Very angry with my printer Grr

Teacheranne, Thanks. I thought I'd start with the £3.49 plan and upgrade to the £9.99 if all goes well. I produce digital designs and do a lot of densely-coloured printing. An HP 304 Tricolour cartridge costs between £11 and £13 and can expire after about 10 prints - or one colour runs out - yellow usually - so one print can be costing me £1.30 while there's still cyan and magenta in the tank.

With an Instant Ink plan at 100 prints for £3.49 it will cost me 3p a print as it's the same price whether printing B&W or colour. A huge saving.

I suspect there are much more economical printers out there and why I mentioned eco printers upthread but I will certainly give Instant Ink a try if only I can upload the code!

50 pages for £1.99 sounds a bit expensive to me, depends if you lrint a lot. I use compatible inks for a fraction of the price from online suppliers, eg www.officeworld.uk.com/category/ink-cartridges-and-toners/hp-cartridges

StatenIsland, I’m sorry but I cannot remember how I originally installed it, I don’t recall needing a code but I could have done. I did not set up Instant Ink as soon as I bought the lap top, it was a year or so later once I realised the cost and frequency of buying ink. I think I went online to the HP website and followed the instructions without any issues.

I have previously found the tech support very helpful as I could not get the printer to work with my original lap top. The guy said it was an HP issue and he spent an hour sorting the problem out. When I changed lap tops, the printer worked straight away on the new one thankfully.

I hope you get it sorted soon.

Thank you, TeacherAnne. I've looked into Instant Ink and it sounds a very good deal. However, I am struggling to set it up.

As you know, you have to synch your printer to the HP server by entering a 16 character code. This enables them to monitor ink usage and send more when supplies are getting low.

I keep getting an error message. Server Error, Try again soon.

Yesterday, I spoke at length with a tech guy at HP. We went through several diagnostic checks to try to determine where the problem was. He thinks the error is at the HP end. I've tried again this morning and same thing has occurred.

He has scheduled a call back for tomorrow but I'm pessimistic.

If anyone else has seen this thread and is thinking of trying Instant Ink, I'd be very interested to know if you can upload the code successfully. Please don't let my experience deter you as I think the problem may be at my end but what it is, I just don't know. You have to upload the code successfully before getting to the payment stage so if it doesn't work for you either you don't have to go through the rigmarole of cancelling credit card payments.

StatenIsland

I have an HP Envy bought in a hurry when my last printer expired and I needed something cheap and quick. I know what you mean about random spurious messages but my main issue is how thirsty it is. I do a lot of colour printing and run though Tri-Colour cartridges at a rate of knots. I use some colours more than others so I’m conscious that the cartridges may not be completely empty. The local shop providing a refill service closed down during the pandemic and won’t be reopening.

Now, for reasons I cannot fathom, it will not recognise my laptop for wifi printing. I can print from my phone but not my Mac. Driver updates and reinstalls , reboots, network wizards, re-pairing with my router umpteen times, return to factory settings - tried all those and nothing works. A five quid USB cable means I can still print but it’s a pain.

I’m not sure I can justify buying a laser printer but I’ve been thinking about an eco ink jet so that I can refill individual colours as and when needed. Anyone got one of these and can comment on how good or bad they are?

Have a look at the HP Instant Ink deal, I pay £1.99 a month to print 50 pages ( different prices for more pages) and my ink is posted to me before I need it and it’s included in my payment ie no additional costs.

It saves a lot of money when you look at the price of HP replacement ink.

Lucca

We bought an HP Envy to replace a more expensive Canon which had more functions but refused to work after 3 years.
Even our tech savvy friend had trouble installing it the HP.

It is very temperamental and I have spent a lot of time reinstalling it, sometimes having to use a cable instead of Wifi and the scanner is hit and miss too.

I think a DD left an Epson printer behind, we'll have to retrieve it from the attic.

I am much calmer now
I do hope you didn't swear at it Grammaretto; I tried that and it doesn't work, nor does threatening to take a hammer to it.

Me too Lucca
Thanks Marydoll I will try that tomorrow. My laptop and printer are both HP. I think the printer was cheaper than the ink. I found it impossible to use WiFi so I plug in the cable .
Farmor your eco printer sounds a good investment.
Meanwhile I will try to give the extra copies of the form to the membership secretary.
Thanks everyone. I am much calmer now. I may have to get a cat.....

That gave me a good chuckle Lucca

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSK1D3bZhRs

I have an Epson eco printer - had it for 4 years now and still have the original 3 separate colour tanks with plenty in them. Just refilled the black once and still have half the bottle left. I've done a fair bit of printing, including photos on glossy paper, which can use quite a lot and multiple copies of leaflets etc for organisations I'm involved with.

These printers are significantly more expensive to start with, but save money (and environment) in the long run.

After years of spending a fortune on ink, I signed up for the HP print service for my Envy. I saved £80 last year.

You need to beat it with a birch branch a la Basil Fawlty! I have a cheap Cannon which has mostly behaved itself for 20 years.

I have an HP Envy bought in a hurry when my last printer expired and I needed something cheap and quick. I know what you mean about random spurious messages but my main issue is how thirsty it is. I do a lot of colour printing and run though Tri-Colour cartridges at a rate of knots. I use some colours more than others so I’m conscious that the cartridges may not be completely empty. The local shop providing a refill service closed down during the pandemic and won’t be reopening.

Now, for reasons I cannot fathom, it will not recognise my laptop for wifi printing. I can print from my phone but not my Mac. Driver updates and reinstalls , reboots, network wizards, re-pairing with my router umpteen times, return to factory settings - tried all those and nothing works. A five quid USB cable means I can still print but it’s a pain.

I’m not sure I can justify buying a laser printer but I’ve been thinking about an eco ink jet so that I can refill individual colours as and when needed. Anyone got one of these and can comment on how good or bad they are?

Printers are the Devil's work.

I can't advise you about getting a new one, as there is no guarantee that it won't be equally awkward.

My post is therefore useless, but I wanted to show solidarity.

Grammaretto, uninstall the printer, switch it off, then switch back on and re-install it. That may clear the bugs. Also re-installing will update to the latest drivers.
As for the paper, not being the correct size, I have found cheaper supermarket paper (no offence intend ?) can cause this problem.
I mainly used HPs, both at home and in school, a good work horse.

Good luck!!!

Printers are the devils own for not doing what you want.