I must buy a printer soon. Thank you for reminding me to avoid HP products.
HP Inc settles printer toner lockout lawsuit with a promise to make firmware updates optional
Submitted 5 weeks ago by cm0002@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/19/hp_printer_lawsuit_settled/
Comments
original_reader@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
acosmichippo@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
brother laser printer
Bluefruit@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
This is the way. My brother printer is a hl2040, came out sometime in the early 2000s. It still prints. I’ve replaced the toner cartridge once since my Dad gave it to me back in 2016.
The other day I needed to print something out and this was after I had reinstalled linux.
Just fired right up, instantly recognized. Its one of the best pieces of hardware I own.
original_reader@lemm.ee 4 weeks ago
Are “brother” the nice guys at the moment?
cm0002@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Laser printer and probably brother, it’s worth the extra up front cost 10 fold
For an old color Dell Laser printer I got from a thrift store years ago I can find 4 color sets of toner for it for $40-60
Ledericas@lemm.ee 4 weeks ago
brother is currently enshittifying right now.
cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
Brother. The end.
Coreidan@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
My current bother printer is a pile of shit.
mp3@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
Or they could, just not be dicks and supply firmware updates without the lock-in, instead of having to trade off security.
cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
Oh BROTHER, not this again.
On a more serious note, I’ve been all about brother printers for a few years now and couldn’t be happier.
2pt_perversion@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
[deleted]WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
meantime turns out was misunderstanding/bullshit. maybe reroute your rage energies elsewhere
manualoverride@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Called brother about this and talked through the issues raised by Rossmann, they convinced me enough to buy 3 printers from them this month.
Coreidan@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
My current brother printer is a pile of shit.
Billythegoat@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
They apparently restricted 3rd party ink now too.
Kbobabob@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
You got a source? Everyone else says it was debunked.
HiTekRedNek@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
I’ve been rockin my HL3170CDW for many years now. I have absolutely no issues with this printer, and I’ll buy nothing else.
SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
“Settles” lol the lawyers got their payout
JackbyDev@programming.dev 4 weeks ago
I’ve never interpreted settling to imply lawyers don’t get paid.
SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 4 weeks ago
Lawyera get paid either way, but that’s about the most that comes of it. Setting means no legal precedent has been set, so businesses can pull this bullshit again in the future
pinheadednightmare@lemm.ee 4 weeks ago
Simple fix here, stop buying the companies that do this. I bought a brother printer and I won’t go back.
Allero@lemmy.today 4 weeks ago
Oh well, Brother’s now in this too:
claymore@pawb.social 4 weeks ago
This was in the related articles: tomshardware.com/…/brother-denies-firmware-blocks…
And I believe them. The reddit post in Rossman’s video was 3 years old. I have personally installed and updated 5 Brother printers in the last year and they all still run on 3rd-party toner.
pinheadednightmare@lemm.ee 4 weeks ago
That sucks, I bought mine a few years ago and haven’t had any issues yet. 🤞
ploot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 weeks ago
Even better, the whole HP printer is optional.
MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
Well, here’s the story: The old HP MuFu finally caved in, so dad was going to the local multimedia retailer. I told him to get a Brother Ecotank, since i have to support it. But the store only had HP MuFu, so he got a HP MuFu that is even worse than the old one, despite being a laser printer instead of an inkjet. And the f*cking toner cost a whole 140€.
JackFrostNCola@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Bullshittery aside, “HP Inc.” Instead of just “HP” Is on the nose and has to be deliberate on the journalists behalf
brandon@lemmy.ml 4 weeks ago
The actual reason is because in 2015 “Hewlett Packard” split into two companies, one called HP, Inc, and one called HP Enterprise. The print and consumer PC business went to HPI, while the server and network hardware went to HPE.
devilish666@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Sometimes I wonder why there’s no DIY Paper printer after seeing so…much shit in Printer Company ?
We had advance DIY 3D Printer that can made various objects with various size and materials and yet there’s no DIY Paper printer until nowdruidjaidan@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
It’s not really surprising. The demand for printers has fallen off a cliff due to wide acceptance of digital alternatives. People barely need printers now and as such aren’t willing to pay much for them.
This is further exacerbated by the reality that a printer is actually a fairly high precision device and expensive to manufacture.
So you have an expensive to manufacture device that consumers aren’t willing to pay much for. So what happens? They adopt a consumable based business with the printers being locked down to force you to buy their overpriced, high margin consumables that have a low absolute price so consumers don’t think about it much.
Let’s say that we regulate away this lock in. What will happen? Well the price of printers would have to climb to match their actual cost to manufacture. That price would likely turn off consumers from buying them at all. The end result would be the end of the printer business altogether. Maybe not a bad thing as not printing at all is likely a better ecological outcome.
FinnFooted@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I have an epson eco tank. No more ink cartridges.
Coreidan@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Ink jets are trash tho
Laser jet or nothing.
FinnFooted@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
You’re probably right, but I’m just printing random documents on occasion.
qyron@sopuli.xyz 5 weeks ago
What about printing head replacement?
alphabethunter@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
From my experience, those last years. But they are indeed a bit expensive… I have had my eco tank for the last 5 years, only had to replace the b/w printer head after around 4 thousand prints, and I’m almost sure it was my own fault for using expired low-quality ink that I had bought in bulk for super cheap.
Daedskin@lemm.ee 4 weeks ago
As someone who’s worked on printer firmware before, it makes me really sad that a company can get away with making a consumer decide between getting access to any of the actually useful changes that engineers — who have no say over ink cartridge policy — put effort towards making the best product they could, or not having said ink cartridge policies forced on them.
BigTrout75@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
HP is like, “enjoy the security vulnerabilities”
lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 weeks ago
laughs in CUPS server
Grass@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
did the cups vulnerability get fixed?
singletona@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Still not interested in a fucking printer.
roofuskit@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Anytime a company reduces the functionality of a device through software or firmware they should have to offer to buy back the hardware. The depreciation rate should be set at time of purchase so you know how much you get if they neuter it a year from now.
notabot@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
Why allow depreciation? You wouldn’t have bought it with the reduced functionality, and it’s going to cost you time and effort to remove it and replace it with something else. Inflation will reduce the value more than enough.
cm0002@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
@roofuskit@lemmy.world 2028!
lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 weeks ago
Yeah, but that means they don’t get your money anymore! Think of the
profitsshareholderschildren!