Take it back and get a refund.

If you willingly buy an HP printer, you deserve whatever they inflict upon you.

That's insane.

X post most likely full of crap misleading.
HP Instant Ink subscription is not new. Instant Ink uses special cartridges. These don't work without a subscription.
It's not mandatory. Not familiar with any printer that only supports Instant Ink.
The printer will still print if you buy regular (genuine HP) cartridges.
Some HP printers no longer work with non-HP cartridges, though - at least as far as I heard.

keenmaster486 wrote on 2026-05-09, 20:53:

If you willingly buy an HP printer, you deserve whatever they inflict upon you.

But I've been using HP printers - and other hardware - for ages, and never experienced any such problems!

dr_st wrote on 2026-05-09, 21:02:

X post most likely full of crap misleading. HP Instant Ink subscription is not new. Instant Ink uses special cartridges. These d […]
Show full quote

X post most likely full of crap misleading.
HP Instant Ink subscription is not new. Instant Ink uses special cartridges. These don't work without a subscription.
It's not mandatory. Not familiar with any printer that only supports Instant Ink.
The printer will still print if you buy regular (genuine HP) cartridges.
Some HP printers no longer work with non-HP cartridges, though - at least as far as I heard.

So, the only way not to step on a landmine is to thoroughfully study all the fine print?
Even for such a simple purchase as printer and ink?

Seriously, can't understand how the person who invented that hasn't been lynched yet...

I agree it is getting a bit silly, especially the cars that have the options already installed, this is crazy! Who would pay a subscription to use the heated seats included with the car?

I had a call out to a customer once, their printer wasn't working, complaining about ink but they had just replaced the cartridge. It turned out they had bought a cartridge whilst on holiday in the states where they noticed they were cheaper, the printer refused to use it as it is a UK model... The inks are region locked! I also had a similar job where they had tried to use the "starter" cartridge from another identical HP printer, apparently these are locked to only work with the printer they are supplied with! All the printer companies seem to have their little scams, but HP probably the worst.

Grzyb wrote on 2026-05-09, 21:12:

So, the only way not to step on a landmine is to thoroughfully study all the fine print?
Even for such a simple purchase as printer and ink?

As I said, the post is most likely misleading. Or else the buyer had been misled by a salesperson.
I do understand that some HP printers might be offered with Instant Ink trials by default - a classic trick to lure customers in, also not invented by HP, by the way.
But then I expect it to be explained upfront very clearly on the box and otherwise, at time of purchase.

Grzyb wrote on 2026-05-09, 21:12:

Seriously, can't understand how the person who invented that hasn't been lynched yet...

It's a normal subscription service. For specific workloads it might actually come out cheaper than purchasing ink cartridges yourself, and more convenient too.
I buy HP printers, and I've never used it, because I don't like the idea to pay always for something that I might sometimes use.

dr_st wrote on 2026-05-10, 04:51:

But then I expect it to be explained upfront very clearly on the box and otherwise, at time of purchase.

Definitely!
I would expect a warning label even bigger than those compulsory warnings placed on boxes of cigarettes!

Anyway, I'm afraid that some day I will buy bread, butter, and sausage, and then can't make a sandwich...

HP has been doing stuff like this practically forever. I used to see the horror stories regularly on slashdot, and I stopped going to slashdot in 2017. I guess luckily for HP, there's a sucker born every minute.

dr_st wrote on 2026-05-09, 21:02:

X post most likely full of crap misleading. HP Instant Ink subscription is not new. Instant Ink uses special cartridges. These d […]
Show full quote

X post most likely full of crap misleading.
HP Instant Ink subscription is not new. Instant Ink uses special cartridges. These don't work without a subscription.
It's not mandatory. Not familiar with any printer that only supports Instant Ink.
The printer will still print if you buy regular (genuine HP) cartridges.
Some HP printers no longer work with non-HP cartridges, though - at least as far as I heard.

Wrong.

It may be mandatory on some models. AFAIK, the e models are cheaper than their non-e counterparts (i.e.: HP LaserJet M209dw and M209dwe), but you're forced to use original HP cartridges (I don't know if they need to be Instant Ink cartridges or not).

In that models, every time your printer is turned on it checks the cartridge and connect to the internet to check if it is authorized. If it is, it will print. But...

• The printer does not check the cartridge through the computer, needs to be directly connected to the internet (via wifi or ethernet). It may be a security concern.
• No internet connection? OK, it won't print even if your cartridges are original.
• If the cartridges are "Instant Ink" ones, and your subscription is expired... well, it won't print either (I think it's the same on non-e printers with Instant Ink cartridges).

Two funny things about this...

• HP printers are still reliable (although I prefer Lexmark) if you go into "professional" printers. "Home" printers are not great.
• "Professional" laser printers seems to not be as picky as "home" ones when using "aftermarket" ink cartridges (note that inkjet printers like plotters, officejet or pagewide ones ARE very picky).
• Why is HP trying to kill USB? Lately, printers that have a functional USB port have a label covering it so they try you to use ethernet/wifi instead. Even if there are drivers/features that depends on USB.

If you hate Instant Ink now, try being the guy that has to deliver that shit.

The video seems to be done for engagement farming. If she bought HP Instant Ink, then she bought a per page subscription. If she will buy a normal cartridge, then no subscription needed. Not really difficult!

I am using a HP CISS printer - 8000 pages with 40 USD worth of HP cartridges.

I would totally accept ink subscription if the ink was delivered via a network of pipelines.

But there's no ink pipelines - there are normal cartridges.
If I have a printer, a non-empty cartridge, and paper, but can't print - then it's called FRAUD.

Zup wrote on 2026-05-10, 14:40:

Wrong.

