HP at-home ink subscription service

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freitasm

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#284369 16-Apr-2021 16:07

Just got the release from HP announcing their at-home ink service in New Zealand. Basically you subscribe for a number of pages and receive a new ink cartridge before the current one runs out. More information here.

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#2693914 16-Apr-2021 17:11

I might take up the offer. I just had one question that wasn’t covered in the faq’s: what happens to the spare ink we have purchased before subscribing?

I assume that it’s best for me to put them aside and only use the subscription ink.

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mattwnz

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#2693930 16-Apr-2021 18:12

So it is only available on select new printers. So you have to throw away you old one and buy a new one? If so, that doesn't sound very green.

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#2693932 16-Apr-2021 18:17

A number of their existing printers do work with it. My printer that I purchased during lockdown last year is compatible with the service.

I suspect that the printers have to support the HP account feature (and thus have wifi or ethernet) to work.

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#2693943 16-Apr-2021 19:28

My printer is also eligible and it was a $29 one I bought quite a while ago.

Would be keen if I had e.g. a year to use the pages instead of the three-month rollover. My printing is very sporadic, I could go months without printing then all of a sudden I will print heaps in one month. I suspect I'm still better off buying individual cartridges than paying for months of printing that end up expiring.

I do like how easy they make recycling the cartridges in this scheme though.

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#2694048 17-Apr-2021 00:39

I've signed up to the service. They also provide a referral link which gives both parties an extra free month - here is my link: try.hpinstantink.com/2m8ggg

So the good so far:

It pulls the stats from your printer so it recommends the most cost effective plan (mine was the $9.99 plan).
The two month trial ONLY starts once you have inserted the Instant Ink cartridges.
They give a 10 working day leadtime for cartridges, suspect its being shipped from AU or overseas.
Page counts are not tracked in real time. It appears the HP instant ink polls the printer once a day.
Double sided printing counts as 2 pages.
The printer will work without internet connectivity but those pages will be billed to your allowance once the printer comes back online. I assume there is a max time between check ins.
If you use non HP instant ink cartridges - those will not be billed. No idea on what happens if you mix them... I assume its an all or nothing.

Up until now I've been very conservative on my printing, rarely printing and when I do - black and white only. This will allow me to not worry about that AND also consider printing photos (which use a lot of ink too).

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#2694057 17-Apr-2021 06:57

Thanks for the referral link, I've just signed up too.

I do wonder, now that it's only limited to x among of pages, how do they authenticate a print.

Can anyone still discover my printer on my network and print or do the need to be signed into my hp account to print.

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#2694059 17-Apr-2021 07:07

cokemaster: I might take up the offer. I just had one question that wasn’t covered in the faq’s: what happens to the spare ink we have purchased before subscribing?

I assume that it’s best for me to put them aside and only use the subscription ink.

They start the service from the time you put their new cartridges in your printer. So you should run your current printer ink out first. Not good if you've run out of magenta but have a near full black cartridge.

The one good thing is you could cancel after having just received a new supply of ink , so while you may lose at the start you will gain at the end.

But you do need to stay awake and remember to cancel when your printer breaks or its usage declines.

Also watch spikes in usage, as they charge you for over usage . On my plan of 50 pages a month (assuming no carry over) I can get another 10 pages . I think for around 10 cents per page. But I assume if I use an extra 100 pages they just sting me for 10 over charges. (just the same as the cell phone companies like to do with data charges I assume)

My ink is in the mail at present

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#2694090 17-Apr-2021 10:45

The ink they send is tied to the subscription, if you cease the subscription, the cartridges are deactivated.

The referral scheme stacks on the 2 month free trial -eg. You get 3 months.

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#2696242 21-Apr-2021 20:18

So I placed the order on the Friday night, ink tanks have arrived this afternoon from Singapore using DHL.
Fairly minimalist packaging with an included postal bag that is pre stamped (with kiwi stamps no less) to an North Shore location.

I haven’t put the ink tanks in yet but so far so good.

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#2697680 24-Apr-2021 19:16

I finally binned my HP printer. $25 black ink cartridges were not lasting long enough. So purchased refill ink - one after another cartridges stopped working. Color one was the last to die, probably clogged with poor quality ink I bought.
Took of the shell old Photo Epson (7-ink) machine from late 90-s. Black ink cartridge was empty. Bought bottle of refill from Wharehouse stationary, reset the chip in the cartridge and back in business :-)

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#2697682 24-Apr-2021 19:26

I’ve got the instant ink cartridges installed now. No major dramas, printer took a few moments to register then and then displayed a reminder to send the old cartridges back.

No other differences noticed so far except for the lack of ink guilt when I print the odd full page photo on the best setting.

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Wakrak

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#2717978 3-Jun-2021 22:26

cokemaster:

I've signed up to the service. They also provide a referral link which gives both parties an extra free month - here is my link: try.hpinstantink.com/2m8ggg

Hopefully you're still using this service because I just gave you another month 😎

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#2718087 4-Jun-2021 07:00

Simply don't do enough printing!

My last shopping trip to buy a set of new ink cartridges for my older but still functioning printer, I ended up buying a newer (faster, more features, etc) but end-of-line printer with a set of promotional ink cartridges that was still much cheaper than the price of a set of replacement cartridges.

Sure the promotional cartridges aren't full of ink but for me it was enough ink!

So, instead of the retailer sending his end-of-line printer to land-fill, I disposed of my older printer and everybody but 'The Environment' wins!

freitasm

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#2718113 4-Jun-2021 08:42

rogercruse:

Simply don't do enough printing!

Same here. Still using the original Epson colour ink tanks from a printer that landed here in April 2019.

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#2718149 4-Jun-2021 10:29

freitasm:

Same here. Still using the original Epson colour ink tanks from a printer that landed here in April 2019.

Any recommendations as to which Epson printer to get? or which one do you have? Epson ET-1110 seems to be the entry model at $249.

Partner and I do a lot of printing for work and study. No photographs but plenty of coloured text.

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