do i have to buy color ink cartridges? HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus Windows XP

[rlstockwell]

Agreed, dc83ok-

I too would like to return my printer for one that can print at my discretion one color, and not be help ransom to ink! I will be forwarding my responses as well, thankyou for the contact info of the HP rep!

RLS

[pqfuller]

I just had one of my remote users encounter this error as well. We have purchased this printer for all of our remote users, and I still have one of the boxes here in the office. Nowhere on the box does it inform you of this problem.

[Content Removed]

Meanwhile my company is forced to buy a spare set of cartridges for all of these users so that we don't have anyone else caught off guard during the middle of a business day.

[Wpk1100]

I have the same problem.  I was in the middle of printing checks, and the printer refused to print until i went to the store and paid $95 for 3 color cartridges.  I am about ready to junk this printer.  I lost time and money for this problem.  I just bought ink cartridges 2 weeks ago, and now they are empty again without me using any color ink.  Now they say I should have known about the ink feature before i bought it.  I guess a lot of businesses will be surprised when in the middle of printing their printer just stops and says you need to replace the ink.

[RKHX]

I'm replacing ink in these things even when they are not being used.  So there is 10% ink left in the cartridge and user who is the sole user of this printer, is out of the office for a month and I get an alert to replace the ink.

I strongly suspect there is a mechanism that is chewing up ink even when the printer is not in use.

[dc83ok]

Just thought I would update about my ongoing battle with HP. I posted before about the Officejet Pro 8600 and how on p.89 of the instruction manual it clearly states that the printer can print in black and white even if the colour cartridges are depleted. 

After a lloooottt of emails back and forth between myself and their customer service team I am pleased to say that HP have not only admitted that their manual is incorrect but have sent me a full set of replacement ink (2 black and  1 of each colour) as a good will gesture for their error. Admittedly it is not the result I wanted (I wanted a refund/ new printer which could perform independent black and white printing), but it is a small victory for me anyway.

I would urge anyone else who has the OfficeJet 8600 to take it up with HP (if you are willing to deal with their excruciatingly poor customer service), it may take some time but don't take no for an answer. To reiterate HP made a mistake on their 8600 manual and it is ironically right there in black and white for all to see. Best of luck to anyone currently battling with HP customer services, I have never experienced such poor complaint management ever and will be looking to find another branded printer as soon as possible.

[allisterwade]

"Review Message 2 above. If the cartridge is showing low on ink you are still able to print, but if it indicates that it is out or needs to be replaced the printer will not print until this cartridge has been replaced. The reason for this is if you run the printer without one of the color cartridges working this will cause damage to the printhead."

Seeing as your latest firmware allows printing with just black ink when a colour catridge is empty this is clearly 100% a wrong pcwizard.  [content removed]

[mkormendy]

"Seeing as your latest firmware allows printing with just black ink when a colour catridge is empty this is clearly 100% a wrong pcwizard.  [content removed]"

Which firmware version are you using? I want to confirm this!

[RKHX]

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@mkormendy wrote:

"Seeing as your latest firmware allows printing with just black ink when a colour catridge is empty this is clearly 100% a wrong pcwizard.  [content removed]"

Which firmware version are you using? I want to confirm this!

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Yeah same here, would like to know what firmware.  When I do a firmware check on the printer it says I have the latest.

[mkormendy]

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Yeah same here, would like to know what firmware.  When I do a firmware check on the printer it says I have the latest.

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You need to go to the drivers and downloads for the specific printer on the HP website. There you can download the latest firmware, however .. this STILL DOES NOT answer my question which version of the firmware confirms that you can print with just black ink if your color inks are empty.

[winterk]

i have an HP Officejet Pro 8600 and have the extremely unpleasant experience of having a half full black cartridge and empty yellow & Cyan cartridges and low magenta and have been unable to print a b/w document.  

The salesman assured me this was the best printer on the market with better ink usage.  considering i don't print color documents, i would find this a false statement, and would further suspect that the salesmen may well have been receiving some incentive for increasing the sales of this printer, and for participating in a device for consumer fraud.  I will be moving to report this to all consumer sites that I can find, and you can be sure that i will not be purchasing HP again.

My other concern is the audacity of the Kudos boys to consider that their stock 'cut and paste' response to this HP Scam has 'solved' the problem. Shame on HP, and the salespersons at the office supply stores that have profited from this divisiveness.