HP Smart Tank 5101 Review - A printer that uses bottles - not cartridges
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- Опубліковано 4 лип 2024
- Buy one on Amazon: lon.tv/3pftg (compensated affiliate link) - HP's Smart Tank 5101 uses bottles and not cartridges so it can print at a much lower cost than cartridge based models. See more printers: • Printers and MFP's and subscribe! lon.tv/s
See my printer buying guide: • All About Inkjet Print...
VIDEO INDEX:
00:00 - Intro
01:03 - Price & Ink Cost
01:19 - Ink Bottles
01:54 - Setup
02:48 - Print Heads Replacement?
03:26 - Scanner
03:54 - Paper Capacity
04:12 - Print Speed
04:27 - Faxing Options
04:47 - Black and white print speed and quality
06:08 - Color print speed & quality
07:37 - Photo printing
08:18 - Scanning
09:21 - Scanning Example
10:36 - Scan to Phone with App
11:16 - Photo Printing from App
11:46 - Printing from iPhone and Android
12:39 - Color Copies
13:13 - Fun "printables"
13:59 - Conclusion
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Thank you for the review. I stopped viewing because it doesn't fit my needs but I absolutely appreciate the work you do and it's not a reflection of the quality of your presentation. Excellent as always! 👍
Thank you very much for your review. It's helped to purchase the HP505. Many thanks, Gary, from Liverpool England 🏴
it would also be interesting to have a part 2 to cover how maintenance on this Hp printer is compared to other brands e.g. Epson.
For example, Epson has a maintenance box for the ink waste, which is replacable.
As for the clogging, there are also videos showing to use a cleaning kit to unclog for Epson which looks quite easy to do.
So when owning these type of ink bottle printers (ecotank, mega tank, smart tank depending on the brand), i think it's important this part be mentioned. Because we all know the cost of ownership and ease of maintenance is what it will boil down to for these ink bottle printers.
Or like Lon suggested, get laser printer to save on the hassle for maintaining these types of bottle ink printers.
It’s so funny: *literally* 10 minutes ago, I was wondering where that printer video that you mentioned on Whatnot was… and here it is! 😂 (I hope you’re feeling a bit better, too!)
I set up a similar HP printer to this one not too long ago. The design is pretty intuitive with the ink - no more garbage saturated sponge cartridges.
HP Smart is anywhere from useful to mediocre at best with these printers. It still acts a lot like Bloatware. One thing I will advise at least with Windows, is to not rely on the auto-detect or auto-add "WSD" printer that HP Smart or Windows will add. Download the full driver pack from HP and set it up that way. WSD is very unreliable on many printers, including large office printers from Ricoh, Xerox, and Konica Minolta, and is a routine source of trouble. Good 'ole LPD / Port 9100 printing always works as long as the printer's IP remains fixed (and yes, do a DHCP reservation in your router too).
I could see the print heads being a low replacement part as long as the printer is regularly used. If it sits for a year, the print head will clog.
Epson and Cannon have had these for a couple of years already. My Epson Ecotank is so good. Not having to replace a dried-out cartridge every 3 weeks or less. No paying high subscription cartridge fees like HP charges for.
My main issue is that after a certain number of page prints, the ecotank style printers will report that the waste tank is full, and there is no way to reset it, even if you clean the waste sponge. The waste tank sponge will often be reported as full even though it will be dry and other than staining from the ink, the actual pigment will just take up about a 1mm or so layer at the bottom of the sponge. Overall, they use the waste tank sponge as a way of artificially shortening the service life of the printer.
The only exception are the high end models where the waste tank (they label it as maintenance box), then you can get an IC programmer, and dump the data and find the page count and reset it, and write the changes and if the printer is not moved much, if you add holes to the cartridge style tank, then the waste tank sponge will allow for evaporation and it would likely outlive every other part of the printer.
Great review. I found it within an Amazon listing for this printer. I was looking for an inexpensive (ie: well under $200.) Printer for traveling. This does not look like it would be amenable to being transported. But I kept listening (especially since you had a couple vintage Macs in the background), and was surprised when you introduced the idea of using the Image Capture app on a Mac. I do have it but I've never used it. Would've been helpful when I having problems with scanning with an HP printer and it's scanning utility. I eventually dumped it for an Epson tank printer. In part because of the tank, in part because Epson ink is so much better than HP ink and in part because of the hassles I was having with the HP. And I'm happy I did.