It may be mandatory on some models. AFAIK, the e models are cheaper than their non-e counterparts (i.e.: HP LaserJet M209dw and M209dwe), but you're forced to use original HP cartridges (I don't know if they need to be Instant Ink cartridges or not).

Why would you so decisively write that I am wrong, only to proceed with writing almost exactly what I wrote, plus some unsubstantiated guesses? 😕

I already acknowledged that some printers required genuine HP cartridges (sans hacking).
Even in regards to the LaserJet models you mentioned - I could easily find information that explains how to "detach" the e-model from HP+ and get it to work with regular cartridges.
Requires some finicking (kinda like installing Windows without a MS account), but can be done.

Maybe there are printers that are permanently tied to Instant Ink? Well, there might be, I just stated that I don't know of any, and apparently you don't really know of any either.

Zup wrote on 2026-05-10, 14:40:

HP printers are still reliable (although I prefer Lexmark) if you go into "professional" printers. "Home" printers are not great.

I agree. I've been using their mid-tier Officejet AIOs, and they mostly work well for me. Even can be repaired sometimes.

Zup wrote on 2026-05-10, 14:40:

"Professional" laser printers seems to not be as picky as "home" ones when using "aftermarket" ink cartridges

Well, laser printers use toner, not ink. 😜 It may be that the toner delivery system is simpler. I've used aftermarket ink cartridges in my Officejets 6830/6970 and found that some of them work great (no worse than the originals), while others are poor, in the sense that print quality is all over the place, and they frequently require recalibration to get adequate output (which wastes ink, paper and time).

Zup wrote on 2026-05-10, 14:40:

Why is HP trying to kill USB? Lately, printers that have a functional USB port have a label covering it so they try you to use ethernet/wifi instead. Even if there are drivers/features that depends on USB.

I don't know if and why they are trying to kill it, but using direct PC-to-USB for printing is so last century. Everyone has multiple devices (computers, phones, tablets) at home now. Not to mention small offices. A printer must be connected to the network to be available and useful to all. Otherwise you require a dedicated PC to function as the server, share the printer, which must be always on and available, and then you depend on the OS network and printer stack. In my experience, it works so-so. I haven't used a printer in direct connection ever since I got my first network-capable one.

Internet connection should not be mandatory, I agree (and so I would also avoid all these HP+ "smart" printers, if possible). However, it also adds real useful features such as scan-to-email. I've used it multiple times - it's a big time saver compared to scanning to USB drive / PC, then emailing it etc. Allows easily and seamlessly making copies of physical documents across distances - scan and email in the house - print in the office, or vice versa.

Grzyb wrote on 2026-05-10, 23:14:

I would totally accept ink subscription if the ink was delivered via a network of pipelines.

But there's no ink pipelines - there are normal cartridges.
If I have a printer, a non-empty cartridge, and paper, but can't print - then it's called FRAUD.

Why does it matter how the ink is delivered - by pipelines or by a courier? It's a service.
You have a computer, you have a router, your router is permanently connected to a physical broadband line which is fully functional, and yet if you don't pay the internet subscription fee, you cannot access the web. Is that also FRAUD?

I recall back in the day it was common practice in the USA (maybe it still is), to sell carrier-locked phones - you would get the phone itself WAY cheaper, but with a subscription plan, and your phone would not work with other carriers, at least until you paid for the subscription period in full. This sounds to me a lot like this 'Instant Ink' thing, assuming the printers themselves are sold cheaper, as was suggested here.

I hate these business models, I tend to steer away from them where I can, but they don't constitute fraud in my book. Perhaps shady advertising, if not disclosed up front.

CC-Adam wrote on 2026-05-09, 21:22:

especially the cars that have the options already installed, this is crazy! Who would pay a subscription to use the heated seats included with the car?

people do though

i can understand that mass production of cars with everything in them might be cheaper than differentiation - then using controllers to enable on subscription

that's not agreement, but i can see why it happens

also - this is part of an inexorable global shift from owning things to renting things, this being a hybrid example - it's everywhere and its enabled by mass communication networks and computation and it'll just happen more and more as newer generations will see it as "normal" and go along with it

This is one of the many ways society loses when 'eternal profit growth!' Is demanded.

At some point, you'll be charged a subscription fee for access to the atmosphere. 'If you want to breathe, you shouldn't have been born on earth!'

'Regulation kills profits!' Is really just the narrow minded reflex against acceptance of a mutually workable equilibrium economy, with the demand of a fully captured one.

As the suits like to put it, they need 'a realignment of expectations.'

Rather than handing these companies a license to fuck the future, govt *should* be enshrining interoperability law, and restricting the abuse ofbthe DMCA.

But, we are quite aware how that's *really* going.

(Sigh).

dr_st wrote on Yesterday, 06:41:

Why does it matter how the ink is delivered - by pipelines or by a courier? It's a service.
You have a computer, you have a router, your router is permanently connected to a physical broadband line which is fully functional, and yet if you don't pay the internet subscription fee, you cannot access the web. Is that also FRAUD?

My internet connection can't work without the infrastructure at the ISP's side - it's normal that I need to pay for their SERVICE.
Whatever I get via pipelines - water, gas, theoretically even ink - needs some pumping station at the other end. It's normal that I need to pay for their SERVICE.

A bottle of water, a cylinder of gas, a cartridge of ink, a disk of data - they are all PRODUCTS.
They don't need any SERVICES from the outside world - it's normal that I don't pay for any SERVICES.

It has nothing to do with whether it's a subscription and everything to do with how much you actually pay per page printed. The point of the subscription is to make you pay more per page for the convenience of not thinking about it.

In any case this is all a moot point because you can just buy a Brother laser printer and drive to Office Depot to replace the toner every 3 years. This shouldn't even be a discussion.