Framework: We don't want to have to make a printer, but wow
twitter.com
twitter.com
Please don't get distracted, Framework. What you're trying to do is challenging enough already.
Notably people will keep saying in every thread about HP that Brother exists, and I don't think Brother is dominating the market. At the end of the day if a ignorant customers keep buying garbage products, it's hard to help.
However if they are really turning HP I could never recommend with a good conscious.
This is conflicting.
Unfortunately, from an objective standpoint, I'm not sure there is anyone better to recommend. At least we can say that Brothers hardware is good and that, for the most part, it just works when trying to print. I've vertainly never had any issues with it _other_ than them forcing me to swap the DRM chip from my empty starter cartridge into my replacement non-OEM one (and, the fact that this is possible is a sort of half-mark in their favor? I guess?)
It's a shitty situation where I'd rather buy from a company that didn't do this but the entire product segment is so bad that I don't think it exists.
Solutions offered online are to use a knife to extract the chip from a genuine cartridge to stick on the new one.
Here's a youtube video showing the process:
I recently bought a genuine Brother replacement toner cartridge, but that was locked out from my printer because the model number was off by one character or something. $65 lost, oops. There appears to be just a plastic tab on the cartridge keying it to the other model. I am not sure that I want to attempt pouring the toner into a compatible cartridge that I already have.
It's weird to me that I can get a cheap smart watch/drone/noise cancelling heaphones/android phone or tablet/compact projector from companies I've never heard of, and who aren't trying to get me on a monthly subscription -- but not a printer.
this practice should be made illegal through environment protection laws
But everything is misleading to make you spend more money, so who knows anymore.
I actually bought three of the same shitty Canon scanner/inkjet combos in a row when I ran out of ink.
Then I came to my senses and got a Brother laser.
I would have hoped for such a company to target compatibility with the existing generic printer cartridges that HP is working so hard to not accept.
Nah, a printer with PostScript and AirPrint will work on every OS.
They don't have to develop it, just put a stamp of approval on one that doesn't suck.
I'm afraid it's going to be pretty expensive though. Many printers are essentially subsidized by purchases of toner and ink.
[1] https://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-d...
they're slow but they are super reliable, last forever, and don't have any garbage software
Ink jets inherently suck for low volume users because the ink dries out. Dot matrix impact still exists but is heavy duty now. The cheap home and compact models are gone. Also, afaict, no more small thermal printers except for receipt printers. But I might look around more.
Anyone know a good site to look for this stuff?
The cost of a consumer smart TV has moved towards being subsidized by selling ads and watch history to media companies. Most consumers expect their flat screen high resolution 80" TV to cost less than $1000; there's even some choices in the $400-500 range now. Samsung (et al) need the recurring ad revenue (they say) to keep the lights on and provide continued products. They rightfully believe the market won't exist for the sustainable cost of the TV set, maybe in the multiple thousand price range, without the ad/viewership revenue.
I think HP is facing this same problem. People won't buy a multiple thousands dollar printer. The market has driven the price down, such that HP needs to capture recurring revenue from its consumers. Without it, the retail price of printers would end up being much higher, likely out of reach for common consumers.
I think the blame for this lies more with consumers than with manufacturers. I'm not stump speeching for HP; if anything, they have been my bane from previous days of being a local system administrator maintaining a fleet of printers for an engineering firm. And yes, corporate greed, perceived shareholder needs, and CxO salaries have led to these conditions too.
Ultimately I just wish there were some good market choices here for normal consumers. I don't want to buy the "business" version of a printer anymore than I want to buy the business version of a smart TV display. But I wish there was a model where we didn't have to shell out for expensive HP toner just to have a decent printer on a subscription model.
Like it or not, I think the subscription model is only in the beginning phases. You're not going to own anything in the future.
There doesn't seem to be any evidence for this though. People are now having to use (more expensive) workarounds in order to have a TV that doesn't monetise them.
eg large monitor + dedicated tv appliance / pc, using a commercial display, etc.
The mind boggles at the possibilities.
(note that it's nitter.cz not nitter.net due to the .net one showing a message about being rate limited)
Though really i can't believe it hasn't improved drastically.
I don't think we'll ever get rid of that but I am sure we can achieve sustainability with paper usage.
1: https://www.homecomputermuseum.nl/wp-content/uploads/2021/04...
That said, I don't think building a "better" unprofitable, archaic device is good business, Framework.
Good picture quality & resolution (e.g. LG panel), no (or replaceable) smart features, no forced ads / tracking, fast startup, wide variety of inputs would be bonus though the usual options are fine.
I'm less imaginative around would-be-cool features. If there was an integrated, hackable linux computer you could do many more things like photo frame, weather, (privacy respecting) smart home controls, media server, etc.
I have a TV that takes a few seconds to boot to a screen that says I need to agree to some demands in order to see advertisements. Fortunately, there has yet to be a software update that's so heavy-handed that I can't use the built-in chromecast without agreeing to their demands.
I am really rather glad it was a gift so I won't feel bad trashing it when the time comes. It makes me appreciate how nice a dumb TV is when it's connected to a smart computer and also how important it is to provide the computer myself.
I agree that the smart features are bad, but it's at least still easy to just avoid them. Although I'll admit to not having a great solution to input/control. I currently just use a wireless mouse and keyboard, but that's less than optimal in a living room situation.
I don’t think they sell them in North America though.
It’s all the things you want: has no ads anywhere, turns on in a couple seconds from standby, has a great image (they say it’s used in Hollywood for color grading or something), the “smart” is very light if you care to use it (I don’t and it doesn’t get in the way), is fully supported in home assistant… It’s basically a damn good screen to show whatever I want to see. It’s the polar opposite of the dumpster fire that Samsung TVs are for example.
> or people who can't afford to buy an entirely new laptop every three years?
A laptop should really be useful for longer than 3 years.
I noticed in a lot of the reviews for the 16 that dropped yesterday. They made a point that the Framework is generally more expensive for similar performance than competitors, which is true!
But in the 13, upgrading to a new mainboard with a new CPU was ~half the cost of buying fresh.
So, if in 3-5 years when the user decides they need an upgrade, they don't _need_ to buy an entire laptop, just a new mainboard. It seems to me that even a single upgrade cycle like this brings the cost at _least_ to parity, if not cheaper than competitors.
warranty would probably have covered it, but getting that would have been a hassle and without a working laptop until it was fixed, and i needed more space anyways. i'd rather have warranty on individual components that are expensive (like the motherboard) and spend some money to replace smaller parts than waiting for a fix.
Or, if one wishes to self insure, maintain only one laptop and buy another one at the Apple Store the same day yours breaks. Sell the old one back to Apple once it is repaired. Slightly more expensive, but you can defer the cost until the event.
Always backup continuously.
But for me personally, you lost me at "Macbook": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cNg_ifibCQ Then again, life is often about tradeoffs. For me, Framework offers the best tradeoff.