HP rolls out monthly subscription service for "hassle-free" printing

[Shawn Knight]

In a nutshell: HP has come up with a solution that'll ensure you never have to buy a printer or cartridge again. The HP All-In Plan is a subscription service that supplies a printer and ink for a flat monthly fee. Plans start at $6.99 a month, which includes an HP Envy home printer. There's also an $8.99 per month plan that includes a more advanced Envy Inspire printer for hybrid work environments, and a $12.99 / month plan that affords an HP OfficeJet Pro.

All plans include automatic ink delivery before you run out, as well as 24/7 customer service. In the event HP can't fix a problem over the phone, they'll ship out a new printer as soon as the next business day. I saw no mention of paper, so it's safe to assume you must supply your own print media.

Interested parties should read through the FAQ before signing up as there are some noteworthy stipulations you'll want to be aware of.

For starters, there is a monthly page print allowance. The $6.99 / month plan, for example, includes 20 pages per month but can be bumped up to 50 pages / month for an extra two bucks. With the top-tier plan, you can get up to 1,500 pages for $60.99 a month. Additional pages can be added to any plan, and unused prints can be rolled over. Full details can be found under the "get started" page when checking out.

Subscribers also have the option to upgrade to a new printer after two years.

While users are free to cancel at any time and there is no up front cost or down payment, there is a cancellation fee if you terminate your plan after the first 30 days but still within the first two years. Fees range from $60 to $270 depending on the plan and when you cancel.

Prospective subscribers will want to weigh the pros and cons to determine if it's a good fit. You'll pay a premium for convenience versus buying a printer outright and supplying your own ink, but such is often the case with subscription services.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/102082-hp-rolls-out-monthly-subscription-service-hassle-free.html

 

[NumberNine]

"HP has come up with a solution that'll ensure you never have to buy a printer or cartridge again."

"Plans start at $6.99 a month, which includes an HP Envy home printer."

"Fees range from $60 to $270 depending on the plan and when you cancel."

If you give them money, and they give you a printer, you have purchased a printer. Unless they want it back, at which point you are renting a printer for more than the price of purchase.

 

[yRaz]

I remember when my dad had his business back in the 90s, he would do all his own printing. He would send of flyers printed on I think 11x17, full color. He would buy 28freedom ounces of each color for $5/bottle, refill his cartridges and basically do high gloss photo prints of his products. It was some type of Cannon printer, but I remember during the several years we had that thing printing over 10,000 full color pages a year, we had to replace the magenta ink once because he accidently filled it with cyan and the print heads would need replaced every 6-7000 pages or else they'd get too out of alignment.

I don't remember how much the paper cost, but he was able to print about 12,000 double sided 11x17 photo prints a year for ~$100 in ink +whatever the paper costs. He ran that printer from 95 to I think we finally had to replace it in 2002 because it didn't have XP drivers and we couldn't get the PCI to DB25 card to work in 98SE.

 

[wiak]

Wait, is "Hassle-Free Printing" a paid DLC now?

 

[noel24]

Or just buy Epson Ecotank printer for some $6,8 a month (before taxes) over It's 2 year guarantee, and original ink in bottle starting from some $8, that will last You hundreds of pages. You can use cheaper substitutes, as It's just a tank filled from a bottle, no chip. The one in My office is 3 years old and recently refilled for the second time since new. Compared to HP, It's free now.
Brother is also good brand. Recently took My bosses one into a service (7 year old one). Thought they will say It's a scrap, but they fit new part for $27, including VAT, and It workes like new.

 

[axiomatic13]

Or just buy Epson Ecotank printer

Be like noel24. Buy the Ecotank. Don't buy the HP.

 

[noel24]

Wait, is "Hassle-Free Printing" a paid DLC now?

You'll own nothing and be happy.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

About the only thing I print anymore are return labels.

Everything else can be printed to PDF, edited/signed, and emailed back. It took an extra few decades to arrive but we are living in a paperless world. Of course HP is desperate for money.

 

[yRaz]

Or just buy Epson Ecotank printer for some $6,8 a month (before taxes) over It's 2 year guarantee, and original ink in bottle starting from some $8, that will last You hundreds of pages. You can use cheaper substitutes, as It's just a tank filled from a bottle, no chip. The one in My office is 3 years old and recently refilled for the second time since new. Compared to HP, It's free now.
Brother is also good brand. Recently took My bosses one into a service (7 year old one). Thought they will say It's a scrap, but they fit new part for $27, including VAT, and It workes like new.

