back to article Who hit you, HP Inc? 'Windows 10! It's all Windows 10's fault'

HP Ink – the PC and printers half of the Hewlett-Packard split – has blamed Windows 10 for a ho-hum quarter of declining sales. "Windows 10 is a tremendous operating system platform," HP Ink CEO Dion Weisler told analysts and investors on a conference call on Wednesday afternoon. "But we have not yet seen the anticipated Win10 …

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  1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

    sigh!

    The tepid reception (outside the IT Journalists that is) that Windows 10 has received was a sue sign that it was not going to be a money spinner... yet. (or if ever).

    The fact that MS is giving it away for FREE (in return for taking your next born and selling them to the hightest bidder) means that there really is no incenting for people to buy 'shiny-shiny' new PC's and Laptops.

    Putting all your eggs in the W10 frying pan has IMHO just tipped you out into the fire.

    Heads should roll for this in HP.

    And they won't be the last.

    1. DropBear
      Facepalm

      Re: sigh!

      And heads will most certainly roll. Many, many, MANY heads; just not any in the management department of course - you gotta shelter and protect your management, because they are the life and blood of your enterprise (workers can be safely ejected - they are just dead ballast weight anyway, you're better off without them).

    2. MyffyW Silver badge
      Mushroom

      Argh!

      That's the sound I am told I make when my significant other asks me "Is there a problem with the printer?"

      The problem, hun, being that we actually have one. From the possession of a printer flows all manner of human trouble to which even Nostradamus, the Book of Revelations, the Bhagavad Gita or The Yellow Pages fail to do justice.

      I am become printer, the destroyer of Sunday Evenings.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Argh!

        I'm now actually wondering how Epson is doing. Not that my single purchase of Epson gear will have altered their income much, but more people may have found Epson the better choice of late.

        I switched to Epson last year because it had (IMHO) nicer multifunction printers to handle A3 (it also scans it), and so far it appears to have been the right decision, helped by the fact that I don't use original ink - that alone saves so much money that I can pretty much afford not to have any warranty on the printer.

        I seem to have gone full circle here. I started with Epson, then Star, then Canon (bubblejet), then a long time HP. Eventually I needed A3, and Epson simply matched my needs better. So I'm baaaack :).

        Not sure if that will hold up when we need a proper office duty printers, though - those will have to be colour lasers, and I haven't quite done that research yet. I may end up rescuing HP after all..

        1. Terry 6 Silver badge

          Re: Argh!

          Yes, My Epson WF isn't too expensive on ink. Doesn't seem to dry out when we don't use it for a few weeks, churns out children's homework quickly and reliably. Updates drivers without complaining. Prints from email or with an Android app.

          The last time I had an HP printer it failed on software installs, jammed if the paper wasn't loaded on a Wednesday under a full moon and cost a fortune in ink. But then my more recent HP mouse also had driver problems. A mouse ffs.

          1. PaulAb

            Re: Argh!

            I'm still devastated about the Safe deposit box Robbery in London last year, I've no chance of getting that photo grey cartridge back, ...it was my life savings, my wife divorced me, the judge said it was black and white,...I couldn't argue - he was right.....DAMN you HP, DAMN you mysterious Ginger man never caught, I bet he's printing in 600dpi grey all the way to the next bank..DAMN you!

            1. David 132 Silver badge
              Coat

              Re: Argh!

              I'm still devastated about the Safe deposit box Robbery in London last year, I've no chance of getting that photo grey cartridge back

              Don't worry, most of them are now ink-arcerated, serving multiple sentences in parallel cos they're serial offenders. Doing A4 year stretch, at least... reams of evidence.

          2. Hans 1

            Re: Argh!

            >But then my more recent HP mouse also had driver problems. A mouse ffs.

            I am all OK with the rest of your comment, but, unless you are running MS-DOS or Windows 3.x, Windows should have all the drivers it needs for your pointing device .... blaming HP for abysmal USB support in Windows is unfair.

            1. Fred Flintstone Gold badge

              Re: Argh!

              I suspect he forgot to remove it from the pallet it was delivered on..

            2. This post has been deleted by its author

        2. John 104

          Re: Argh! - EPSON

          @AC - Epson Printers

          I bought an Epson MFP once. It printed wonderful color pictures. Scanned whatever. Copied whatever. Up until the ink in one color ran out. Then EVERYTHING stopped working until I put a new cartridge in. There is no requirement for ink to scan something, yet they put this stranglehold on users to force them to buy consumables. Fuck em. Went out and bought an HP color laser printer and gave the Epson away.

