Only buy photo black if you have FIVE supplies!

[Bob_Headrick]

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knotknott wrote:

I am printing only text, using the black cartridge only—  so why are other (color) cartridges running out?

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See here for a discussion of how ink is used.

[DAVIDLHOGANSON]

     I just bought a photosmart plus printer. I did not know which ink to buy so I contacted HP.com and was told all 564 black ink cartridges were the same. So I went out and bought a 564 photo black (because I have a photo smart printer). It did not fit, of course, and am now out the price of that cartridge. So I called HP.com back again and was finally told, after about 30 minutes, that it was all my fault for not knowing that there are two different size black ink cartridges with the same number for HP printers.

     The only thing that comes to my mind is that HP is trying to intentionally profit by misleading the public into buying overpriced ink that they do not need. Any honest company would have corrected this problem already by having two different numbers for two different cartridges. Finding out this information after the fact makes me want to make sure my next printer is not a HP.

[schafferde]

you are fortunate.  I only got 40 plus 2 pictures

[DAVIDLHOGANSON]

Letting customers know this after the fact is a waste of our time and money

[coloradoHPuser]

@DM820025 who did you email/call to get an exchange and  how can others do the same? I am also one of those who assumed that when it says the ink that works with your printer is 564 (like the little stickers they give you to put on your printer to remind you says) that is the ink you should buy. The whole "photo black" was a bit of a surprise to me too.

[RoyO1451]

I also, do most of my printing in black only documents but see the colored cartridge levels go down.

One time when the printer refused to print anything until the yellow cartridge was changed, I put in a new yellow, printed one black document and replaced the new yellow with the old  yellow. It then showed the yellow level as being half full.

I continued my document printing for another month before it again said the yellow needed changing.

The HP page explaining why the color cartridge levels gradually drop, failed to include the most important reason for this happening.

The main reason they decline is because HP sells lots of ink cartridges and makes a lot of money doing it.

[text removed, privacy]

[CyclingFool-HP]

Regarding the use of underprinting in black and white, it actually makes a difference, and you can disable the underprinting.  However, RoyO1451, that's just weird.  What kind of printer do you have?  And I want to confirm it went from telling you it was empty, to telling you it was half-full?  Was it half, or 2/3, or 1/3?  Just trying to get some data.

Regards, CF

[brewer48]

I recently received a notice that there was a "new update" for my HP printer. I clicked the "install now" button. After installing the update, the printer immediately printed an unrequested "test page". This page included large blocks of intense color from each cartridge. This seems to be just another HP scam to get you to waste their overpriced ink. [text removed; personal comments] The best solution seems to be DO NOT download these updates, or, if you must, disable the printer first.

[DexterM]

Not sure which printer you have, but that seems like a firmware update. The printer prints such a page after it's firmware has been updated successfully. Firmware updates usually fix certain existing issues, or provide improvements in its performance. Doesn't look like a scam to me.

[Rowdy]

I read all the gobbledygook about how ink is used but I don't buy into it.The ink in my color cartridges disappear much too quickly or dries out much too quickly because of poor design of the ink jet mechanism.....or it is planned that way to get you to buy more and more ink at ridiculous prices. I cannot for the life of me understand why ink cartridges cost as much as they do. I'd rather pay more for the printer and less for the ink......at least psychologically I wouldn't be forking out money every few weeks. IS THE PRICE OF INK EVER GOING TO COME DOWN, MR. HP?