It would be good to see a review comparing the HP line of ink tank printers with Epson and any other product line ink tank printers.
Now that I know about/found your UA-cam channel I will be checking out several other videos. Thanks for the work you do on this.
the real question is how many parts will be forced replacement based on whatever number HP dictates. A biggy that is hardly discussed is the purge sponge. Is it replaceable? how long does it last before HP shuts it down and forces a printer replacement. I dont trust this thing one bit.
Certain EPSON models have user replacable AND purchasable sponge modules. Definitely something to get brought up.
@lurkingsalt Really? That would be awesome! Where does EPSOM show that fact? Can I just search for Epsom model number replacement sponge to find out?
@@justanotherstanczyk The part is named "EcoTank Ink Maintenance Box T04D100" and is pretty cheap, of course check compatibility with available EcoTanks printers.
The worst thing about HP is having to use their software to even get the printers to work on the PC. It’s terrible to have to sign up for an account to scan a simple document :/
Agreed. I was looking for a real basic HP printer ( HP LaserJet M140we ). This one has to be connected to the internet to printer with a USB cable.
It even needs your location for the setup. Why???
I have a HP 8710 inkjet printer. I can get the generic refills for $30-55 depending upon the sale. To me, since I do a majority of printing at work, this is a good price for the piece of mind knowing that I can print whenever I want from home. My parents have an Epson EcoTank printer and that thing sucks. The printhead will dry out and clog, requiring me to have to take a cotton swap soaked in alcohol to clean it plus it usually takes several purge and calibration cycles to get the print quality looking acceptable. I expected better from Epson, but then again, Epson is known for locking the printer so it can't even print in black if one color is out. At least my HP doesn't prevent me from printing in black if I'm out of a color.
Thank you for the informative video. I just purchased the smart tank 5101 and I'm trying to set up. I cannot install the printer head because the carriage is stuck to the left. I ensured my software was updated, i unplugged the unit and restarted but this did not move the carriage. I don't want to try and manually move the carriage as it might break the unit. The HP website is awful for troubleshooting this matter. Do you have any suggestions?
Lon, I've always been a fan of toner cartridge based printers. I guess they're called laser printers. I've always used a black and white based laser printer. But I know there are several color based laser printers that are available. Yes the colors are not as sharp as ink. But you don't have to worry about a nozzle being clogged. Would you consider doing a review of some laser-based printers?
to have a perfect working printer, when you need it, i also recommend a laser, inktjet you need to leave it plugged into a power outlet, so it can auto clean itself over time, but not all printers do that.
With ALL Inkjets it is a good habit to print one full color page a week at minimum to keep the ink flowing and avoid print head clogging and "maintenance" that just wastes your ink.
this happened to my injet, had not been used in at least 3 years..... "printing" but not printing anything, LOL. I should just get cartridge but I am liking this ink bottle thing better.
These really are a good option for anyone that prints a lot, otherwise a good laser printer does the job for me, I only do a few pages a month (and some months none, so the heads drying are always a concern)
I am team laser too
Yeah you can get a black and white laser printer for around $100 and they are so much easier to use and more reliable for the couple of times a year I print something. On the extremely rare occasion that I need to print something in color, I either do it at work or send it to office depot and pick it up. I am thinking most people do not print much anymore. My kids school work gets emailed or uploaded to a portal. I used to print airline boarding passes but those are all done on the phone now.
Yup, a monochrome laser printer is absolutely the way to go.
Do have a demo with sublimation ink
brother laser till I dieeeeee
Brother laser printers will outlast humanity
15+ years ago Continuous Ink Supply Systems (CISS) where everywhere, very messy though
I'll never buy another HP product due to the recent DRM cartridge fiasco. They hate their customers, buy a product without that DRM crap. They can go pound sand, I'll buy a Brother next time.
I've been telling people for the last decade that most people can do just fine with a black and white laser all-in-one with a document feeder. It has the features they'll use most often without the hassle of expensive ink cartridges that dry up from occasional use. For the one time a year you may actually have to print something in color, bring the file into your local office supply store and save yourself the hassle of not owning an inkjet machine.