          Had that printer for a number of years til it finally died. Then I bought another HP printer. It is going strong. I might suggest that the HP printer business is flagging because of the superiority of their product. If it doesn't break, there is no reason to buy a new one...

          And, I'm doing my part. I bought an Envy last fall. Nice bit of kit. 5 months on and I'm still loving it.

          1. tekHedd

            Re: Argh! - EPSON

            ...and I assume your HP printer is nothing like my next door neighbor's which he says is bankrupting him buying ink cartridges. He doesn't print fast enough to run out, but they're always "expired" when it's time to print.

            Last HP printer I owned wouldn't feed paper. Period. It either jammed or fed two pages. Didn't matter whether I bought HP's special paper or not. Never mind the ink expenses. I threw it away because I'd have felt guilty giving it to a friend.

            So, er, I assume your experience with HP printers has been better. I guess. I'd certainly never even look at another one.

            1. John 104

              Re: Argh! - EPSON

              @tekHedd

              You know, I've never had a problem with HP printers. I had an old school inkjet (512 I think? all in one cartridge) for probably a decade. The drive belt finally disintegrated. It was a sad day! That's when I bought the Epson.

              Never had any failure to feed issues with any of them. Could be climate related in your case though? I suppose I'm a loyalist to a degree, but I can't fault them for not being reliable, which is why they are the printer of my choice.

          2. Youngone Silver badge

            Re: Argh! - EPSON

            Also a minor Epson fan. I bought a really cheap MFC. Works fine.

            Also Epson do really good Linux drivers. Downloaded, clicked on it, selected the printer model, bingo!

          3. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Argh! - EPSON

            I bought an Epson MFP once. It printed wonderful color pictures. Scanned whatever. Copied whatever. Up until the ink in one color ran out. Then EVERYTHING stopped working until I put a new cartridge in. There is no requirement for ink to scan something, yet they put this stranglehold on users to force them to buy consumables. Fuck em. Went out and bought an HP color laser printer and gave the Epson away.

            That's why I *started* with researching what non-original ink I could use before I even bought the thing, because only their new printers have abandoned the 'cheap hardware, platinum priced ink" strategy which made ink more expensive then blood (but blood doesn't print so well and it sucks having to walk around on the end of a hose). As irony would have it, I bought this printer (a WF 7610) as a replacement for a remarkably fast and robust HP Officejet Pro K550 which was starting to show signs of wear (misalignment, paper feed issues, noises - the works) after 7+ years of faithful service. HP didn't have anything attractive with A3 capability that could take replacement ink, Epson did (I like A3 because it works better with diagrams).

            I personally never had problems with HP. Software was easy to get and upgrade for any OS (Windows, Linux, OSX), and it was decent software, not the I-will-spread-everywhere-in-your-system-because-I-used-to-be-a-virus-writer-before-I-got-this-gig disaster that Brother printers inflict on you. Their A3 printer was a disaster, also because it was frighteningly slow, and it thus became the first printer in my life with IT to be returned within 3 hours of purchase..

            However, Epson is in my experience just as good as HP, and as I could get replacement ink to feed this A3+ capable printer (which is where ink costs really start to add up), economics made this pretty much a no-brainer, helped by the fact that it also gave me a double sided ADF, A3 capable network scanner.

            I spent £50 on ink and cartridges, which would have costed over £800 in Epson original, but I must add that I am fortunate in not needing colour fidelity as I print mostly document and proofs - that is the price you pay with replacement ink. Maybe I find time one day to work out how to set up a colour profile that corrects this - I'd welcome any tips there.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: sigh!

      Agree, that was my immediate thought: Of course PC sales are not good, MS is tapping everyone to upgrade to Win10 on their current PC. The reason most people buy a new PC, or one of the reasons, is to get the new OS... not really necessary with MS giving away Win10 for free on your existing PC. No real need to upgrade hardware for most people either. What they have will work fine. Not really sure I would say this is a strategic error on HP Inc's part though. What other choice do they have at this point? That is kind of why HP broke in two. HP Inc is the declining business. HPE is the declining less business.

      1. Maventi

        Re: sigh!

        "The reason most people buy a new PC, or one of the reasons, is to get the new OS"

        No, usually it's just because the old one broke or started running too slow and exceeded the user's frustration threshold. Most folks just don't care about the OS as long as the stuff they had before still works and stuff they want to use are easy to find.

