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HP Businesses Printer

HP Wants You To Pay Up To $36/Month To Rent a Printer That It Monitors (arstechnica.com) 138

Posted by msmash from the new-world-order dept.
HP launched a subscription service this week that rents people a printer, allots them a specific amount of printed pages, and sends them ink for a monthly fee. From a report: HP is framing its service as a way to simplify printing for families and small businesses, but the deal also comes with monitoring and a years-long commitment. Prices range from $6.99 per month for a plan that includes an HP Envy printer (the current model is the 6020e) and 20 printed pages. The priciest plan includes an HP OfficeJet Pro rental and 700 printed pages for $35.99 per month.

HP says it will provide subscribers with ink deliveries when they're running low and 24/7 support via phone or chat (although it's dubious how much you want to rely on HP support). Support doesn't include on or offsite repairs or part replacements. The subscription's terms of service (TOS) note that the service doesn't cover damage or failure caused by, unsurprisingly, "use of non-HP media supplies and other products" or if you use your printer more than what your plan calls for. HP calls this an All-In-Plan; if you subscribe, the tech company will be all in on your printing activities. One of the most perturbing aspects of the subscription plan is that it requires subscribers to keep their printers connected to the Internet. HP seeks two-year subscriber commitments, charging up to $270 plus taxes if canceled early.
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HP Wants You To Pay Up To $36/Month To Rent a Printer That It Monitors More

HP Wants You To Pay Up To $36/Month To Rent a Printer That It Monitors

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  • do you get an new printer after 2 years for free?

  • You will absolutely get what you deserve.

    • HP will price this to be less then buying an printer + ink with no sub

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by nomadic ( 141991 )

        Why would HP decide to make less money?

        • make the sub deal look good and they can say cheaper then buying one. While it's really only $5-10 less then not renting one.

        • Why would HP decide to make less money?

          They wouldn't. They're setting up a long con here - a bait and switch that only occurs after enough Judas-like suckers have bought in that the entire market converts to a rental model of business and people can no longer buy printers and supplies.

          If you think I'm alarmist or a conspiracy, look carefully at recent trends before you call me crazy. EVERY major corporation is doing its best to make sure that we proles will be able to own essentially nothing but will have to rent everything - software, printers,

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by taustin ( 171655 )

          They wouldn't.

          What they're expecting (and they're right) is that you only buy ink when you've printed enough to use up the old cartridge, or when it's sat long enough to dry out.

          With a subscription, you buy ink every month, whether you need it or not.

          MBAs love steady, fixed revenue, and worship at the temple of it.

      • "You will own nothing and print happy"
        The summary mentions that repairs aren't included in the plan, but the HP site promises that inoperable printers are replaced the next business day free of charge.

      • Re:HP will price this to be less then buying an pr (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Smidge204 ( 605297 ) on Friday March 01, 2024 @02:05PM (#64282470) Journal

        Coming soon: Every 100th page will be an advertisement tailored to you based on the documents you've been printing (which are sent to HP for "quality assurance monitoring and user experience improvements" - check your EULA) and your geolocation data.

        =Smidge=

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Calydor ( 739835 )

          And, of course, to make sure you are not printing any bad words or questionable opinions with an HP printer.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by taustin ( 171655 )

          And it will count as one of the 20 pages per month you're allowed. Or maybe it will count as two.

  • what is the overage fee and can you print pure black pages and HP will foot the bill for all of ink? or is their an ink usage max on top of the page max?

  • Brother HL-L2405W (Score:5, Insightful)

    by echo123 ( 1266692 ) on Friday March 01, 2024 @12:53PM (#64282168)

    This is the current rock-solid Brother double-sided monochrome laser printer [amazon.com] for $120. No DRM and the toner carts. last for ages. Mine sits silently, wirelessly until called for, from Linux and Windows.

    The best buy. (And no more inkjets for me!)

