I miss my HP Deskjet 500, it was the best printer I ever had and lasted way past expectations. Ink lasted forever too, and the print head could be easily cleaned when necessary. Never owned an HP since.
The newer models check for a date encoded in the cartridges and if they are expired it won't let you print, even if they are full and otherwise working.
Very disappointed in the embodiment of an Avarice, 'HP.' Corporations today it seems the primary driving principle is perpetual greed!
I doubt it is illegal in the US. Can't speak for anywhere else. We did have to throw out some ink cartridges that were "expired". Fortunately the laser toner seems to not be affected by this. Or at least wasn't.
Yeah, that should be illegal. It'd be like if cars wouldn't start if you were one day past the recommended oil change date. It's another example of companies saving us from ourselves (you don't want to use expired ink, it might not look good!) which bugs the hell out of me. But, I never went back to HP inkjet printers because they always lagged in quality compared to others. I had some good Epsons and Canons over the years, but now they're all the same for dubious ink practices. Even had a Kodak for a while -- they were going to change the inkjet world with higher cost printers and lower cost ink, and where are they now?? Photos looked good, though.
I've given up on home printers. I need them so infrequently that when I need them the ink has gone dry or the software went wonky. I use an expensive option FedEx Office because home printers are too frustrating.
I only use my Epson once a month and it's going strong. Brother and Epson are the only two brands I trust for printers.
I loved my Epson MX-100! Never ran out of ink (only ribbons). Had a good Epson Stylus for some time until it stopped working well, but never went back for some reason or other. I never did take to Brother. Most recently a Brother in the family stopped working (something's slipping in the gearing) even after being only lightly used. It seemed good on ink, though, which is a shame. What Epson do you have? Do you find it good on ink? The Canon I have now is pretty bad with occasional use.
It's an ink tank printer, a model Epson produced exclusively for a particular online outlet. It has lasted well beyond any other I owned (cough, HP, cough cough, Canon) and retains it's printing efficacy even if not used for 30+ days. My brother printer was good on ink, but it had a mechanical failure after a couple of years just like yours. But it was way better than cough, HP, cough cough, Canon.