        Now that so much of the above-mentioned 'stuff' is web-based, the OS matters less than ever. Hence why we now have a far more diverse market, which is fantastic however way you look at it. Yes that may result in a small downturn for those still limited to the Wintel scene. Windows isn't going away though, we've just got more to choose from is all. HP simply need broaden with the market.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: sigh!

          Agree, most things are done through a web browser. For work I think people may still need or want a PC for desktop apps, like Office, but for the home user it is usually just a matter of opening a browser. I agree with the hardware quality thing too. That is definitely one of the major reasons why people upgrade. It is not so much that they need the new hardware specs (as mentioned, if the hardware spec can run an OS and open a browser, that's all most people need). I'm just saying that if your PC isn't broken or slow and hardware specs are likely not a concern, taking away the OS upgrade is another reason not to buy a new PC... as many people who may have wanted the new OS would have, traditionally, thought... well, Windows is $99, or whatever, and a new home PC is $400-500, I might as well just refresh as I will need to do it at some point anyway... a catalytic event. Now that, in addition to all the other reasons you don't need a new PC, is in play.

          I don't really know what HP can do to broaden their market. They tried with tablets, swing and a miss. It is difficult for a Win OEM to beat Surface in quality. They could push into Android tablets, but they are then competing with about 20 other OEMs (Samsung, HTC, etc) who are more established. Not a lot of good options.

    4. VinceLortho

      Re: sigh!

      Good point. I have refurbished two Vista laptops with Win10 to the delight of the owners who had chucked them aside for being unusable. I did warn them of the surveillance built into Win10, the half complete interface and the loss of some control, but it does work well if installed fresh and a few thing turned off and tweaked. Update of existing Windows, on the other hand, is a nightmare. One Win7 Pro update went so badly it was easier to chuck it and resulted in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS as replacement.

      However, HP's problem is mostly the Carly Fiorina legacy. My wife's HP laser WiFi network printer has never fully worked, ever, in 3 years of mucking with it. I get the full wireless working so we can all print over the network and a couple of days later it has to be plugged into the computer USB again. It's over 10 years of increasingly crud product and bad service that affected HP sales, although it was not helped by Microsoft's uneven, reskinned Widows 8 beta-ware, with oft changing interface, posing as a new and complete OS.

  2. tirk
    Facepalm

    I'm sure people will learn to love Windows 10...

    ...especially when they hear about the lockscreen adverts!.

    1. big_D Silver badge

      Re: I'm sure people will learn to love Windows 10...

      I don't get that option on my PCs... :-S

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I'm sure people will learn to love Windows 10...

      ...especially when they hear about the lockscreen adverts!.

      Oh, there is more to come. Just when you think you have waded your way past those ads, you will discover that the latest Adobe Reader DC (the "up"grade from v11) ALSO supports ads. As a matter of fact, it seeks to cut out the middle man from what I could find in the Terms it wants you to accept (which is when I started to pay attention - previous Reader updates did not ask for new Terms to be accepted).

      Instead of having to follow the cumbersome path via your browser and pesky adblockers, Adobe seems to offer direct access to your machine via the Adobe Reader DC, naturally with its own network. As we all know that the magnificent expertise of Adobe in keeping us safe puts that of Microsoft completely in the shade (yes, that's sarcasm), we are all very happy about that idea, especially since there seems to be no off switch to this, other than to to go back to the Adobe site, download any version 11 reader and from then on ignore the frantic screeching of the update downgrade manager that it's unclean and unsafe. I also don't approve of applications that seek to send off information about me either (that too was in the Terms I did not agree to).

      I know where my PDFs come from and my browser can't auto-start any, so I reckon I am probably going to do a better job keeping malware of my system with an old version of Reader than with a new version of Reader and the accompanying backdoor.

      And I don't even run Windows.

      1. Terry 6 Silver badge

        Re: I'm sure people will learn to love Windows 10...

        Er, you use Adobe to read PDFs?

        Why?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: I'm sure people will learn to love Windows 10...

          Er, you use Adobe to read PDFs?

          Why?

          That is an *excellent* question, but the answer to that is unfortunately not comprehensible to our non-MBA afflicted minds.. Let's just say that is not by choice.

          On the plus side, it is also not by default - we soon got rid of that.

        2. Alumoi Silver badge

          Re: I'm sure people will learn to love Windows 10...

          I don't know about you, but the overlords in our country decided that all official electronic forms (pdfs, of course) MUST be filled in using Adobe Reader. I don't know what checks they perform, but filling in a form in anything else results in the file not being accepted by their system.