Does this printer have an irreplaceable waste ink sponge? A lot of these tank printers end up being just as expensive in the long run because they have no way to service the sponge once it becomes saturated. If you don't print every day, most of the ink goes to cleaning and unclogging the print head and not the page. So consumers thinking they are beating the razor blade model end up in the same boat because they have to replace the whole (more expensive) tank printer. These mid-range printers are sort of like the movie medium soda option. It's a distraction from the better values at either end of price. If you print very rarely, use the dirt cheap cartridge printer or a print-on-demand service. if you print more often (but not a ton every day), go for the laser printer.
And they often have a software lock that prevents you from printing anything if it even thinks the sponges are full. There should be a option in the software to say “I understand I might have ink all over my desk if I keep using the printer”
I just print a document I created in Word one every other day. The document has text of all colors. Takes a second to print and the print heads don't clog.
I wish they’d make these cheaper models with the normal paper feed tray in the front. The rear feed printers get temperamental after a few years.
The obvious risk is that the heads will require a ton of purge cycles if you don't use it a lot, meaning that you'll be burning through their DRM-locked ink either way. I have an HP inkjet printer here right now that spits out blank pages because the heads crusted over. Tech support's suggest? Buy more ink!
I used to repair printers and one thing I've done in the past is take a long cotton swab soaked in IPA and wipe the printhead (if accessible) till the the printhead is saturated and the crusty ink is removed. Then I keep running purge cycles till everything looks good followed by a calibration.
If a print head starts to clog and the head is removable, then take them out and dip it in about 6mm of 91% alcohol for around 30 minutes, then after that run a print head cleaning cycle. This also works of standard ink cartridges if you regularly refill your cartridges. I usually refill since at least for my canon printer, I can add around 6 times as much ink as what comes from the factory to the cartridge, and go through 5 of those types of refills before the cartridge need additional cleaning.
Lon, how are the views for the HP Sprocket Studio photo printer doing compared to your expectations? That video has not shown up on my feed since it was originally posted.
So far it's meh ( about 6,000 views ) but it'll pick up as the holiday season continues.
Hi Lon. I am looking for a new printer that offers some rich vivid looking colors for stickers and heat transfer printable vinyl projects. Saw this on line for a good price but after seeing your video I am not sure if it actually does deliver that. I really would like something reliable. I currently have a Canon MF644CDW and I am using InkTech ink and it is not very deep or vivid it is a laser printer. It also has lines going through the image as well. I am not sure other than doing a cleaning setting on this what would make it deliver better images. i would be pleased to hear what thoughts you have when choosing a different printer if I decide to go that route for under $200. Thanks so much!
What are the options that have high quality photo prints, but it also a tank printer?
can you print from chromebook?
I wonder if the scanner only actually does 300DPI, and then anything higher is upscaling. Home & Office printers have had a bad history of doing that.
How long until the ink dries out?
I've been using the laser printers for the last 20 years and would never go back to inkjets. Laser printers are nearly bulletproof and the toner lasts a very long time. I rarely print anything that needs color, but if I did I'd still get a a color laser printer over inkjet, which would be fine for most color prints. If I actually needed high quality color printing I can go to any number of stores near me that offers a printing service.
I am also team laser!
Are those 2C’s behind you?
I heard there is a sponge in the back of these tank printers that clogs up and has to be replaced? I went to a Laser printer over 10 years ago. Ink Jets just aren't that good if you don't print a lot.
That’s on the epson ones, not sure about this one . I am on team laser too
3:20 The Print Cartridge is just an Ink Cardtidge without Ink. Hence the bottles to keep it supplied. It would appear that ink is cheaper than the metals in disposable electronic curcitry? Bear in mind though .. if they attempt to charge more and not less than an ink cartridge then they are being deceitful and perhaps open to prosecution.
my printer is 16y old!!!! i just refill the tank with a syringe, but i am too scared to buy a new model cause the new one must be refillable too
Can the motors and other stuff be replaced
From what I know about "budget" inkjet printers like this one, you wouldn't want to try and replace the head assembly, the motors or the rollers. You'd be better off replacing the printer at that time.