    • Re:Brother HL-L2405W (Score:5, Informative)

      by echo123 ( 1266692 ) on Friday March 01, 2024 @12:58PM (#64282180)

      Oops. That link is to a single-sided printer. This is the *double-sided* printer I actually use [amazon.com], for many years, still on my original toner cartridge, (web developers don't print).

    • Brother printers/scanners also have shortcomings, but I'll take them any day of the week over HP, also on weekends and holidays. (Among other things Brother software is awful, and at least my printer likes to call home.)

    • I just looked over at my printer to see what it is... it's a 2340dw. It survived sailing around Mexico on my boat for 8 years, and now it's in my apartment in Puerto Vallarta. No monthly expense, bought it for around $100usd in 2015 or so.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

      That printer says "refresh EZ print subscription ready". So I searched for that and it landed me on this page:

      https://www.brother-usa.com/su... [brother-usa.com]

      Looks like HP isn't the only company doing the subscription for printers.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by taustin ( 171655 )

        I doubt there's a brand of printer out there that can't be leased. That's a pretty normal business practice, and it certainly has its advantages. Unusual to see a lease program aimed at home users, but that makes it a growth market.

        What makes HP exceptional(ly bad) is that this is a shitty lease.

    • Similar. My Brother printer has been no bother for a decade.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Teun ( 17872 )
      I've got two laser printers, like you a Brother and a Xerox.
      A laser printer because previous inkjet printers would dry out.
      Both the laser printers require expensive (original) cartridges but you can get them cheap from 3rd party makers and they last a loooong time.
      Let me put it in understandable language:

      FUCK YOU HP!

    • Yeah, gonig with a brother laser that lasts ages even with third-party toner you'll be paying fractions of pennies a page, rather than 3.5 cents a page on HPs 'best' plan

    • Re: Brother HL-L2405W (Score:5, Informative)

      by Goodsuburbanite ( 10439816 ) on Friday March 01, 2024 @01:23PM (#64282306)
      I have owned a color Brother laser printer for a little over 10 years. Like you said, it sits patiently hooked to my home network. There's also an app so I can easily print from my phone. Generic toner? You bet! For years I also owned a 19" Epson inkjet printer. Beautiful prints when the heads weren't clogged. If the printer sat for a week or more, I had to run clean cycles, effectively wasting expensive ink. Sometimes part way through the print, it would start banding. I started using a local fine art printing shop and will never own an inkjet again. Online photo printing services are also a great option.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by kackle ( 910159 )
        I have a 30-year old Epson inkjet that's still my daily driver. To get around the clogging problem, I print a test page once a week--a small price to pay for being able to print on demand. I'm surprised NOS, OEM, decades-expired cartridges for $5 on eBay still work fine. 'Hats off to those (likely retired) engineers.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Brama ( 80257 )

      Hear hear. I have a Brother HL-3140CW color laser that I bought for $20 including all of the (large) toners that were at 95% and last ~2000 pages. Previously I've had different dumped office laser printers as well, and a Canon inkjet printer because I wanted the occasional nice photo print. No more though, it's cheaper to just order those online for the few times I need it since the damn ink always dries out. The printer had the nerve to have its head die and refuse to do any of its other functions (like sc

  • I'm genuinely curious - how many people print at home on a regular basis anymore? We have a (laser) printer, but I doubt it gets used more than once a month... if even that.

    • The only thing I ever print is my tax return.

    • Define "regularly" ?

      I print at least something every month. Is that regular enougj?

      Most recent thing I printed was an envelope. I needed to send a check sent to us by Fidelity to Vanguard, to roll over my wife's former 401K plan into her IRA. For some reason, Fidelity wouldn't just fucking sure it directly to Vanguard.

      • For some reason? You know the answer. The same reason you can sign up for anything in a nanosecond but have to spend 30 minutes on hold to talk to someone who barely speaks English to cancel it. Just enough friction to keep many or most people from doing it.