      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: I'm sure people will learn to love Windows 10...

        " the latest Adobe Reader DC (the "up"grade from v11) ALSO supports ads. As a matter of fact, it seeks to cut out the middle man from what I could find in the Terms it wants you to accept (which is when I started to pay attention - previous Reader updates did not ask for new Terms to be accepted)....And I don't even run Windows."

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okular

    3. Mark 85

      Re: I'm sure people will learn to love Windows 10...

      I guess this becomes a reason to turn of the PC... or pay MS whatever they will be asking in lieu of ads. Seems Win10 is set to screw everyone sooner or later.

    4. Hans 1

      Re: I'm sure people will learn to love Windows 10...

      To disable: Fortunately, the ads are easy enough to disable. Just head to Settings > Personalization > Lock Screen and uncheck the box that reads “Get fun facts, tips, tricks, and more on your lock screen.”

      So, to Microsoft, "fun facts, tips, tricks" are ads ... interesting.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I'm sure people will learn to love Windows 10...

        "So, to Microsoft, "fun facts, tips, tricks" are ads ... interesting."

        Well, here's a tip for you: "Buy one get one free. Only at $advertiser! Limited offer"

        You can argue until you turn blue, consider it an (unwanted) ad, but for me it's a tip.

  3. Arctic fox
    Headmaster

    Re: "(normally people buy a new machine to get a new Microsoft OS)"

    Actually I think that most people these days buy a new machine when they need a new machine. The conventional pc-market has been heading south for some considerable time. I think that HP need to reexamine the excuses they are making for themselves. Currently, AFAIK, the only growth in the pc-market in general is in the area of "2-in-ones", "hybrids" and the like. If HP's main effort is still in knocking out boxes and expecting us to buy them then they should perhaps reevaluate their strategy.

    1. ad47uk

      Re: "(normally people buy a new machine to get a new Microsoft OS)"

      The problem is hardware is not really worth replacing these days unless you have to. A 5 years old computer will still do the job fine unless you are into games you may get a small boost via a better video card.

      CPU technology have been flat for a while, AMD not really done anything and Intel is just plodding along and putting out chips that really do very little more than what the last one did.

      People do not buy a computer because MS decided to bring out a new OS.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "(normally people buy a new machine to get a new Microsoft OS)"

        Hell with a (new) Windows machine. I'm in the market for 3-5 year old HP workstations. W7 Pro, natch. Dual-Xeon is pretty nice, even the older grunt.

        1. jason 7

          Re: "(normally people buy a new machine to get a new Microsoft OS)"

          @Jack of Shadows.

          Rocking a £100.00 dual Xeon X5470 Dell workstation from late 2007. Still benches within 20% or so of modern Intel stuff costing a lot lot more. Added in 16GB of ECC ram, 850 EVO, USB3.0 and a HD7870 and it works very nicely.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Pint

            Re: "(normally people buy a new machine to get a new Microsoft OS)"

            Per task the HP z600, it's not up to what my 4.8 GHz i5 with 2400 MHz memory and paired Quadro & Tesla (which puts that machine on the map for super-computer status). Now when it comes to juggling CAD/CAM/CASE and especially simulation work on expensive packages that have long known how to intelligently thread, all at the same time? That's a positive pleasure!

            Yep, I did have to bring its game up a bit. 48 GB ECC RAM, LSI PCIe x8 SAS/SATA controller, a handful of SSD's and high-speed/high-capacity hard drives in hot-swap cartridges, and I did toss in my much underused AMD W7000. Ah, a USB 3 card for the sticks and such. The thing is, all the old stuff I have laying around goes into the box with a bit of room to spare and just works. Which is more than I can say for "yon super-computer" above. [That, when I get it "up on step" is sweet. But blood sacrifices may be called for.]

            Both are a bit technically demanding actually, but in different ways. Come to think of it, given how long a career I had in the US Navy where you'll find literal WWII radios next to the latest and greatest satellite communications stuff, this is my comfort zone.

      2. Terry 6 Silver badge

        Re: "(normally people buy a new machine to get a new Microsoft OS)"

        Absolutely. Hardware has long since exceeded the capacity the vast majority of users need.

        Win 7 worked well, and just needed a bit of tinkering - like making the start menu more easy to manage, and a block on software installs creating folders in it, instead of programme links.

        Nothing in Win 8-10 makes the "user experience" better ( and the start menu is impossible to manage fully, even if you know how to jump through the hoops, because of the inbuilt "apps").