One question I always have about any printer. Do you have to use the manufacturer’s ink brand only? HP is known for forcing people to use only their branded cartridges. I seldom print out photos,so am quite happy with 3rd party replacement cartridges, which are usually much less expensive. I have an older HP 1100 laser printer that can use 3rd party toner and the quality is more than acceptable. For color I use an Epson ecotank,again with 3rd party ink. Just saying.
These tank printers are a little easier insofar as third party inks are concerned
Does it work with Ubuntu?
Does HP still have their arbitrary "waste tank" / sponge issue where after a certain number of pages, it reports the sponge as full and doesn't allow you to reset it unless you mail it back for servicing for nearly as much money originally spent on the printer? Many people got cheated by HP, Canon, Epson, and others where they print a few thousand pages, and end up with it refusing to print until it is serviced. Even if you clean or replace the sponge, there is no way to reset the waste tank. The core issue is that for the first 3 or so years of use, the printer truly seems like it is saving you money. depending on the number of pages, printed, once it reads the waste tank as full (very inaccurate since you can fairly easily remove the waste sponge, for low usage, it would be probably 10% full since a lot of it evaporates and the pigment settles), they aim to push the user into buying a new printer by setting a super high service cost.
Sadly this has ruined thee concept of the eco tank style printers. They could have been a truly great product, but the planned obsolescence means that the physical printer has a far shorter service life than the ink cartridge based printers, as they don't want people using them for more than 3-4 years of regular use. With the ink cartridge versions, there is no waste tank restriction, since it would take an obscene number of pages printed for the post-print spray cycle to fill the sponge (probably in the million+ page range).
5:56 you said black and WHITE, i am looking for the WHITE TEXT lolololol
Good point at 2:50. HP of course knows how much. it's usually ~12000 pages because it's a thermal/bubble jet printhead. Watch out if a nozzle clogs , if you try to print too much with it being dried,it will burn out. Piezo printers don't have this problem.
Will you ever do a tech review with your dog? like a treat dispenser or toy?!
She doesn't like being on camera :)
To bad hp discontinued there X series pagewide printers. Those were best Inkjet printers they had.
I bought a HP Smart Tank 7602. It seems to be a decent printer but, I chatted with HP and asked if they had a Smart Tank printer that scans and prints 11x17 and they said they don't. I told them they should because Epson makes one.
Lon? Monochrome or color laser? Will you continue to review color lasers?
I have had this printer for about 6 months. During that 6 months I have printed less than one ream of paper, all text, double spaced. Regular text. White paper, black ink. Nothing unusual. The black ink ran out. During that time I discovered that even if I highlighted in yellow a line of text 2 months after it was printed it still smeared all over the page. The red ink is half gone. I've used very little red ink. The other two colors appear to still be full. I cannot find a way to alter the amount of ink actually put down on a printed page. The other extremely big problem for me with this printer Is the fact that it does not have a document feeder. Why would somebody make a printer that does not have a document feeder? I'm going to throw this printer away and buy another one of a different brand. And I've always had HP printers always. If you do anything more than print one or two pages at a time I don't recommend this printer to anyone for any reason.
Louis Rossmann has entered the chat.
I'll never buy HP trash again after watching his video.
I reset my 9025 and disabled auto updates and all the other crap, works fine again and prints very well. Do some research and you can do similar if you still have the printer and want to use it without restrictions. I never sign up for instant ink either, that's where the cartridge restrictions come from. My printer was used and previous owner had it installed so 6 months in printer shut off the carts. I bought new non instant ink enabled ones and it complained but they printed fine and I later reset everything when I found out how, still working.
Wow in December 2023 America finally got a technology that 3rd world countries has been enjoying for decades! This ink refilling/distribution technology (yeah i know similar to how cars and its gas tank, xerox machines have these too) is invented by Pirates ink sellers but are adapted by printer makers several years later (cant compete, copy them pirates). Epson is by far the most successful in this category outselling all the competitors by huge numbers being the first to be fitted with these conversions by pirates to accommodate cheap inks. I liked my previous HP AIO printers but Epsons rakes in the doughs!
Lack of an ADF is a deal breaker.
