H
Hugh G. Johnson
I'm really frustrated with HP. We bought this Officejet 7140xi because it's
networkable and has a duplexer for double-sided printing. Per HP neither of
these features are available in the basic print driver in Vista. Since Feb
we've been told repeatedly "two weeks more" from their support team for a
full feature driver. Today we're told NOPE, not going to happen. Thanks HP
for keeping us hanging here for the last couple of months only now to say
we're SOL. I've always been a fan of HP printers and even in the last couple
of years bought a bunch of their laptops, but man, this is a new low for HP.
Now to be fair I realize it wasn't their choice to make Vista and it's
expensive to re-write drivers for every printer you've ever made so you have
to draw the line somewhere, but I can't believe a printer that is less than
two years old would be considered obsolete and passed on for full feature
driver development. The only feature this printer doesn't have is Bluetooth
(which who cares about anyway?). I've been using computers since the late
'70s and there are always a few new standards that come along and cause big
changes, but Vista hardly seems like a sea change. Much more of a ripple.
This business stance boggles my mind.
Dell on the otherhand has been incredible. Now, we still don't have all the
drivers, but Dell has been very forthcoming on the development of what
drivers they are working on and when they should be available. You can visit
their site and actually see them punch out the drivers. Not at all cagy like
HP. And the funny thing is Dell doesn't even make their printers, yet they
are developing new drivers for 98% of what they have put in the marketplace.
We have two Dell printers older than our Officejet that are getting shiny
new Vista drivers.
Anyway, I've said my bit. Now off to find a new printer...
networkable and has a duplexer for double-sided printing. Per HP neither of
these features are available in the basic print driver in Vista. Since Feb
we've been told repeatedly "two weeks more" from their support team for a
full feature driver. Today we're told NOPE, not going to happen. Thanks HP
for keeping us hanging here for the last couple of months only now to say
we're SOL. I've always been a fan of HP printers and even in the last couple
of years bought a bunch of their laptops, but man, this is a new low for HP.
Now to be fair I realize it wasn't their choice to make Vista and it's
expensive to re-write drivers for every printer you've ever made so you have
to draw the line somewhere, but I can't believe a printer that is less than
two years old would be considered obsolete and passed on for full feature
driver development. The only feature this printer doesn't have is Bluetooth
(which who cares about anyway?). I've been using computers since the late
'70s and there are always a few new standards that come along and cause big
changes, but Vista hardly seems like a sea change. Much more of a ripple.
This business stance boggles my mind.
Dell on the otherhand has been incredible. Now, we still don't have all the
drivers, but Dell has been very forthcoming on the development of what
drivers they are working on and when they should be available. You can visit
their site and actually see them punch out the drivers. Not at all cagy like
HP. And the funny thing is Dell doesn't even make their printers, yet they
are developing new drivers for 98% of what they have put in the marketplace.
We have two Dell printers older than our Officejet that are getting shiny
new Vista drivers.
Anyway, I've said my bit. Now off to find a new printer...