Print Quality MFP M479fdw Defaulted to Normal only

[itbProDev]

This post has appeared on numerous sites for ~1 yr.  It is due to a defective driver.  HP still have not rectified it.  They still sell this printer to unsuspecting customers like me who purchased it to access those very features.

They claim to have just escalated this issue to fix the driver.  Really? - after a year of selling these printers with false specs they're now fixing it?  Sure.

I suggest you do what I eventually did after 6 hrs with Printer support (who tried hard and did their best but they can't overcome a defective driver) and 7 phone calls, just get a refund and buy a non-HP printer with the same specs but which actually performs as per those specs.

Oh, and if you purchased it from a non-HP supplier, tell them to stop selling the printer because it is defective and the vendor will be liable under consumer law.

And HP, if you read this, how about a "Oops, sorry - we blew that and us taking a year is unacceptable"

[Repairatrooper]

I guess the question is this: Have you tried to use the HP Universal Print Driver either PCL or Post Script. I realize your post is not really a question, just a rant, but if you have not tried the UPD I suggest you do that.

Can you clarify the exact problem because we have sold numerous numbers of these devices to clients and I have not had a single complaint about driver printer quality settings.

[itbProDev]

Short answer - Yes!  And long answer:

• 6 calls with HP printer support
• They took over PC
• They installed various drivers -all failed
• There are many blogs describing the exact same problem going back at least to August 19 2019
• HP acknowledge that this is a global problem with this printer driver
• They state that they are working on verifying a fix
• hey have offered a refund

So, this is not a rant but yes I am very disappointed that I have spent so long without a solution and with HP selling a printer in which the advertised features that I needed have NEVER been available.

If you have solutions the problem, HP are unaware of it.  BTW, the printer support person I dealt with was heroic - above and beyond.  The problem is HP.

[Repairatrooper]

to be clear, you only have normal available or is it the default and you have to change on a per job basis to higher/lower quality. I do not want to belabour the point but as stated, we have sold many of these and have not had this issue come up with customers.

[itbProDev]

It is fixed on "Normal" .  The drop down is grayed out/not available.  IOW, I can't (nor anyone else including HP Printer Support) access either EconoMode or the Higher Res setting.

HP have all the screen shots (took a few themselves) and agreed the Print Driver is defective for this model (not others I assume).

As stated, this has appeared in forums going back to Aug 19, 2019.  See for example, this post by Christina at https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B07RQB5WJW/ref=acr_arpsims_text?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

I quote her "... there were some reviews saying that the driver does not let you select a print quality, which was true, but I just installed the general mac version of the software (with less features I may add) and it lets me select a print quality, but HP needs to fix that issue with its original driver, I mean what kind of a thing is that to be missing from a driver lol its ridiculous. Everyone who gets this printer should contact HP and bug them about it until they release an updated version of their driver."

IOW, HP still have not fixed this problem despite numerous communications from users and I don't have a solution and hence are getting a refund.

[Repairatrooper]

I finally had a 479 in the shop so I set it up to test what you are saying.

Using the HP UPD 6.9 PCL6 driver I have access to normal (stated as high res) and Economode, using the drop down menu

I was also able to set economode as the default through printer preferences

I also tested the UPD 6.9 Post Script driver and was offered the same options for quality settings. Likely they have reduced the choices to 2 so that if users do not set it they are automatically printing at the highest resolution to maximize toner usage. @itbProDev 

[itbProDev]

Appreciate your efforts.

However, the HP Printer Support tech downloaded the same driver and said IT DIDN’T solve the problem.  Here’s the driver that was downloaded.

Like you, I found it gives EconoMode (OK), Normal (good but not good enough for some of the very fine printing I need but not the higher resolution I purchased this printer for.

The advertised Specs (cut-and-paste) are:

• Black (best) 600 x 600 dpi, Up to 38,400 x 600 enhanced dpi; Black (normal) 600 x 600 dpi, Up to 38,400 x 600 enhanced dpi
• Color (best): 600 x 600 dpi, Up to 38,400 x 600 enhanced dpi; Color (normal): 600 x 600 dpi, Up to 38,400 x 600 enhanced dpi

Normal does not give access to 38,400 x 600 enhanced dpi.

HP have accepted this and given a refund letter.

My printer supplier is returning his stock 479 and said he won’t be selling them again.

I’ve notified a couple of other suppliers that I’ve dealt with and recommended that they do the same.

HP acknowledged the 479 driver was defective and said they were fixing it up but that it will take up to 2 weeks to do that and verify it across all platforms.  It’s been 3 weeks with no fix and I wouldn’t be confident of a fix ever given that they’ve known about it for almost a year and kept selling them.