I definitely cannot trust anything HP
Disappointing that they couldn't include an Ethernet port on the printer....
Unless you are willing to print every day, these bottle printers are much much worse than cartridge printers when it comes to head clogging, The amount of ink you would waste to keep them clog free defeats the purpose of having cheap ink in the first place. Color laser printers are the way. I've had my fair share of inkjet printers, and when I went laser I will never go back, Sure quality of photo printing in laser printers is little inferior of that of high end inkjet ones, but for photos, I just go to the store and get stunning quality prints from few cents to few bucks depends on the size that are far better than inkjet paper and more durable.
Some people don't have a smart phone
No more ink printers for me ,especially HP and Canon.Unless they would incorporate a clear flush function for the print head. Dried ink in the print head is a bummer.
Print a document with colored text every other day. Doesn't use much ink, but prevents head from clogging.
Props for the TS1000/ZX81 on the shelf... Who even prints anymore? My print cartridges last 4-5 years these days.
I live in Penna. and have to print out my car registration renewal from the state.
watched but didn't watched. 🤫I just can't see buying ink printers again unless it was a photo printer.
Everyone hyps the laser printers. Last longer without refill. Probably find one's just as good ink.
IDK.
Ill eventually get a new printer.
Ink my get the paper wet. I think mines ok.
Just got a $80 espon i got more then a decade ago. I just print stuff for the mail and tickets. MInes wifi as well. connect with all the pc's in the home.
Looking for photo realistic one. i don't care at the moment. Just to keep in mind wile at the mall.
Got a cold?
Yes week 2 of it! Ick..
Dont buy hp
Why
@@Rinkyu I have an HP printer (not this one). The app you use to print almost never connects. I have to turn the printer on and off about 4 to 5 times before the Bluetooth actually connects. The "smart ink gauge" is very unreliable.
So it took them just 12 years to imitate Epson's supertank printers? Which part are they gouging us on this time?
FIRST
all of hp's products are trash
It's a scam.
Lots of Ink
but the printer has a tiny purge tank
that you have to pay to reset
instead of just replacing the sponge.
Never will buy HP in my life. Their printers are terrible and some have subscription requirements or they will lock down the printer like you don't own it. Also their laptops have always been trash and basically the bare minimum to run the OS and their bloatware. If you want a great printer that you own and don't want to deal with the issues with inkjet buy a brother printer
I really love their "feature" of not allowing you to use the scanner without having ink in the printer... #hptrash
Epson did it 1st and better
lmao replaceable print heads
You didn't cover the print resolutions for the three different levels it offers. Draft, good, best doesn't cut it. You also failed to mention what type of ink is used in those bottles. Are they dye based or pigment based? Are all the inks pigment based, or is it just the black? How loud is the printer in its different modes of operation? You should have printed one full coverage page using the black ink at each of the three print resolutions. This is to record precisely how long it takes to complete the tasks, to see how much ink it uses for each of them, and to see whether there is oversaturation with page warping. You can also test the output on a variety of paper stock based on its weight, brightness, composition. Then do the same for at least one of the other colors for as long as it will last. If the second color runs out, just complete the test using a third color. The next thing to know is how does it clean clogs from the printer? Does it have a dedicated cleaning solution, or do owners have to use the inks themselves to purge the print head in “cleaning mode”? All of these are required knowledge to the customer so they can make a fully informed decision about the product. As a former salesman, I would not be able to present a piece of tech to a customer without knowing the ins and outs of the features and the cons of each product. I wouldn't rely on the manufacturer to be completely honest with their specs, either.
Out of scope for a consumer focused review. I think you might do well to start your own channel and provide this level of detail.
@@LonSeidman I disagree. The ink minutiae may be overkill, but resolution, noise and cleaning supplies are definitely in scope.
I've had their printers but got sucked into the insta ink program. Huge rip-off should be called insta Stink. 😂
Failure to mention the history of lies, deceit and thievery HP has demonstrated in the past make this the worst Lon video ever. How long before their true colors are shown to buyers of this "cool" printer. I can personally attest that they BRICKED a $150 printer of mine with no warning, and took no responsibility. Thousands of other examples can be found in videos, forums, etc. NEVER buy HP printing products. EVER.