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Hewlett-Packard Company Informative - "Black cartridge only" uses color ink!!! - Photosmart 3210 All-in-One printer

Photosmart 3210 All-in-One printer
Review by sngbrdb on 2008-03-28
MARIETTA, PENNSYLVANIA -- I can't believe it, but it's just been confirmed by an online chat support technician... When you set your printer preferences to print in black only, and pick "Black print cartridge only", you still use color ink.

Silly me, I was trying to save my color ink for things that needed it... like color printouts!! I set my default to fast draft, two pages per sheet, and black cartridge only to save resources for jobs that really need it.

Now, when I really need it, I'm out of color ink, and can't print at all!!! Not even on "black only".

Here's the transcript of my session with HP:

Olivia: Hello James,
Olivia: Welcome to HP Total Care All-in-One Chat Support. My name is Olivia. How may I assist you today?
James B: Hi
James B: My printer is running out of color ink, even though I'm telling it to only use the black cartridge
James B: Now it won't print at all, even though I only want to print black & white using only the black cartridge
Olivia: I understand that even if you are printing in black the catridges are getting empty. Am I correct?
James B: yes, the color cartridges are getting empty
Olivia: May I know if you are receiving any error messages on the front panel of the All-in-One?
James B: yes... when I print, I get a popup on the screen saying I'm running low on colors... I click 'ok', and a message on the printer screen tells me the same thing. I click 'ok' to print in black only and it prints. However, now the printer is telling me "cannot print" until I replace the magenta and yellow inks
Olivia: May I know when exactly you had replaced the catridges?
James B: I'm not sure of the exact time frame... they've been replaced at different intervals, the last color was magenta, I believe, maybe three or four months ago
James B: my default printer settings specify fast draft and black cartridge only...
James B: if I need to print in color, I have to manually change the print properties when I print a document
Olivia: James, part of color ink is also taken for printing good quality print outs
James B: ?
James B: even when you specifically check "use black cartridge only" on the driver window??
Olivia: If the print only black cartridge or print in grayscale is selected, it reduces the usage of color cartridges
Olivia: But, color cartridge would be used
James B: wow, does it say this in the manual somewhere?
Olivia: However, usage of color cartridge is reduced so that there is no need to change the color cartridge in frequent intervals
Olivia: No
James B: wow
Olivia: Is there anything else I may assist you with?
James B: no offense to you, it's an HP issue, but that's absurd!!!
James B: yes, where do I send a major complaint?
James B: still there? I really want to file a complaint somewhere
James B: this really is unacceptable
Olivia: You can send your queries and complaints to 1-800-474-6836.
James B: what department is that?
Olivia: You can contact the above number and check for the department you want.
Olivia: Is there anything else I may assist you with?
James B: okay, thank-you very much. No, that's everything, thank-you
Comments:
Posted by Anonymous on 2008-03-28:
This isn't anything new, nor is it unique to HP. There actually is a noticable quality difference between a printer that has only black ink. I wouldn't go out on a limb and say that it is done only for quality purposes, but that does come into play.
Posted by CrazyRedHead on 2008-03-28:
I have a Brother that is color and it still uses the color when printing in black and white. It is so that the color doesn't clog up. Which is why when one color is out the entire thing will not print in any color, it won't even turn off. I can still fax but with no print out.
Posted by Rick$ on 2008-03-29:
A while ago the color stopped working on my HP d145. I replaced the color cartridges but was still getting poor results. So I decided to ust this printer in 'Black Only' mode for B&W jobs and bought a new 8100 for pics and color jobs. Now, as I'm trying to print my tax returns my d145 refuses to print even in B&W because the color cartridge is now at 0%.

So, it looks like I'll have to buying color cartridges to use this printer even though I can't actually print in color. So much for 'Black Only'

Thanks HP!

If anyone has any ideas for a workaround I would love to hear them.
Posted by Rick$ on 2008-03-29:
btw, I'm not buying the quality argument. Inkjet printers worked fine for years with ONLY a black cartridge. IMO this is all about selling more overpriced ink cartridges.
Posted by Ponie on 2008-03-29:
In defense of HP (but only the good Lord knows why I do), they've finally brought their cartridge prices more in line. When I bought my first HP color printer, one black and one color cartridge came to a little over $65. Last fall I purchased the 4-in-1, 5610. Couple of weeks ago I bought a color and a large black cartridge and the total price was $39 and change. Didn't know about the use of color when printing in B&W. Good information to have when my printer starts notifying me I'm out of color ink and I didn't make that many color printouts.
Posted by sngbrdb on 2008-03-31:
I'm not arguing that using color when printing black makes a better black (though Rick$ has a point)... but when you have a choice to "use color" or "not use color", telling me both use color is absurd!! I'm telling the printer "I don't care about the quality, just use black ink"

I have five color cartridges... each costs $10 at Wal-Mart. Add $20 for the black cartridge, and I've got Ponie's $65 beat, hands down. I may not have to replace them all at the same time, but overall, it's still pretty expensive
: (

I could almost buy that it's so the color doesn't clog, except that thing spends more time in "device maintenance" mode than it does printing. : \ Y'd think device maintenance (whatever that is) would handle unclogging ink.

Ah well, Ken's probably right... if one manufacturer does it, they all probably do.

:: sigh ::

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