        However, HP have never done themselves any favours. I long since stopped ever buying their products. The hardware was always good, but software was so rubbish. Bloated, unreliable and buggy.

        A typical HP software install would fail to update when a new driver came out, because the old one wouldn't uninstall properly, but then wouldn't let the old one work either.

        1. TRT Silver badge

          Re: "(normally people buy a new machine to get a new Microsoft OS)"

          I have to disagree. Hardware has long since proven insufficient to run the latest versions of M$ bloatware. Other software, fine... that 10 year old Sony Vaio that came with XP in the corner? - happy as Larry with the latest Mint... Windows 7? Like a tortoise on mogadon.

        2. AJ MacLeod

          Re: "(normally people buy a new machine to get a new Microsoft OS)"

          HP hardware may have been solid up till the mid or late 90s but it's been generally dire since then (speaking consumer hardware here since that's the bit of HP in question.) I know of no other manufacturer whose laptops have such a propensity for cooking themselves, regardless of how mundane or flashy and expensive.

          Even their printers bear no hint of the good old HP LaserJet III style engineering (though granted they are now generally very much cheaper to buy.)

      3. DRue2514

        Re: "(normally people buy a new machine to get a new Microsoft OS)"

        It's not just computers. In the past old HP desktop B&W printers lasted forever - laserjet 4, 4050. Colour lasers just don't; and they are expensive to run. All that happens is the office gets over-run with cartridges for printers that no one has anymore because after a few years the printer gives up. Better to go for a larger photocopier/printer on contract than buy flimsy HP ColourJets.

        And yes my home PC is about 7 years old but I recently put in an SSD and it has given it a new lease of life. Not as quick as the i7/32GB PCs I have been setting up for work of course but pretty usable still.

      4. MJI Silver badge

        Re: "(normally people buy a new machine to get a new Microsoft OS)"

        And the rest, my current PC was rebuilt built just at the end of Win Vista.

        Still works well, components said Vista compatable, check still XP compatable.

        Until I see a reason to change (I know about SSD) I will let it run

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "(normally people buy a new machine to get a new Microsoft OS)"

      Agree, and good luck competing with MS themselves and Surface in the PClet or hybrid or 'a tablet which you can do stuff on' market. I don't like any OEM's chances of beating Surface's quality, integration and build. On a side note, I'm not sure why MS can't take a Surface down to the phone guys and say 'build this, only smaller and with a phone app' or maybe just ask the Surface team to do it. Apparently the Surface phone is in the works though. You look at the, IMO, flawless build quality of Surface and then the build quality of Lumia and think... how does the same company make these products? Just hand all devices to the Surface team and forget about Nokia... which it appears is what MS has planned.

  4. All names Taken
    Big Brother

    Just reaping and sowing?

    Reap what you sow HP doodz, reap what you sow?

  5. bombastic bob Silver badge

    Win-10-nic lowering new PC sales (as expected)

    The problem with PC sales has MOSTLY to do with the effect of 'Ape' (8.x) and now Win-10-nic (windows 10), because people do NOT WANT THESE OPERATING SYSTEMS when their EXISTING 7 machines work JUST FINE, and there's generally NO PERCEIVED IMPROVEMENT for a new computer with 10 on it compared to a 'few years old' machine with 7 on it...

    And THAT *IS* the problem! Microsoft's "phone on a desktop" concept JUST! PLAIN! SUCKS!!!

    So you see the predictable DROP in new computer sales. And you see people EXPLICITLY LOOKING FOR 7 MACHINES. And you see people UPGRADING THEIR EXISTING COMPUTERS with new parts, or even GETTING THEIR COMPUTERS REPAIRED (instead of replacing them) so they don't have to deal with Win-10-nic or "Ape".

    Perhaps HP should invest some MARKETING CAPITAL and R&D into making HIGH END LINUX MACHINES and selling THOSE for LOWER PRICES than their Windows equivalents... convince people that LINUX is BETTER, CHEAPER, and JUST AS EASY to use, and don't use nonsensical phone-like UI's like MeGo or Unity (which are too "Ape"-like) but *REAL* desktops like Cinnamon and Mate and even KDE.

    Are you LISTENING OUT THERE, HP?

    1. Diodelogic

      Re: Win-10-nic lowering new PC sales (as expected)

      Well, maybe you're right. But why aren't the hundreds of millions of Linux and other non-Windows operating systems users not purchasing printers? The sales of printers fell even further than that of PCs in percentage terms. Are Linux, etc., users not buying printers either?

