How much Hewlett-Packard (HP) charges for a set of cartridges for a simple inkjet printer! My OfficeJet Pro 8710 needed new color cartridges so I installed a set of non-factory replacements I bought awhile ago. Guess what? They didn’t work; the printer detected they were not factory HP parts and wouldn’t operate.
The lowest amount I could find online for four factory HP 952XL cartridges (three color plus black) was $170! I decided to roll the dice and buy another set of non-factory cartridges that are “guaranteed” to work for a third of that price.
Of course, I can buy a new printer for $100. If the non-factory cartridges don’t work, I will probably buy a new printer and you can be damn sure it won’t be an HP.
Would you believe that HP makes you create an account and download their “app” before you can do something simple like scan a document?! Yes, I know they want your data and they want to sell you a de facto subscription for ink and other parts. However, I hardly use my printer and could probably do without one. My office desk would sure look better without a printer on it.
I have owned Hewlett-Packard printers for almost 30 years. The company’s short-sightedness may cost them a long-time customer.
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The season is over. Well, by that I mean the regular season of the computer football league I have been playing since late May. Here are the final standings:
In the last regular-season game, the Los Angeles Lasers (Los Angeles A) lost to Tennessee 33-28 so the 8-9-1 Buffalo Bisons (who started the season 0-5) are the wild card in the conference I named the AFC. The Lasers were playing without starting quarterback Russell Wilson who was sidelined with an injury, but seemed to be in the drivers seat when Tennessee was down to two healthy defensive linemen in the second half. LA ran the ball at will and took a 28-27 lead late in the game. Kyler Murray led the Tigers on a touchdown drive during which LA had to use all of its timeouts. When the Lasers got the ball back they couldn’t use their running game and failed to score.
Of course, the game wasn’t real, but it was exciting to me. As I have mentioned on more than one occasion, I have been playing these statistical-based sports games since I was 12. I switched to games in computer format–as opposed to dice, cards and charts–in the late 1980s.
You’ll note that Texas (nicknamed the Tornadoes) finished with just one loss. Their opponent in the first round of the playoffs will be the team that defeated them, the Los Angeles Cobras (Los Angeles N). LA won the regular season game 46-44. The Cobras’ division finished a collective 40-8 against teams outside the division. You might also notice that the “AFC” had only one team with a winning record, meaning that three of the playoff teams were .500 or below.
I will not be in a hurry to play the seven playoff games. I may play just one a day for seven days. I can think of many worse hobbies than computer football.
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Mickey Mantle was born on this day in 1931. I have no idea if baseball fans under the age of 60 appreciate how great he was. Of course, baseball’s rapidly dwindling following among younger people is a very big problem for the sport.
In an edition (published in 1988) of his legendary book, The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill ranked Mantle as the third greatest player of all time in terms of peak value, behind only Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner. In a later edition, however, Mantle was rated as “only” the third greatest centerfielder of all time behind Willie Mays and Ty Cobb.
I don’t want to show statistic after statistic about Mantle. I have little doubt that if Mantle had played in an era when stolen bases were valued, he would have been the first 40-40 player. (40-40 refers to 40+ homeruns and 40+ stolen bases in the same season.) From his first MVP season, the Triple Crown season of 1956, through the last season in which he played more than 150 games, 1961 (Mantle suffered from many injuries), he stole 91 bases and was caught stealing only 14 times, an excellent ratio.
A few years ago I asked Bill James who was the best historical comparison for the Angels’ star centerfielder, Mike Trout. When Bill answered “Mantle” my impression of Trout grew.
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Disaffected Musings 
“I will probably buy a new printer and you can be damn sure it won’t be an HP.”
I don’t do a lot of printing at my home office, but enough where I do need to keep a printer. About 2 years ago I needed to replace the cartridges in my HP 6100 series. Stopped at an office supply store and bought 2 complete sets of color and 2 black, all in HP packaging. Both of the new blue cartridges wouldn’t work. Got in touch with tech service, no help there. Office supply wouldn’t take the cartridge’s back because they had been opened. HP’s opinion was “tough titty, sucks to be you”.
I headed out the door to buy a new printer, ended up getting a Canon, and took a photo of my HP sitting smashed in a dumpster. I sent the photo by email to HP customer service, with an explanation of why the printer was there, and when the next time would be that I bought anything from HP (that time would be when Beelzebub was wearing snowshoes).
In news that I’m sure will shock everyone, I have yet to receive a response from HP.
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Hewlett-Packard used to be the gold standard for computer printers. Like too many companies, they became lazy and misdirected.
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For printers I have two and HP 2110 laser for the monochrome printing and an Epson ET-2550 Eco-tank for the color. The Epson has individual liquid color tanks for the ink in place of the outrageously expensive cartridges. With the number of color pictures my lovely wife has me printing of the grand children the Epson is the only choice for me. About every six months or so I take it to a local printer service and have to have the waste pad replaced, so that is another expense but it is worth it for me for the liberty of not having to replace cartridges. For the laser I order that cartridge from the Office Max online and they deliver it to me and I save on the sales tax as they only charge me the state and county tax rate rather than the extra 2.6% city tax if I walked into the store to buy it. There is method to my madness.
Baseball is a very relaxing sport for me to watch. I remember as a kid reading about Mickey Mantle and marveling at his skills.
Thanks for the picture of the silver Pontiac Solstice. I prefer it in black, but I am prejudiced since as regular readers will note, black is the color of my son-in-law’s Solstice. I have now seen the car with it’s LS-3 V-8 and it is a marvelous fit. I have not yet been privileged with a ride yet, but that is okay, since contorting my body into the passenger seat would be painful with my recently installed knee replacement. I’m still working on the physical therapy for full range of motion so my time for a ride will come.
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Thanks, Philip. Hope you will be able to take that ride in the Solstice soon.
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A couple of weeks ago, the Rotary Club of Markham was collecting junk computer stuff. My wife and I decided to get rid of our printer, (HP), because the price of the cartridge is insane and we didn’t use it a lot anyway. Guess which pile was the biggest at the location; yes you got it right, printers.
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Thanks for sharing. When I had my baseball consulting business (2000-2011) I needed a good printer. I created notebooks filled with charts and tables. I don’t really NEED one now. Update: the second set of non-factory HP cartridges seem to work.
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