    • All the time, but my that's typically my wife printing out patterns for her various hobbies, and so on. I'm a huge fan of the Canon printers with the refillable ink reservoirs.
      • That's the next kind of printer I'm getting. The current Canon printer I have uses the separate cartridges for each ink color, which is great when printing a bunch of photos with a lot of one color; with the tri-color cartridges I felt like I was throwing away a tone of ink because the magenta, or something, ran out. I doo like the looks the super tank versions where you can top of a color if it's getting low before printing stuff.
        • You can indeed. And you do not have to use an entire bottle of one kind of ink color in one go - you can cap it and keep using it. I had one with separate cartridges and liked that one too - but this one is better because I'm not always throwing away a cartridge.

        • I didn't even realize that was a thing in consumer space. Do you guys have a recommendation on a particular model or models with refillable reservoirs, especially if it can handle larger paper? My wife doesn't do it very often, but she does print out sewing patterns that have to be pieced together... and she grumbles about our existing printer only being 8.5x11 and w/o color.

    • I use the scanner much more than the printer, but it is an AIO so the printer is there for the occasional time it is needed. Handy to be able to quickly photocopy sometimes as well.

      Also, it is an HP. I don't let it connect to the internet and it has been fine with third party toner, but when it comes time to replace it won't be an HP just as a matter of principle.

    • I typically print about 3 double-sided sheets (that is, 3 physical sheets of paper) + 1 single-sided sheet weekly, along with other occasional prints (maybe 1 every couple months). These are on my xerox b/w laser printer.

    • My wife is a grade school teacher and prints quite a bit. We have a Brother printer/scanner. Not on its first drum, either.
    • We do, quite a bit. I print out documentation for my programming work because sometimes I want it sitting on the desk next to me so I can scribble on it, maybe highlight some lines, write little checkmarks, etc., rather than having yet another pdf window open. My wife sells stuff online so she prints shipping labels and patterns. When I find a recipe for dinner I print it out and clip it to the side of the fridge so it's next to me while I'm cooking (I don't want a tablet or laptop in the kitchen that I t

  • 20 pages per month? You'd have more than that with just one kid's homework.

    That's also 35c per page, which is very high, especially with it not covering paper. (I'm guessing that's the 'moral support' they give you.)

    They should bump it by an order of magnitude. 200pages for the $7 plan.

    The 700 page plan doesn't fit either, but at least that's already 5c per page. That should probably go to 1200, or 1500.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by suutar ( 1860506 )

      Ah, but "very high" per page is how they cover having to replace the ink because the old cartridge dried out from nonuse.

    • 20 pages per month? You'd have more than that with just one kid's homework.

      That's also 35c per page, which is very high, especially with it not covering paper. (I'm guessing that's the 'moral support' they give you.)

      They should bump it by an order of magnitude. 200pages for the $7 plan.

      The 700 page plan doesn't fit either, but at least that's already 5c per page. That should probably go to 1200, or 1500.

      I dunno, 20 pages a month about covers our usage, which is packing slips and shipping labels for items we sell online. About once a year I'll print a novel draft for somebody to beta read that doesn't like computers, resulting in a few hundred pages.

      But arguing over the plan "levels" on an entire concept that should fail on principal seems a backward way to look at it.

      • For a couple hundred pages of non smut per year, just walk it into the office supply store on a memory stick.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by nevermindme ( 912672 )
      Ask your kids teacher what she has against rain forests of the pacific northwest. That should cause an geopolitical crisis in the local liberal hivemind.

  • $6.99 a month for 20 pages? (Score:5, Informative)

    by devslash0 ( 4203435 ) on Friday March 01, 2024 @01:02PM (#64282204)

    F... off.

  • ... fast enough. NO!!!!

  • The left or the right? In the immortal words of Elon Musk, "Go f*ck yourself".

