoks@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Good that we did not buy a Brother printer.
b_tr3e@feddit.org 22 hours ago
OTOH, I’ve been using a HP laser printer for years and the last time I spent 40€ for toner was almost two years ago. Just stay away from shitty inksquirters or even shittier “multi-function-devices”. They are customer-rippoff devices without real use, nothing else. Honestly, if you think you need to print colorful, fuzzy pictures that will fade at the first streak of sunlight you probably had it coming.
chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
This firmware update applies to laserjets. Not inkjets.
Cocopanda@futurology.today 16 hours ago
I too watched Louis Rossman’s YouTube video to author.