Why yes, I'd love to rent your printer and be spied on!

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lxskllr

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
60,631
10,988
126
I use a 48gx pretty much every working day. As primitive as it and the software it runs is, it's still peerless in land surveying. The GX is of course no more, and the company that made the software got sold after the owner died, and it was never seen again.

It was such a great concept when everything was still current. They've had ruggedized field computers forever, but they're expensive as shit, and they're computers that do math, rather than a machine that does math as it's primary function. The difference may not be obvious, but it makes preliminary math trivial when using the result as an argument. No hacking around changing screens to get what you want. Your math is right there and you pass it along.

Now it wasn't ruggedized, and bad things can happen in the field, but it was what; $200? As long as the program cards weren't destroyed, I could leave the job, buy a new calculator, and be back in business within an hour. $200 wouldn't even cover the repair cost of a dedicated field computer, never mind the thousands it costs before you even buy the software.

I also have emulated versions of the 42 and 48 on my phone and desktop computers.

Oh, and RPN! If it isn't RPN, it's wrong. If you think otherwise, quit thinking, cause your argument's invalid :^D
 
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mikeymikec

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
21,355
16,566
136
spacejamz said:
I remember a few years ago, they made a change where you had to create an HP account to view your scanned images when you used their scanning software (which I was using for an HP All in One machine).

Glad I was able to find some generic scanning app that lets me still let me use the scanner without the HP account BS...

Just found this on reditt:
https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/wbv1hx/hp_at_it_again_have_to_create_an_account_to_scan
best comment of the discussion:

go to this path:

%LocalAppData%\Packages\AD2F1837.HPPrinterControl_v10z8vjag6ke6\LocalState\HPPrinterControlSettings.xml

Search for "GrandfatheredInLegacyUser"

Change "False" to "True",
SettingValue False /SettingValue -> SettingValue True /SettingValue
maybe restart your PC

enjoy scanning without hp stealing your data
Click to expand...
A lot of the time, a HP printer install will also install the WIA scanner device and so standard scanning software can be used (e.g. Windows Scan, available from the Microsoft Store, or Start > Run > wiaacmgr to go old school). I say "a lot of the time" because the WIA scanner device is always installed but it doesn't always work properly. Sometimes switching from USB to a network connection works, sometimes the reverse works. I have no idea what the rhyme or reason is, but in my time I've installed hundreds of AIO printers and I have only recently started having this problem and only with HP AIO devices.
 
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M

manly

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
13,474
4,174
136
dainthomas said:
Still have my 48g from college bumping around in a drawer somewhere. My friend who programmed Snake on his used the IR beaming thing to send it to mine.

That thing really got me through some insane physics courses.
Click to expand...
wow, these sell for north of $100 on eBay.

I was jealous of the 48GX and its gargantuan 128KB of RAM.
 
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thestrangebrew1

thestrangebrew1

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2011
4,116
799
126
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lxskllr

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
60,631
10,988
126
I ran into that on lemmy. I didn't read the details cause I'm not in the market for a printer, but that's very disappointing. If I did need a printer, brother was at the top of my list. Dunno what I'd get now.
 
mikeymikec

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
21,355
16,566
136
thestrangebrew1 said:
Brother Printer owners can confirm?

www.tomshardware.com

Brother accused of locking down third-party printer ink cartridges via forced firmware updates, removing older firmware versions from support portals

RepairTuber Louis Rossmann taken aback by Brother’s quiet turn to the dark side.
www.tomshardware.com www.tomshardware.com

Enshittification abounds! I don't plan on buying a new printer anytime soon, but this just sucks if true given the recs in this thread.
Click to expand...

Ah, I was looking for this thread earlier this morning to post this in, I assumed incorrectly that it would have 'HP' in the title :)
 
sdifox

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
100,950
18,106
126
My MFC-8440DN is so old it doesn't have over the internet firmware update. Hell, it doesn't have wifi.
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
71,014
13,959
126
www.anyf.ca
Would be fairly easy to prove out if anyone has one that has not been connected to the internet. Put 3rd party cartridge in, print. Connect it to the internet and run a packet sniffer to watch it connect to the internet to update itself. Try to print again, if it fails, then we know Brother is BSing about it not being true.

I have a feeling mine is too old to do any of that but to be safe I blocked it's IP at my firewall so it can't connect out.
 
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Kaido

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
52,018
7,436
136
lxskllr said:
Brother denies intentionally bricking printers...

arstechnica.com

Brother denies using firmware updates to brick printers with third-party ink

Brother: Updates aren’t behind degradation of quality or removal of features.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com

As usual, the comments are worth reading. I'm just left thinking "Hmm..."
Click to expand...

They sell chipped aftermarket & refilled toners on Amazon, as well as chip-swap kits for the newer color laser printers. So far, so good. My IT customers literally save thousands of dollars a year using non-OEM cartridges.

Printers are easily my least favorite part of IT. Doesn't matter if it's a $99 B&W laser or a $30,000 Xerox. They're all junk lol. I would pay extra for the big ones to come with diamond kickplates on the paper slide drawers hahaha.
 
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lxskllr

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
60,631
10,988
126
What's with the computers on printers and other peripherals? They have these shitty, laggy and slow interfaces that take forever to do anything. They're like a 1992 android if there was android in 1992. You can buy a $25 smartphone from walmart that's more performant than the junk they put on printers.
 
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thestrangebrew1

thestrangebrew1

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2011
4,116
799
126
lxskllr said:
What's with the computers on printers and other peripherals? They have these shitty, laggy and slow interfaces that take forever to do anything. They're like a 1992 android if there was android in 1992. You can buy a $25 smartphone from walmart that's more performant than the junk they put on printers.
Click to expand...
idk but I feel like my Ford Sync system is just as bad. Laggy AF and I can't get it to update. We have all Ford vehicles so I'm not familiar with other vehicle infotainment hardware, but Ford sucks donkey balls.
 
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