  • It almost seems like.. (Score:3)

    by MpVpRb ( 1423381 ) on Friday March 01, 2024 @01:14PM (#64282268)

    ..some sort of intelligence test to identify the clueless for further abuse

  • I have not needed a print job at work or home in the past 10 years that isn't a PDF that some backwards agency still needs a paper copy of.

    I have label printers of all shapes, eras and sizes for electronics projects and storage bin labeling, but anything HP makes, no. I have made a living around being the guy who could make a network printer work in legal, banking, manufacturing and retail, but personaly, everything I do today is a PDF, signed as PDF, kept as PDF unless it is goverment (snail pace) do
    • What is also going to happen, we are going to be lost historically to future historians, no musty papers to peer through, whomever takes the old thumb drive will put it in a junk drawer, and forget it for 40 years. Government will loose their electronic copies to quantum powered malware.

  • Run (Score:4, Informative)

    by markdavis ( 642305 ) on Friday March 01, 2024 @01:19PM (#64282284)

    Run away from HP printers at home or small applications (HP business/higher-end is OK, though).

    1) Do not use liquid ink printers
    2) DO look at Brother lasers and all-in-ones

    https://www.brother-usa.com/ho... [brother-usa.com]

    Years and years of perfect service. No lockdowns. Great for home use. Much lower price than comparable HP to buy and much, much, much lower price to operate. Great Linux support. Highly recommend.

    • Well, I had their cheapest laser printer and it's firmware one day just decided it was done and functionally bricked itself. Found others online to confirm. won't trust them again. Their higher end model however ran until it broke.

  • Each ink cartridge comes with free Vasoline. (Score:4, Funny)

    by Eunomion ( 8640039 ) on Friday March 01, 2024 @01:20PM (#64282288)
    And a free pillow for you to bite on while they service the bottom line.

  • "doesn't include repairs or parts" (Score:5, Informative)

    by bill_mcgonigle ( 4333 ) * on Friday March 01, 2024 @01:26PM (#64282316) Homepage Journal

    > Support doesn't include on or offsite repairs or part replacements.

    On an HP?

    Good luck with that.

    Next year we'll get a story about people with broken printers who are stuck paying out their contract fees.

    I know many businesses who contract with "copier companies" for a fixed per-page deal and they find it to be economically adventageous.

    But if anything breaks, they make a phone call and have an SLA. We set up a vpn for SNMP toner/malfunction monitoring and along comes a tech once a week/month to keep them going with toner and maintenance, loaded on the truck for him by somebody who pulls from inventory based on the monitoring.

    That's the market HP is (not) trying to compete in.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by taustin ( 171655 )

      This appears to be aimed at home users.

      Who are a lot more gullible.

      (We lease Kyoceras, same deal as you, for what the toner would cost if we owned the printer. Making repairs and maintenance, and the printer itself, basically free. But we have to change our own toner when it's low.)

  • I have two of these color printers. They're circa 2009-2010. I use third party toner from Amazon.

    They're awesome and I will keep them running as long as possible.

  • I see the Bud Light fiasco management has skipped over to HP. Truly we live in the Idiocracy era.

  • They bought out samsung printers, I heard they are trying to buy cannon. They are essentially trying to monopolize the printer market and move everyone to a subscription model. This is not a good long term plan as someone will eventually undercut this expensive business model, but in the short term consumers will suffer with higher prices.

    Make sure friends and family do not buy HP printers.

  • What a shame. (Score:3)

    by bjwest ( 14070 ) on Friday March 01, 2024 @01:49PM (#64282386)
    HP used to be the go-to for printers, especially laser, now they're cheep crap that I wouldn't take if they gave me one for free.

  • Next from HP (Score:3)

    by RitchCraft ( 6454710 ) on Friday March 01, 2024 @02:04PM (#64282462)

    Here's you shiny brand new computer for $39.99 a month. Remember, you are only allowed to create up to 40 Word documents and visit a maximum of 200 web sites per month. *Upgrade pricing available.

  • with our Kyocera lease (which is what this is, a leased printer):

    Color laser, not inkjet, so vastly superior quality printing for anything other than photos (and not too bad on those).

