Last week we were able to release both a remanufactured and genuine HP 85A (CE285A) toner cartridge on our web site.

The HP 85A is a monochrome (black) toner cartridge that yields up to 1,600 pages. The remanufacured CE285A yields the same number of pages as the HP brand cartridge, but costs $28 less . . . using remanufactured cartridges has benefits!

These cartridges are designed for use in the HP LaserJet Pro M1212nf mfp and the HP LaserJet Pro P1102 printers.

My last two posts on HP’s settlement (HP Class Action Lawsuit Settlement, HP Settlement) have received quite a bit of attention. Put best . . . HP, your loyal customers are not happy.

I use the term loyal because I was quite surprised a the number of times the word was used by individuals leaving their comments. From their descriptions, these individuals currently own more than one HP printer. They have also purchased many HP printers over the years. I’d call that loyal, and a $5-$8 e-credit is not making them feel any better about what HP has done to them. One comment pointed to the fact that HP is “engaging in stupid tricks to outsmart their loyal customers.”

Many “commenters” also reminded me of Epson’s 2006 class action settlement. Like HP, Epson issued e-credits to customers with certain printers. Epson irritated a lot of customers with their settlement response to the law suite that claimed that a substantial amount of ink was left inside cartridges when the printer indicated that the cartridge was empty. Sounds familiar, huh? A lot of the Epson printer owners switched to HP printers when they received their e-credits. Even more switched when their e-credit codes were not accepted by Epson. HP printer owners are hoping they won’t see the same thing happen when they get a chance to redeem their e-credits.

HP customers are seeing this settlement as an out for HP against future lawsuits. Still others see it as a winfall for two parties . . . the lawyers and HP. How? Well we all can guess that these lawyers had to be paid pretty well to make this all go away for HP (who were they representing again?). Even the best intentioned of lawyers comes out a winner as he/she is paid to do his job. They get a great hourly rate.

HP wins because they are issuing you a credit for $5-$8 to use to spend at their online store where you will have to spend at least $9.99 to get a cartridge. Their most inexpensive cartridge is $9.99, but a customers commented that their cartridge cost $30-$40 at the HP web site. This process is costing HP just about nothing, but could in turn reap them some huge revenues. The settlement is for $5 million. If each customer gets a $5 e-credit, then 1 million purchases will be made at HP’s store (assuming everyone buys). Let’s say after the e-credit is applied, the average customer spends $20. That’s $20 million in revenue for HP. Not a bad turn of events.

My favorite comment . . . One “commenter” provided a new definition for ISP, which typically stands for “Internet Service Provider”. He decided we should reapply the term to our printer. ISP now stands for “Ink Sucking Pig”

Keep the comments coming. I want to hear what you all area thinking. I’m reading them all. Thanks!

Yesterday I posted on the HP Class Action Lawsuit Settlement. Today I would like to provide my thoughts on the topic. Take them for what they are worth, but definitely let me know how you feel.

Suit #1 – The ‘Low Ink Message’ confused customers in to purchasing cartridges when they didn’t have to. Huh? To me this is a large reach. Since when does the term ‘low on ink’ mean the same thing as ‘out of ink’. Low in ink means just that, your cartridge is running low on ink and it will run out soon. How soon? No one knows for sure, but your best bet would be to make sure you get some spare cartridges on hand for the day it does run out. So yes, HP is guilty of promoting the purchase new cartridges, but confusing you in to throwing away cartridges before you had to. No way! I’ve been in the printer cartridge business for over 10 years and the vast majority of customers I have spoken to work hard to get every last drop of ink out of their cartridge before replacing it. The vast majority also have no faith in the low ink warning. Perhaps this is just a way for those that are unhappy with the price of printer cartridges to get a little revenge.

Suit #2 – Certain HP printers used color cartridges, along with black cartridges, when printing black text and graphics. Definitely possible! Logic says that if I am printing something that is black and white I should only be using the black ink cartridge. Because of the amount of proprietary information within HP printers and cartridges, we have not way of knowing, for sure, if HP was indeed programming their printers and cartridges to use color and black. It’s their word against those of their accusers. All I can do is hope HP is an honest company on this one.

Suit #3 – HP printers and cartridges are programmed to stop working on an HP selected expiration date. Definitely possible! This is one I have heard before. Many HP cartridges come with expiration dates stamped on their boxes. It has been shown that these dates are also programmed in to some of their cartridges. When this date hits, the cartridge stops working. HP’s reason is that ink quality begins to degrade after this date and they are preventing potential problems with your print outs. Sounds logical, but what about those folks that are willing to take the risk of a bad print because they still have ink in their cartridge. Shouldn’t they have the final say? They spent the money to buy the cartridge, right?

