HP’s new All-in Plan offers U.S. customers hassle-free printing from $6.99/month, but check out the Big Brother clause in the fine print.
HP introduces their All-in Plan print service for the USA market starting at only $6.99/month, with a 30 day trial and no upfront costs. According to HP, the plan is an all-inclusive, flexible, and convenient service that provides everything you need to print in one place and avoids wasting time managing tech. But check out the Big Brother clause towards the bottom of the terms and conditions.
There are three HP printers in the plan. The HP Envy printer starts at $6.99 monthly, and you can print 20 pages monthly. The price increases to $10.99 per month if you print up to 100 pages per month.
Next is the HP Envy Inspire printer, which starts at $8.99 monthly for 20 pages and the price increases to $12.99 if you print up to 100 pages or $18.99 if you print 300 pages per month.
The third choice is the HP OfficeJet Pro, which starts at $12.99 monthly for 20 pages and increases to $16.99 if you print up to 100 pages or $22.99 if you print 300 pages per month and $35.99 if your monthly print usage runs to 700 pages. If you exceed your monthly printing quota, HP will bill you $1 for every extra ten and fifteen pages.
What’s the difference between the printers? The Envy is a low-end personal printer/scanner that prints 10 pages per minute. The Envy Inspire offers faster printing, while the OfficeJet Pro is the fastest and includes fax (if you need it?) capabilities.
All three are duplex colour printers. HP says you can print every page in colour because the printer ink is free. The printers automatically sense when the ink is getting low and send you whatever ink you need the next business day.
They make a feature out of your printer stopping work so you can engage with HP 24/7 support. If they can’t fix it, you will get a replacement printer the next business day, along with all the mailing labels for returning an old printer and cartridges.
After two years, HP will offer an “upgrade” to a presumably newer printer model.
HP retains ownership of the printer and printer cartridges throughout the subscription, and they must be returned to HP upon printer upgrade or cancellation. Early cancellation fees will apply if you cancel after the first 30 days and during the first and second years of your Plan.
Big Brother is watching you: Sign up for this, and you “grant to HP a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free right to use, copy, store, transmit, modify, create derivative works of and display Your non-personal data for its business purposes.”
Our take on this: We print 1500 pages a month, so this wouldn’t work for us. But the 700 page plan will cost you $863.76 over 2 years. You can buy a whole range of printers and ink for less than that, and you will own the printer.