    All toner, with automated monitoring and shipping for when it's low (which appears to be the same), included.

    Guaranteed four hour on site time for maintenance and repair, vs no included repairs at all.

    Tens of thousands of pages per month vs max of 700.

    Less than twice as much.

    No need for any network connection at all, much less

  • ... and f*ck itself. I think we unanimously agree on that one.

  • I am glad that so far only HP and BMW signed up for this program.
  • I stopped using the scam of ink in printers 15 years ago. I buy laser printers for home. A single cartridge lasts years and never dries out.

  • This is strange: (Score:5, Informative)

    by Gravis Zero ( 934156 ) on Friday March 01, 2024 @02:46PM (#64282638)

    From the TOS: https://www.hp.com/us-en/all-i... [hp.com]

    15. NO OWNERSHIP.

    For avoidance of doubt, You DO NOT own HP Device and Subscription Cartridges provided under this HP All-In Plan for print, even if You pay an Early Cancellation Fee or complete the entire Subscription Term or move to a Printer Upgrade. All Device and Subscription Cartridge provided to You as part of the Service remains HP owned equipment, and HP retains title in it.

    I'm not entirely sure how they can claim such a thing. I gotta say, this is a real dipshit idea.

    • It's been headed in this direction for years. HP is just the first company to say it out loud: You do NOT own the technology you bought and paid for, you only rent it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by kenh ( 9056 )

      HP retains ownership until the contract is fulfilled, then they will "generously" offer to let you keep the printer/cartridges, maybe for a buyout - remember, they are selling a service, not leasing the printer.

      I have to ask, what the hell would HP do with a bunch of fiddly ink jet printers that were self-packed by customers in whatever old cardboard box they happen to have lying around. (I'm picturing a paper towel box full of packing peanuts, with the remains of the inkjet printer floating around in the i

  • ... or not very smart.
    Sadly, there's clearly enough dumb people out there for HP to pray on.
    The kind that wants something now, is unwilling to save for it, so ends up with the worst deal ever because ... they can't Math.

    • I'm sure if we were to look at HP's strategic plans for the next five years, they include not offering most models for "perpetual" sale and jacking up the price of the few that they do.

      Not very smart, I agree. But I could see a future scenario where there aren't many other options.

  • How stupid can you be?

  • I thought that business model went the way of the trilobite way back when the Xerox patent expired.

    I can't imagine this working out very well for HP. A rapidly dwindling population of ever more stupid customers.

  • It sounds like HP is pivoting to a new business model - that of compiling and selling "sucker lists" of gullible consumers to companies and scammers who find such lists very valuable in improving their "conversion rate".

    If I could obtain a sizeable list of suckers who would fall for HP's deal as described here, I'd likely be very rich very quickly.

  • If they can get enough suckers to sign on to this the one last step will be to stop selling printers and only have subscription options.

    Just to echo many others, buy a Brother laser printer.
  • There's plenty of corporations that would think this is worth the money. Joe Inkjet, who just wants to print out pictures of his mom and send them to her, probably won't.

  • Even Lt. Provenza offered a better service to the LAPD than this.

    I think I would pay for a print service, if I could, say, submit my occasional color print jobs to Kinko for pickup later that day and do my day-to-day printing on my brother laser. (I don't print much but I do want a ledger sized full color one-or-two page print every few weeks and it's a bind to carry over the USB drive)

  • When you think they reach the bottom, they continue digging. Their own grave.

  • At this point it's a well known fact that HP does crap like this so why do people keep buying HP printers?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by kenh ( 9056 )

      They aren't, that's why HP is trying to lease out to unsuspecting customers...

  • Seriously, HP has gone way downhill since I worked there in the early 90s.
    I worked at both Bell labs and then HP when a nightmare came in and destroyed these amazing companies.
    What a nightmare.
  • Feel free, however, to have a big middle finger.

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