I recently got a HP Officejet Pro K850 colour printer from a reputable looking outlet in CNX.

Surely it won't be a cloned copy?

I am not having much joy with the paper feeding and that sort of thing. The prints look good to me, though. It makes lots of strange noises when it is printing, not a whirr or hum as i would expect. It always sounds like it is getting mangled...

How do i know i have the real thing, and is it worth taking it to a HP office somewhere, if there is such a thing.

I seriously doubt it is a fake.

Call the HP Contact Center in Bangkok: 02 353 9000 and ask for the address of their service facility in Chiang Mai,

They will check it out for you.

I don't think it would be worthwhile starting up a production line for fake brandname printers. It isn't like putting up sewing machines to make fake Levi's... Besides, it would be impossible to make a profit unless they charge more than HP, Lexmark, etc.

It's several years ago I read someone's indepht study of the various manufactor's likely production costs, which showed that there're hardly were any profits on the printers alone --- it was their inks, that made it it worthwhile for the brands to produce printers... Since then the prices of printers have gone down to about 1/3 of what they cost then. --- It isn't that costs of materials, salaries, power and other production costs has gone down - so, my guess is they've reduced the quality in order to reduce the loss they have on printer manufacturing.

Two years ago I bought a HP all-in-one for 10,000 Baht (including ink for about 1,000 Baht, retail). Last month I bought a new HP-all-one (the same place) for 6,000 Baht (incl. ink for about 2,000 baht, retail). The old one works better and makes fewer and less weird noises than the new one - e.g. the old one starts copying as soon as you push the button - the new one has to "think" 1-2 minutes before it starts copying.

Yes, there are HP-offices in Thailand. In Chaing Mai there is on Chang Klang Road which even do repairs. I know one guy who tooks his laptop there - they fixed his problem in less than a day to his full satisfaction.

ink has run out. I got a refill bottle, but how on earth do you get the ink from to the bottle into the "thing" that holds the ink in the printer.

It says "intended for 1 use only" on the "thing" (HP Prok K850).

I told the guy at the shop that this was my printer and he just gave me the bottles. Do they expect me to drill a hole?

Perhaps i can drink the stuff, if i can't get it into the machine somehow...

ink has run out. I got a refill bottle, but how on earth do you get the ink from to the bottle into the "thing" that holds the ink in the printer.

It says "intended for 1 use only" on the "thing" (HP Prok K850).

I told the guy at the shop that this was my printer and he just gave me the bottles. Do they expect me to drill a hole?

Perhaps i can drink the stuff, if i can't get it into the machine somehow...

Take your machine to the people who sold you the refills.

Cheers

Holy s***!

There is no refilling this thing! Have to get a new cartridge, @ 1000 baht each!!! Swoon.

Help, any ideas?