      Or are people buying other brands of printers, just not HP printers, perhaps? I don't know... it's a question, not a comment.

      1. regadpellagru

        Re: Win-10-nic lowering new PC sales (as expected)

        "The sales of printers fell even further than that of PCs in percentage terms. Are Linux, etc., users not buying printers either?

        Or are people buying other brands of printers, just not HP printers, perhaps? I don't know... it's a question, not a comment."

        They do, but not at the rate HP is expected. HP, for years, has devised, every time Windows N+1 comes, it's a box sale per user. This used to have some merit, because every single pre-10 version of Windows would necessitate amounts of ressources no previous HW could have.

        Now, due to MS vision of Windows for phone, and also because MS decided to push 10 down everyone's throat, in order to monetize their data, this has changed and 10 runs on HW 7 or 8 are on.

        Also, it seems HP has extended this reasoning to printers, which also had some merit, since those fuckwits had always made dead sure drivers of all their previous products wouldn't be available for N+1. Therefore, with N+1 came a new printer.

        But the problem for this is other printers vendors are less retarded and think long term. For example, Canon still does drivers/utilities for OS X El Capitan for their products from last decade. example: utilities for my venerable MP600, which passed away last summer after 10 years of perfect service.

        Guess which brand I chose for replacement ?

        1. DropBear
          FAIL

          Re: Win-10-nic lowering new PC sales (as expected)

          Oh really? I can haz Twain drivers for windows 7 64-bit for my _Canon_ LiDE 35 scanner plz? Pretty plz...? Without the need to hack in the LiDE 60 driver instead if possible...?

          1. TRT Silver badge

            Re: Win-10-nic lowering new PC sales (as expected)

            I suppose some people might buy a whole new PC if their shift key was playing up so badly...

          2. Hans 1

            Re: Win-10-nic lowering new PC sales (as expected)

            >Oh really? I can haz Twain drivers for windows 7 64-bit for my _Canon_ LiDE 35 scanner plz? Pretty plz...? Without the need to hack in the LiDE 60 driver instead if possible...?

            Sane works great (out-of-the-box) on that scanner (I had the same model), so, treat yourself to some Nordic Mint, you will not look back!

            1. Hans 1

              Re: Win-10-nic lowering new PC sales (as expected)

              >>Oh really? I can haz Twain drivers for windows 7 64-bit for my _Canon_ LiDE 35 scanner plz? Pretty plz...? Without the need to hack in the LiDE 60 driver instead if possible...?

              >Sane works great (out-of-the-box) on that scanner (I had the same model), so, treat yourself to some Nordic Mint, you will not look back!

              Scrap that, get yourself the new pi 3, at least you have a good excuse for the missus ...

      2. cambsukguy

        Re: Win-10-nic lowering new PC sales (as expected)

        > Or are people buying other brands of printers, just not HP printers, perhaps? I don't know... it's a question, not a comment

        I blame them for bring too good, bastards.

        I have a 1012, so old that it uses wires to print with, over a decade and still subjectively produces output like new - with a non-HP laser cartridge natch - now in the hands of someone else in the family.

        I had to buy a new printer (the old one used wires! and only 600dpi for God's sake) and even that is maybe 5 years old now.

        Also works perfectly, obviously, and also with non-HP cartridges. I read horror stories about them but I bought two for less than the price of one original and the output, which I use rarely to be fair, is, again, subjectively great.

        I gave up on ink jets a long time ago because laser printers produce instant output, clean, pure, and touchable even when not used for a month or more. Almost zero energy on standby, always ready and usable from anywhere in the world that' connected - yes, I can print things for other people even though I can't take the paper out (or put it in) if I am not there.

        I don't have colour though, oh well, that Ryanair ticket scanner must be so disappointed.

        If I needed colour, I would possibly buy an actual colour laser now, they look like they could be afforded, if they last forever of course - we shall see in another 5 years or so when wireless becomes passé and we have thought-transfer printing I guess.

        I can only assume their actual sales come from people who actually wear out their printer, office users, and people with loads of money that can't fix paper jams - which I also never get. And, of course, newly minted people with more disposable and newly acquired need in emerging markets - not sure HP sell too much there but their prices are pretty reasonable at the low end from my memory.

        1. Paul Woodhouse

          Re: Win-10-nic lowering new PC sales (as expected)

          HP Printers are a PITA with Terminal Services as well... I steer people to Canon usually or to Samsung for little Desktop printers...

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