Promises not delivered (HP 2000 C)

Member Name: isvikthere

Product:	HP 2000 C
Date:	26/11/02 (907 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: promising features on paper

Disadvantages: built-in weakness, refuses to print with expired cartridges

The technical specifications of this HP Deskjet 2000 C have been dealt with in other reviews here, and I must admit on paper they are pretty impressive for a DeskJet printer back in 1999, to refresh your memory I can quickly sum them up here.

- Big paper tray
- Impressive colour printing speed
- Four separate ink cartridges (28ml of ink ) with four separate inkheads :
This means you can save money by only having to replace the colours that have really run out and not one single four colour cartridge like in the smaller models.
- possibility of installing a large black ink cartridge (69 ml of ink)

Unfortunately our example of this office deskjet colour printer was never in a position to show off its capabilities because on the whole it managed to do only a dozen of prints before some or other component failed.

As we recovered this printer from an outside office that ceased its activities the printer's one year warranty had already expired, meaning that we had to do whatever repair ourselves. Our company's policy is either to buy extended warranty periods and if after that a machine fails and proves to expensive to repair, it is written off. As this printer was only just over one year old when it came into our office, the moment we noticed that it didn't work we started looking at it ourselves, especially because we knew what it should be capable off if it worked. In fact I just couldn't throw it out being only a bit over a year old.

The main problem we had was that the machine persisted in indicating empty cartridges when we just replaced them with brand new ones.

Warning ! Technical stuff ahead :

In fact what happened was that the ink level detection system failed, this detection is
done by a small bit of plastic that fits in the underside of the ink cartridge where there is a rubber joint installed, thus checking the ink level. This bit of plastic sits on a lever which is h
eld by a sturdy spring which in its turn is attached to a small tray. What happens is that the plastic clip holding the spring simply breaks off under the force of the spring, disabling the ink level detection for that cartridge and it the printer then gives through the Toolbox software an empty cartridge warning. Over a period of 15 months three of the four springs broke off.

And if it wasn't one of the springs breaking off the printer claimed a new printer head, which were for reasons mentionned above hardly used and thus dried out. Or else it wanted new ink cartridges, because each cartridge has a small copper plate, containing information which can be read by the printer and which contains the expiry date for the cartridge.
Once this date passed for any of the four installed cartridges the printer bluntly refuses to print.

All in all this is thus not a very good printer in spite of its initially promising characteristics. How HP can get away with the fact that a machine refuses to print with expired cartridges I don't know. Surely when the warranty period has expired I can make it print with whatever ink I would like to use ? The fact that we are now sitting on a stock of expired but unopened cartridges obviously is no help here.

Summary: