Re: OT: printer cartridge replacement reality

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 18:30:34 GMT, Robert Baer
<robertbaer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Background:
> There was a good NG article recently about Epson printers.
> Basically, their cartridges now "lock out" refilling and generic
>replacement.
> Worse, if one uses the printer a lot, the printer itself ceases to
>function: only so many cartridges and it is useless (unless one is
>willing to spend a lot of money to "fix" what is not broken - just reset
>a counter).
> And there is *nothing* by Epson anywhere to let un-suspecting buyers
>get even a hint of this crap.
> Questions:
> What is the story concerning HP printers in general?
> Can one re-fill as one sees fit?
> Can one use generics as one sees fit?
> Can one use hundreds of cartridges until the printer *really* wears out?
> Finally, what about cartridges for the HP PSC 1400 (HP 21 and HP 22)?

I've got a super-cheap ($89 at Sam's Club) HP PSC 1200, and there
are two files in c:\ that apparently get updated at every print. One
is hpfr3425.log, 251k, that gets added to with each print - has
filename and some binary data. The other is hpfr3420.xml and currently
has this content:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<Usage_Data_Summary>
<Product_Family>hp psc 1200 series</Product_Family>
<Printer>
<Serial_Number>MY32GB60MQ5H</Serial_Number>
<Total_Page_Count>1180</Total_Page_Count>
<K_Dot_Count>9389578</K_Dot_Count>
<C_Dot_Count>2825426</C_Dot_Count>
<M_Dot_Count>2324699</M_Dot_Count>
<Y_Dot_Count>2869679</Y_Dot_Count>
<K2_Dot_Count>0</K2_Dot_Count>
<C2_Dot_Count>0</C2_Dot_Count>
<M2_Dot_Count>0</M2_Dot_Count>
<Total_Drop_Volumn>743485</Total_Drop_Volumn>
</Printer>
</Usage_Data_Summary>

For all I know, the software could easily send this data to HP
and/or use it to eventually say "Sorry, your printer[/scanner/copier]
has reached the end of its design lifetime. Please toss it and go buy
a new HP printer." But I really don't know what, if anything, is done
with this data, and I'm loathe to edit up the numbers to find out.

-----
http://www.mindspring.com/~benbradley
.

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