Canon sued for disabling scanner and fax functions of all-in-one device when printer ink runs out

[jwest]

Just want to make sure all of our ire is directed to the right place – these printers won’t SCAN if it’s out of ink. I have one and it’s an enormous piece of shit. I will never, ever buy anything from Canon again,

[sarc]

hair of the rocket dog

[Michele71]

I think they’re meant to different distribution channels. Selling to businesses means more expensive units but they have to be reliable and not have these annoying design flaws, especially when the printer is part of a complete solution. Selling to the home user in a generic mall, in the aisle between the pet food and the stationery, and put near the Crosley clone record player, it’s another. Big malls love to trick customers with some super special clearance sales offers, so they’re asking manufacturers to lower the price.

[failquail]

Canon used to be great back in the day, i remember choosing one just because it had the cheapest ink cartridges by far at the time. Shame to see them turn to this

Though nowadays, and i see it’s been mentioned already, look into the new ‘tank’ printers. We were spending ~£40 on ink for light usage every 3 months or so on our old printer, with the new Epson Ecotank we’ve had it about 18months and its ink levels are still at 70-80% full.
The printer cost more than regular ones, but it’s pretty much paid for itself considering we have yet to buy any refils for it.

[JohnEightThirty]

@anon3894935

Is there a printer company out there that actually makes a functional product that isn’t specifically designed to be as malicious as possible?

You seem not to understand the principles of capitalism. Should printers magically be exempt?

[jgs]

@stinkinbadgers

Thought it would be great to be able to print color photos but then we never did.

Yeah, similar. For my very occasional and simple photo printing needs, it’s better to just send them to the printing service of J. Random Chain Pharmacy, which produces better quality prints for cheaper than I could have at home anyway, within an hour or two.

[dreamofthedarkstar]

@stinkinbadgers

Thought it would be great to be able to print color photos but then we never did.

If you want to print photos, then you should get a dye-sublimation printer. Much better quality than inkjets. (it’s what your professional photo places use now-days since film went extinct) You can get smaller 4x6 printers in the $100 range (photo/ink cartridges end up in the 10-25 cent per photo range). Dye-sublimation printers for larger photos (6/9 or 8x10) will put you into the $400-$600 range, as those aren’t really “consumer” oriented devices.

Brother does in fact make color laser printers (I’ve got one). You don’t get “photo quality” out of those though. (and you need 4 toner cartridges for them, at $50-$80 a pop depending on printer model and if you go “genuine” toner).

[jerwin]

@dreamofthedarkstar

Dye-sublimation printers for larger photos (6/9 or 8x10) will put you into the $400-$600 range, as those aren’t really “consumer” oriented devices.

Bit of a shame, really, since 24 MP (what you get with a beginner level mirrorless) is good enough for even larger prints. Megapixels: How Big Can You Really Print a Photo? – Nature TTL

[beschizza]

@anothernewbbaccount

@beschizza I seem to recall there is a place to report inappropriate adverts but don’t know where it is. See the post above, that I am replying to. I expect this won’t qualify, eh?
Yes. Disappointed, but not surprised.

Haha! We can nuke it, but as you suggest, it’s not really a bad ad, just a comically misplaced one.

“Advertising is contextually ridiculous” would make a great entry on The List if you don’t mind being added.

[Mister44]

You know I got a printer/scanner super cheap. It was a floor model and I haven’t even plugged it in. I just know I wanted a scanner for a future project and this looked like it would do the job. I hope to hell it will work when I decide to use it.

[anothernewbbaccount]

If you think that would be a good entry, go ahead, but perhaps do it with a wink

Where is The List, these days, anyway?

[Bonivus_elderheart]

@ludd

akirs at HP have you monitored for every page you print - but forget about having your cartridge filled with after-market ink - they already know that cartridge has printed X copies and your not gonna wring any more out of it.

Yeah, the whole “buy the printer for $X and pay $Y/month for Z number of pages” subscription model is taking the piss. (I can see where businesses do it, because the ‘pay for x number of pages’ model generally includes service on the device AND the cost of leasing the device over the length of the contract.)

@austintx

Some color printers use the yellow ink to put a pattern of invisible dots on every page which is a unique identifier. Serial number, time, date, IP address, your PC’s unique identifers. “Law enforcement” have software to scan and read these dots to find out who you are.

That’s the anti-counterfeiting measures as demanded by the enforcement agencies that police that crime in various countries, not just the secret service.

@jwest

these printers won’t SCAN if it’s out of ink. I have one and it’s an enormous piece of shit

I can see if it was being used for faxing- printer needs to be able to print the error page if the fax fails. But the scan to a thumb drive or network share or as a TWAIN scanner function? that’s shitty code.

[jgs]

@dreamofthedarkstar

You can get smaller 4x6 printers in the $100 range (photo/ink cartridges end up in the 10-25 cent per photo range).

By contrast, I think the last 4x6 I printed at my local chain store was (IIRC) 31 cents for a single, so I’d be saving money after around 500 prints, assuming the low end of a dime each for consumables. I mean, there is the convenience factor of not having to go to the store… or the convenience factor of not having to own, house, power, and babysit the printer. It’s all good, I guess.