HP Buying Samsung's Printer Division

[mubs]

News Here.

 

[sechs]

Shouldn't the real title be, "HP Buying Samsung's Printer Patents?"

 

[Chewy509]

I agree. That's about the only reason to purchase their printer business.

 

[sedrosken]

I didn't even know Samsung had a printer division.

 

[Stereodude]

I didn't even know Samsung had a printer division.

Neither did the public at large, which is probably why they're selling it. :rofl:

 

[ddrueding]

I bought tons of them about 3-6 years ago. Good quality, excellent price. Both have suffered since.

 

[jtr1962]

I have two of them-one color and one B&W. Both great printers. And I bought both about a decade ago, before quality went downhill.

 

[timwhit]

I own a Samsung printer.

 

[Howell]

I also have a Samsung printer.

 

[mubs]

Shouldn't the real title be, "HP Buying Samsung's Printer Patents?"

The article said HP would be absorbing Samsung's employees and facilities. That makes it a buy of the division, not just the patents.

 

[time]

And me. Very pleased with my color MFP with double-sided scanning that I can use across the network.

In contrast, HP printer software is toxic bloatware, so this buyout is a disappointment.

 

[mubs]

In contrast, HP printer software is toxic bloatware, so this buyout is a disappointment.

A mere 500-700 MB, and you call that bloatware wneddnce:

PS: I last bought an HP printer ~ 18 years ago, so my numbers may be off by a factor of 1.5x to 2x

 

[sedrosken]

And me. Very pleased with my color MFP with double-sided scanning that I can use across the network.

In contrast, HP printer software is toxic bloatware, so this buyout is a disappointment.

I've found that using thir basic driver package works much better than the full software suite on Windows, and on Linux I of course don't have to deal with that at all, CUPS and HPLIP are my friends there.

 

[Handruin]

A mere 500-700 MB, and you call that bloatware wneddnce:

PS: I last bought an HP printer ~ 18 years ago, so my numbers may be off by a factor of 1.5x to 2x

The last printer of any kind that I bought was an HP back in 1996...

 

[Stereodude]

The last printer of any kind that I bought was an HP back in 1996...

You steal them now too? Highfive! 8)

 

[Handruin]

You steal them now too? Highfive! 8)

Steal them? I rarely ever need a printer.

 

[Stereodude]

Steal them? I rarely ever need a printer.

It was a joke... Since you said you don't buy them. You didn't say that you don't use one.

 

[Handruin]

It was a joke... Since you said you don't buy them. You didn't say that you don't use one.

I wasn't sure if you were inferring that using one at work was stealing the use of one. It is pretty rare for me to need a printer but even so, I've had a bad taste in my mouth for printers over the years that I don't want to buy one. I had a b&w laser printer many years back that was given to me. I used it until I built a new system that no longer had a parallel port to interface with it.

 

[Stereodude]

I wasn't sure if you were inferring that using one at work was stealing the use of one.

No, I meant stealing the whole printer. Like pulling a Mission Impossible-esque heist to get one instead of buying it. Hence the joke.

It is pretty rare for me to need a printer but even so, I've had a bad taste in my mouth for printers over the years that I don't want to buy one. I had a b&w laser printer many years back that was given to me. I used it until I built a new system that no longer had a parallel port to interface with it.

I have a networked B&W Brother laser printer I use when I need one. But, I don't use it much.

 

[mubs]

Scumbags. That's why my last purchase was not an HP printer.

 

[jtr1962]

Scumbags. That's why my last purchase was not an HP printer.

After all the negative press shenanigans like this have received in the past, I'm amazed HP would try something this stupid. The printer business is shrinking as it is. Having DRM for cartridges is only going to encourage people to buy other brands or just look for decent, used printers.

On another note, I was done with ink jets once I bought my Samsung color laser. Refilling cartridges is too messy. The new cartridges often don't work without coaxing. New cartridges are much too expensive. Plus the ink runs when it gets wet. No compelling reason for me to use inkjets. There hasn't been for a long time.

 

[LunarMist]

Sure if you don't print photos.

 

[jtr1962]

Sure if you don't print photos.

I don't but it's probably more cost effective to have a professional photo printing service do it unless you have large numbers of photos. They're likely using MUCH better equipment than a home user could afford anyway. BTW, photos seem reasonable on my Samsung CLP-510, or at least I couldn't tell the difference from ones printed on the inkjet I used to use. Then again, I'm not doing this professionally.

Interesting article regarding printing photos with laser printers.

 

[Handruin]

Scumbags. That's why my last purchase was not an HP printer.

I find this kind of behavior to be one of several signs of dying as a business. I believe Keurig did this and had a bunch of bad press around it with their K cup DRM strategy to protect their IP but not they're crawling back like a dog with its tail between its legs because of the outrage. HP and printers just seems like a too big to fail mentality that soon they may be doing the same. Sadly there is still such a large population of people not as informed that will get burned by this and just continue as-is...and it may be big enough that it won't matter.

 

[sedrosken]

Wow. Wish I had known about that before I bought my Envy 4520. I don't have the wherewithal to get anything else at the moment.

 

[mubs]

Ar least with this they're not allowing use of non-HP cartridges. Didn't they earlier "expire" their own cartridges that were perfectly good to "ensure their customers had the best experience"?

 

[Mercutio]

I'm under the impression that every printer manufacturer screws with non-OEM cartridges at least a little. The big issue with Brother (laser) printers seems to be shorter indicated life on generic toner cartridges, for example.

 

[LunarMist]

I don't but it's probably more cost effective to have a professional photo printing service do it unless you have large numbers of photos. They're likely using MUCH better equipment than a home user could afford anyway. BTW, photos seem reasonable on my Samsung CLP-510, or at least I couldn't tell the difference from ones printed on the inkjet I used to use. Then again, I'm not doing this professionally.

Interesting article regarding printing photos with laser printers.

It's the other way around. Large print jobs are best outsourced. Small quantities or one-offs are good to print at home so that the final output can be reviewed and adjusted if desired.
For 10+ years now the 8-10 color pigment-based inkjets have been producing excellent output.

 

[mubs]

The big issue with Brother (laser) printers seems to be shorter indicated life on generic toner cartridges, for example.

In my experience (Brother 5350DN mono laser), Brother's own toner and drum units last anywhere from 40 to 60% of their rated life. Maybe they just don't know how to count. Even after taking off their shoes, they can only go up to 20.

 

[Tannin]

Samsung printers are better than average in my experience. (Not that I have bought or sold any recently.) Note: better "than average" means what it says, no more and no less. They are OK. Not great, not junk, just OK.

I generally look for Kyocera first, then Fuji-Xerox, then Canon, then Epson, plus maybe Samsung and one or two other brands. If really pushed to it, I might look at a Brother (if nothing else was remotely suitable). If the only available product is a Hewlett-Packard, I'll use a pencil.

 

[David Farley]

I do not remember the last time I used a printer and bought ink, probably still being a student about 3 years ago...So, who wants my Samsung?