Here’s the real kicker though. These suits were brought by lawyers who were representing a group of clients, and are supposed to do the right thing by those clients. Does the settlement agreement really represent this? These cases won’t go to court becasue they have been settled to avoid potential risk and expense on both sides. Is HP just protecting itself from having to fess up to some of their actions?

Why did the lawyers for those of us that own HP printers decide to take the settlement. This is the most interesting thing to me. Customers with printers that meet certain criteria will be reimbursed with e-credits to HP’s online store. That’s right, HP is giving you credit to buy more of the same cartridges and printers you are already unhappy with. Does this strike anyone else as strange?

Who is in the right here? Who is in the wrong? I guess the true measure will be the consumers level of satisfaction with their e-credits.

What’s your reaction to this? Let me know what you think. Thanks!

A proposed settlement has been reached in three different class action lawsuits involving certain HP printers.

The first suit claims that certain HP printers use ‘low on ink’ messages to indicate that printer owners need to replace their cartridge, even though the cartridge is not empty and can still be used to print.

The second lawsuit claims that certain HP color inkjet printers used color ink in addition to black ink when printing black text and images. There was no disclosure of the simultaneous use of the cartridges and no way for printer owners to disable this function. It also claims that HP misrepresented and failed to disclose the actual page yield for the cartridges in these printers and the use of color ink cartridges when printing in black.

The third lawsuit claims that HP designed certain cartridges and printers to ‘shut down’ on an undisclosed expiration date causing the printer owner to have to replace their cartridge before they could print again.

HP denies all of these claims but, rather than wait for a court ruling, has agreed (along with lawyers of these suits) to a settlement to avoid any future expense and risk.

So, what can you do to determine your legal rights?

If you are eligible for for a part of the settlement, you may receive an e-credit for the purchase of printer or printer cartridges from HP. Any e-credits received must be used at HP’s online store.  To be eligible for a credit you must have purchased or received as a gift (in the United States) and HP printer that is listed here. The printer must have been purchased between September 6, 2001 and September 1, 2010.

For more information check the settlement website at www.hpinkjetprintersettlement.com.

Take a minute and let me know what you think of these three lawsuits. Thanks!

Here are my thoughts on the HP settlement.

Here are our readers thoughts on the HP E-Credit Settlement.

Here are November’s printer ink coupon codes. Are you able to guess the dates in world history that correspond with these codes, and the dates shown? The answers are below.

CAPECOD – November 9

OKLAHOMA – November 16

JUKEBOX – November 23

BALL – November 30

——————————————————————————

Answers:

November 9, 1620 – Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower sight land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

November 16, 1907 – Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory become Oklahoma and are admitted as the 46th U.S. state.

November 23, 1889 – The first jukebox goes into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.

November 30, 1940 – Lucille Ball marries Desi Arnaz in Greenwich, Connecticut.

The HP 920 ink cartridges are very popular right now. The 920 is actually a short number for a series of cartridges that come in both standard and high capacity. When you head out to the store, or shop online, you should be on the lookout for a black box with blue or green graphics. There is also a big 920 printed on the box along with a colored circle that shows the color of the cartridge in the box. Each of the cartridges has its own ‘long’ number (see below), so you are best off by just looking for the 920 and the color dot you need.

With this series of ink cartridges, HP decided to make a single cartridge for each color. Thus, your printer is going to hold 4 different cartridges at one time. The HP 920 series consists of the following cartridges:

As I have in the past, I am going to recommend the high capacity, or XL, cartridges over the standard capacity. Yes, they are more expensive, but your cost per page (the true measure of the cost of ink cartridges) is less. When you buy a high capacity black cartridge you will pay 2.7 cents per page. A standard capacity will cost  you 4.8 cents per page. For each color you will pay 2.1 cents (high capacity) instead of 3.3 cents (standard capacity).

As far as price per page goes, these ink cartridges are reasonably priced. I urge you to look at the price per page number, because the price tag will leave you complaining about the cost of the cartridges, especially when you see how small these cartridges are. The HP brand high capacity cartridges sell for $31.99 (black) and $14.99 (each color). The standard capacity cartridges sell for $19.99 (black) and $9.99 (each color).  The $30 – $45 you will spend on buying a set of color cartridges is comparable to the cost of a single cartridge that holds all three colors.

For users, the HP 920 ink cartridges have both positives and negatives. The positives are quick and easy replacement (because you are only replacing the ink cartridge that ran out of ink), quick drying ink, and sharp tones and colors. The negatives are the short cartridge life / expensive price tag (not uncommon complaints for HP ink cartridges) and that the ink smears easily.

If you are using this cartridge you most likely have one of the following three printers: Officejet 6000, Officejet 6500, Officejet 7000. All are very good printers, thus the popularity of the 920 ink cartridges.

HP 920 Ink Cartridges - $31.99