http://www.macnn.com/articles/03/04/09/reader:.hp/
Reader: HP fails on printer support for OS X
updated 02:25 pm EDT, Wed April 9, 2003
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MacNN reader Michael Fryd provided some more details on the release of the HP 3300 multifunction printer drivers for Mac OS X (), which are apparently only available for users with previous versions of the software.
"Actually, HP did not release drivers for the 3300 series, they only released an updater. Further this update will only work with a seemingly unavailable version of the software. I purchased a LaserJet 3330 in September. HP Customer support promised Jaguar support 'soon'.
"My printer came with version 4.0.4 of HP's driver software. The just released updater will only update version 4.0.7 to version 4.0.9. Unless you already have version 4.0.7, you are out of luck.
"How you would get version 4.0.7 is a mystery to me. It didn't come with my printer, it doesn't seem to be available for download, and you can't buy it on CD-ROM from HP.
"To be fair, it could just be that HP hasn't bothered to update their web site. Originally, they listed the software as available for download, but what you actually got was just an archive containing the readme files. I filed pout an online support request pointing this out, and have not yet received a response. They seem to have fixed the archive to include the actual updater, but the link for purchasing the software on a CD is broken. I suspect the only option is to wait until they get around to making the CD available, and then to spend additional money to get functionality promised at the time of purchase.
"I spent 45 minutes on hold waiting for HP tech support. I asked that they send me a CD. They suggested that I try installing the update anyway as 'the guy in the next cubicle had given it a try, and it seemed to work.' After I got off the phone with them, I followed their advice. It turns out that you can install the updater over the wrong version of the software. You don't get an error message, but then the software doesn't actually work.
"Overall, I'm not at all impressed with HP's lack of support for OS-X, nor their lack of clarity on their web site. Their PR technique seems to be to mention those products which do have OS-X support, and to omit mention of those products not yet supported. For the past few months, their web site has claimed that their Multi Function Printers were supported under OS-X 10.2. Nowhere did they mention that the 3300 series was not supported, they just didn't put it on the supported list. It was if the OS-X support group had never heard of the 3300 series.
"It's a shame, the 3300 series has gret promise, if only I could get my hands on the software to make it work."
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2001
Not to race to HP's ...
... defence, but I was recently part of a beta programme of the hp psc 1210, and the people receiving and responding to Mac-specific comments I made were quite well-versed with OS X, and I could tell they were making a good effort to make the product Mac OS X friendly. And the final version of the software shows it -- it's very well-integrated with the system.
However, knowing hp as well as I do (as they're a client of my company's), the left hand rarely knows what the right hand is doing, so it's not surprising that one product may support OS X very well, whilst another may not at all.