HP Smart 4+

I used to have an HP printer and it was injured beyond repair in a move. That printer was my best friend sometimes and I was so indecisive when considering a new one. It has taken me years to commit to a new printer; I've picked up second hand ones, emailed documents to printing shops or used the library printer. This HP Deskjet 4100e was given to me as a gift (from someone who probably thought I was ridiculous to not have a printer-considering my working/volunteering/Momming from home). I was reluctant to have a brand new-fresh out of the box printer, but I couldn't refuse the gift. I honestly couldn't have imagined the ease of setting this printer up. (It sat new in the box for a few days; we blinked at each other for a bit). I finally opened it up and wow! Bluetooth communication is so liberating! I can relax and send to print as I scroll. The only drawback is it holds a small amount of paper-which is a good thing in my case so I can spare some trees and be mindful of my environmental footprint. (I'm guessing it holds a half an inch of paper-haven't counted how many pages. I prefer to read, not count). Anyways, this is a great printer overall and I'm happy with everything about it!

HP is the biggest scam company I have had the displeasure of working with. When the printer does work (always after several frustrating 10s of minutes of troubleshooting) it prints nicely. HP ink is a complete scam. Paid for it for also 3 years never received a single additional cartridge and never did I get use of the roll over pages they claim to provide. Finally cancelled HP ink and although the smart app says the cartridges I do have are low I should be able to print, all pages printed blank (after only finally printing when I sent them through HP smart app even though previously with ink subscription I was able to follow the traditional print process right from the document or website I wanted to print). I would recommend never buying an HP printer and 100% FO NOT get HP ink. Buy your own ink from wherever you feel

Comfortable and print as you see fit.

Also it should be mentioned, with subscription you only can print so many pages a month from the printer you own or get charged additionally per page but if your print comes out incorrect or with errors those printer based mistakes count against your pages per month. If you do subscribe you cannot use a cash app card or any card you prefer to keep locked because if your card is locked at time of payment when you go to print you need to go through several steps including updating your card on file to print (even if you have several roll over pages available).

I have struggled with this printer/app/software trifecta of disaster for far longer than I’d care to admit. From issues of the app simply never wanting to work in any sense of consistency, to the printer itself too stupid to recognized the difference between used and brand new ink, it baffles me I have not simply thrown the whole thing into the dumpster.

There seems to be a new flavor of difficulty every time I want to use the thing, which is rare and saved only when there comes a time of desperate need. That is how much I despite using this printer. I have reinstalled the app more times I can count on one hand, due to issues that can range from being inexplicably unable to to save a pdf to something as major as not being able to use it at all because it can’t sustain itself from crashing long enough to log me in. And if I can miraculously get the program to execute its basic functions, the printer suddenly decides it will simply not print more than half a page, or worse, that it will cease to remember how to wirelessly connect to the computer in the first place.

This product uses technology that makes it “sleek” and modern but is riddled with more bugs than a NYC dumpster and good luck manipulating their virtual assistant into getting you real, human help. I have tried time and time again to fix and make this work, but it’s clear now I will be staying away from ALL HP products from here on out.