Nearly every commercial or corporate job I'm on is running a brother or Epson printer. Just look at what the bean counters are using and buy that.

I also have another rule when buying just about anything, ignore the products with the very flashy packaging that are trying to get your attention. HP packaging is extremely flashy.

It's been my experience that Epson printers can go either way. Their corporate products are fine, but their cheap consumer printers end up being very expensive in the long run where as their expensive consumer printers end up being a steal in the long run.

 

[noel24]

Nearly every commercial or corporate job I'm on is running a brother or Epson printer. Just look at what the bean counters are using and buy that.

I also have another rule when buying just about anything, ignore the products with the very flashy packaging that are trying to get your attention. HP packaging is extremely flashy.

It's been my experience that Epson printers can go either way. Their corporate products are fine, but their cheap consumer printers end up being very expensive in the long run where as their expensive consumer printers end up being a steal in the long run.

Yes, They have under-$70 printers, but ecotanks starts at $150-200-something.
And also, never trust a brand. Read 4 and 3 and 2 star reviews. 5stars are bought, 1 star are unlucky ones.

 

[yRaz]

Yes, They have under-$70 printers, but ecotanks starts at $150-200-something.
And also, never trust a brand. Read 4 and 3 and 2 star reviews. 5stars are bought, 1 star are unlucky ones.

I agree. If you expect to do any kind of printing just spend the extra cash and get a good one. Replacing literally 1 ink cartridge can be the difference between a cheap printer and a "real" printer. And since most printers come with cartridges that are barely 20% full, that's going to come around quickly. Also, the cyan ink when printing only black is such a bullshit thing to do. Next time you go into an office supply store take a look at how many more cyan cartridges are on the shelf compared to the other colors. Just a fun little Easter egg.

 

[techseven]

Or just buy Epson Ecotank printer for some $6,8 a month (before taxes) over It's 2 year guarantee, and original ink in bottle starting from some $8, that will last You hundreds of pages. You can use cheaper substitutes, as It's just a tank filled from a bottle, no chip. The one in My office is 3 years old and recently refilled for the second time since new. Compared to HP, It's free now.
Brother is also good brand. Recently took My bosses one into a service (7 year old one). Thought they will say It's a scrap, but they fit new part for $27, including VAT, and It workes like new.

Ecotank running cost is super low, simply amazing.

 

[wiyosaya]

To HP:

You could not pay me to use an inkjet.

 

[return]

Is that include scanning? haha

 

[Che Cazzo]

"hassle-free" and HP in the same sentence?? The oxymoron is in turbo-mode here!!

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Hopefully there's a special place in Hell for HP execs and anyone stupid enough to indulge them.

 

[sdms96825]

I prefer Brother.

 

[Achaios]

Or just buy Epson Ecotank printer for some $6,8 a month (before taxes) over It's 2 year guarantee, and original ink in bottle starting from some $8, that will last You hundreds of pages. You can use cheaper substitutes, as It's just a tank filled from a bottle, no chip. The one in My office is 3 years old and recently refilled for the second time since new. Compared to HP, It's free now.
Brother is also good brand. Recently took My bosses one into a service (7 year old one). Thought they will say It's a scrap, but they fit new part for $27, including VAT, and It workes like new.

Yeah man, we too use EPSON Eco Tank printers only.

It's saved us a lot of money.

It's been many years since I last saw an HP printer in a professional work environment.

 

[mbk34]

I've had a wireless HP printer for quite a few years. In all honesty I very rarely print anything but, when I do, I have to log into a HP Smart app to use it. It seems to always forget my user name and password which means I have to request both from HP before I can use a printer that just sits in the next room. I just can't imagine what HP calls "hassle free" - perhaps they envision a future where a user can press print and their printer just prints something?

 

[Uncle Al]

Another outrageous attempt by HP to screw their customers .... I hope they will soon be bought out and shut down ...

 

[backfrombreak]

HP need to end their scummy practices and probably reshuffle their leadership. While at it, Do microsoft as well. Life as a subscription is only going as far as 'there's an app for it'.

 

[Jme Kerul]

Be ware, the not printed pages are not rolled into the next month.
There's a bug in HPs subscription system and the "cannot" fix it since 2 years.
Don't fall for the "free printer" scam.

 

[OortCloud]

Nobody wants service-based software why would they want service-based hardware. Please stop, its a sh1t idea and just a way of trying to get yet more money out of people. How about making decent printers you sell for a profit like you did 20 years ago before you started fleecing everybody with awful printers and ludicrous (environmentally disastrous) self-destroying cartridges?