Officejet 8500 won't print Black ink only if other colors are out

 I confirmed with HP's customer support that there is no way to print
black
 ink only with this printer if other colors are out.  Does anyone else
feel
 that this is absolutely rediculous?  If I have an urgent printing
need and
 I'm out of color, it seems that the printer should allow me to print in
 black only.  This seems to be a way for HP to sell more color ink.
ARGH!

 HP and Corporate Plunder

 Now I'm sitting here the day before Xmas, needing to print a black
 document,
 and the printer won't print because the color cartridge (which is
FULL of
 ink) is expired.

 You money-grubbing S.O.B.s aren't going to get any more of my $ than
I can
 possibly avoid, ever again--
 --
 Unless you wake up and stop trying to squeeze every last cent out of
your
 customers. Assume that most people won't refill, but accommodate
those who
 will. It won't kill you.

 You made a good move when you released your drivers for open source
 development (I'm a Linux user). But you're beginning to make dumb moves.

 Another example is an HP Pavillion computer my in-laws bought last year.
 Decided they wanted Linux, which turned out to be impossible to
install on
 your cheaply made hardware. I've steered at least 30 small companies
away
 from HP computers since that experience.

  They're putting smart chips in their cartridges. This makes it
harder for
 users to refill the cartridges. It also assures that even refilled
 cartridges will have to be replaced much sooner than they actually wear
 out.

 The bottom line is something which has been known in the past as planned
 obsolescence, but is much more "in your face"
 than anything I've ever seen in the past. This isn't just an example of
 making something poorly, so it wears out
 quicker. These people are telling their products exactly when to stop
 working, for no other reason than that they want
 to sell another one.


 Merry Christmas.

 Paul Lamar and others


 Paul and all,

 I totally concur.  My wife and I have had the exact same experience with
 our
 HP 7360 printer and we have decided to never again purchase ANY HP
product
 because of this very reason.  If they can't hack it without
exploiting the
 very customers they so desperately need to survive, then they need to
 expire
 like their overpriced cartridges.  My Brother TN-330 Laser monochrome
works
 very well and only cost $100 over a year ago. Still on the original
 cartridge, and I print quite a bit sometimes...The perfectly useable HP
 printer is now sitting on a shelf at the local Goodwill store with
expired
 cartridges...

 Merry Christmas to you and yours,

 Norm

 Epson does the same thing, plus they have programmed their ink
sensors to
 say empty when it still has ink. There was a class action settlement
over
 that, Of course without admitting any wrongdoing.
 C. Smith

 Paul,

Send your document to me and I'll print it for you and then scan and
email
it back to you.  ;-)

Mark S.

I want the paper. It is my paper and I want it now :)

Paul Lamar


Paul, I have been a lurker here for several years and I know this won't
help you immediately but you might try going on eBay to see if you can
find a bulk ink cartridge setup. Do a Google search for CIS (Constant
Ink Supply) or CISS (Constant Ink Supply System).

In my tax prep business we (staff / kids), print birthday cards for the
clients & their kids and we print between 5-10K cards per year. I use
Epson R280 printers and have used CIS systems for about 5-7 years now.
The Epson R280 uses 6 cartridges each with their own chip. The CISS that
I use has an external reservoir for EACH of the six colors which I think
holds something like 6-8oz each. The external reservoir feeds their
respective color / cartridge by a small tube that draws ink from the
reservoir into the cartridge as it's needed. I buy my ink in half gal or
gal quantity and just refill the reservoirs when needed.  On my printer
you normally reset the chip / printer by removing the cartridge and the
printer thinks it has a new cartridge. The last two CISS that i bought
have a reset button that automatically resets all six cartridges at the
same time. I think I paid something like $20 - 25 for the last CIS that
I purchased. With the volume of printing that I do and with the volume
of ink that I purchase my cost per page for the ink is WAY under .01
each. Not that I could EVER use it all but I even found a place where
you could buy the ink in 55 gal drums!

Hopefully this has been of some help.

Jerome (Jerry) Sipple
Taxes Plus & Associates