DRM on my ink cartridges? Ugh...

allenskd

allenskd

Active Member
Happy New Year everyone! I've been long gone for a while but I'm back for a short rant on DRM. I hope everyone is doing fine! I haven't used linux much as of late due to work (MS stack).

Anyway here's some thoughts because recently I came across this issue. (This is a copy/paste from my blog entry, I might put some time and do research on printers without that draconian DRM chip on ink cartridges and do a bigger entry. I know I'm late to the party myself since I rarely print stuff but this is ... insane). And this is from _me_, a person who has a high level tolerance of proprietary stuff. I draw the line here for the simple here that they are ripping people off with their overpriced ink cartridges.

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I'm disgusted at the fact that there's actually DRM chips in my ink cartridges. I don't know who began implementing this draconian chip on new printers, but whoever did it really deserves to have all the hell for it. I'm sad to say that in 2016 is where I began to deal with this sort of problem. I'm not the type who sets out to buy a new printer every year as I read everything on PC/Laptop or whatever device with the capability of reading PDF/images files.

Where do I even begin?

I buy a printer, right? Whatever third-party ink I choose to buy for it is up to me. This whole "counterfeiting" ink cartridges is a new level of stupid, it's the most anti-consumer system I've seen implemented these days. Shame on you Canon, shame on you HP, and whoever manufactures printers for the sake of locking in consumers to one provider. The printer industry was never meant to be to be "big". A family buys a printer and expects it to last at least 3-4 years. Now you want to tie said family to a cartridge sold at a really high price point.

Whatever your marketing team says about the ink "quality" you provide I'm not buying it. The price on ink is too damn high for legit cartridges. I really refuse to support any manufacturer that does this and would like to welcome anyone to suggest any manufacturer that does not do this.

Do you share my feelings? Do you know any manufacturer that doesn't do this? Shoot a comment or private message me, or get my public e-mail allenskd [at] thehumble [dot] ninja. (Do write a reference to this thread in the title)
 
The DRM cartridge thing has been a thorn for a while now; the attempt by the printer companies to lock out 3rd party ink and toner manufacturers has been going on for AT LEAST a decade.

While I acknowledge HP's (or LexMark's, or Ricoh's or Cannon's) right to refuse to service a printer (under warranty) that has experienced problems after using 3rd party ink or toner (since they obviously have no control over the ink/toner from those 3rd parties, and bad ink/toner CAN ruin a printer), I have purchased that piece of equipment. It belongs to ME. I should be able to purchase ink/toner from whatever suppliers I choose.

What's really insidious about the whole business is that the cartridges are NEVER out when the printer tells you they are, but the DRM tech won't let you use the cartridge once it has decided it's time to change. This now artificially inflates the ink costs even MORE, because you are throwing out cartridges that are still as much as one-third full: http://www.pcworld.com/article/152953/printer_ink_costs.html
 
I don't think I've ever asked for service support for a printer quite honestly... most of them just work once you set them on and the problems I have rarely have to do with ink cartridges. Now that I remember I've been meaning to talk about this problem three or four years ago when I purchased a Brother printer. Thing is, said Brother printer never gave me problems, and the ink was actually incredibly cheap (purchased from third-party). When I moved from Brother to Canon PIXMA? Oh boy... that's where the problems began. The firmware detected counterfeit chips, but it didn't lock you out like HP printers who would self-destruct (literally) when it encountered 3rd party ink cartridges.

I don't know why people haven't given them hell for it enough to remove it. These companies don't deserve the customers, just a big lovely boycott.

As for the ink cartridges being reported as almost out but yet it isn't is honestly rage inducing.
 
I feel for ya both. I've been burned too many times by ink cartridge prices that I have stopped purchasing Photo Printers. Which really sucks because my Wife is a photographer.
The last Photo Printer we purchased was a $100 Cannon. IT had 5 ink cartridges that were all separate: CMYKBlk & Blk (2nd black cartrige)
We loved this all-in-one printer for printing out borderless color photos. We even made calendars from it.
Unfortunately the day came when one or two cartridges ran out of ink and we didn't have the money to purchase more. By the time we had money it was too late. That printer sat in my office with no A/C in an Arizona summer and baked. I know those printheads were dried up. Had to be! I wasn't going to "fork out" $30-$40 just to see if they were dry.
We just stopped using it.
Now I have her going to Kinkos or Walmart to print photos.
Really sucks but in a way, its cheaper...
We buy our own paper, put the photo on a flash drive, go down the street and print a few photos.

If I ever consider purchasing a printer again, it will be an expensive color Laserjet. I know the toners are expensive, but in the long run they last much longer. The downside is photo quality from a laser printer isn't quite as good.
 
booman said:
If I ever consider purchasing a printer again, it will be an expensive color Laserjet. I know the toners are expensive, but in the long run they last much longer. The downside is photo quality from a laser printer isn't quite as good.
Click to expand...

You might be surprised....current generation laser printers have gotten quite good.
 
I had a feeling you would say that ;)
I never really did a good test with a color laserprinter.
I printed some photos at work once and they looked ok... but not great.
Maybe I will have to research a photo laserprinter.
 
They have also gotten really cheap. Patti bought one around three years back p[aid 99 bucks, it still covers our limited needs.
 
Really? Does it print decent photos?
I may have to revisit color laser printers again.
Thanks Daniel
 
Sorry, I really can't say as it's Patti's and she doesn't use it for photo's.
 
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