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Question HP FB550/750
- Thread starter radelta1
- Start date
flyplainsdrifta
New Member
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT. its not like i didnt see this coming but i believe the term is legally 7 years if they are end of life-ing it. But until this is fact with a press release from HP themselves i wont believe it.
signman315
Signmaker
Watching this thread, haven’t heard anything but want to know any updates if anybody comes across anything 
anybody who’s owned an HP before knows this is coming on any given machine, usually it’s a 5-7 year cycle. Trick is to not buy the first generation of new technologies because it’s not your job to work out the bugs of a purposefully premature released machine. But scoop up the second generation quick so you get in early on the “planned obsolescence” of an HP unit. Just gotta match your shop’s cycle to HP’s cycle and it works out well if you play it savvy
anybody who’s owned an HP before knows this is coming on any given machine, usually it’s a 5-7 year cycle. Trick is to not buy the first generation of new technologies because it’s not your job to work out the bugs of a purposefully premature released machine. But scoop up the second generation quick so you get in early on the “planned obsolescence” of an HP unit. Just gotta match your shop’s cycle to HP’s cycle and it works out well if you play it savvy
Boudica
I'm here for Educational Purposes
Received this this morning....
"Please forward the message below to all of your HP FB Authorized Partners:
HP is currently managing our last manufacturing build for the HP FB550 and FB750 Printers. Last date for orders is October 25, 2019.
Please be working to get orders placed for any units in your funnel. Final orders will be at standard net dealer pricing, and shipments must take place no later than November 8, 2019.
Warranty will start with the installation of each printer. A formal WW EOL printer date will be determined and communicated soon, and as always, HP will use commercially reasonable efforts
to continue to supply spare parts, supplies, and support for this product for approximately 5 years from the date of this notice
Thank you for all your successful selling efforts through the years with these printers."
...So, Run out and buy one now because we are doing away with them.
WTH?
"Please forward the message below to all of your HP FB Authorized Partners:
HP is currently managing our last manufacturing build for the HP FB550 and FB750 Printers. Last date for orders is October 25, 2019.
Please be working to get orders placed for any units in your funnel. Final orders will be at standard net dealer pricing, and shipments must take place no later than November 8, 2019.
Warranty will start with the installation of each printer. A formal WW EOL printer date will be determined and communicated soon, and as always, HP will use commercially reasonable efforts
to continue to supply spare parts, supplies, and support for this product for approximately 5 years from the date of this notice
Thank you for all your successful selling efforts through the years with these printers."
...So, Run out and buy one now because we are doing away with them.
WTH?
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
Ugh, time to get rid of ours...
5 years seems like a reasonable eol time for me... We've had our 500 for 5 years already.
Now, to continue selling them and then saying it's eol is in 5 years is kind of a dick move.... And that's just their approx date. I wouldn't buy one knowing it's got 5 years on it.
Does hp make other models of uv? Or are they trying to get into latex only for their flatbeds?
Now, to continue selling them and then saying it's eol is in 5 years is kind of a dick move.... And that's just their approx date. I wouldn't buy one knowing it's got 5 years on it.
Does hp make other models of uv? Or are they trying to get into latex only for their flatbeds?
Last edited:
Just to put it into Context... The newest, fb750 was released in 2015. So that'll be 10 years of support.
The fb500, was 5 or so years before that... So 15 years. Both those numbers aren't bad on a $100,000 printer.
Now if I bought one a year or so ago and was told it'll last 5 years... I'd be pretty pissed. That's $20,000 a year... Or a brand new 560 every year. They should have a minimum 10 year EOL AFTER Their last machine is sold on big ticket items like this. We were going to upgrade to the latex once our 500 died and they worked out all the kinks.... Now it's kind of worrisome they could discontinue a $200,000 printer with a 5 year notice :/ and it's a first Gen, so odds are that can happen easily.
The fb500, was 5 or so years before that... So 15 years. Both those numbers aren't bad on a $100,000 printer.
Now if I bought one a year or so ago and was told it'll last 5 years... I'd be pretty pissed. That's $20,000 a year... Or a brand new 560 every year. They should have a minimum 10 year EOL AFTER Their last machine is sold on big ticket items like this. We were going to upgrade to the latex once our 500 died and they worked out all the kinks.... Now it's kind of worrisome they could discontinue a $200,000 printer with a 5 year notice :/ and it's a first Gen, so odds are that can happen easily.
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
Well they just discontinued support for the 1st and 2nd Gen latexes big and small... Some of those are only going to Turn 10 on the EOL day.
Although these machines have a useful life long after EOL, the ROI should be well less than the EOL timeline... Forced obsolescence is always a hard pill to swallow especially with tangible property.
Although these machines have a useful life long after EOL, the ROI should be well less than the EOL timeline... Forced obsolescence is always a hard pill to swallow especially with tangible property.
Ldireprophil
New Member
Following. I bought my 550 at the SGIA show this past Spring so I’ve only had it about 4 months or so.
signman315
Signmaker
Not saying I enjoy forced obsolescence but it's not that bad in my opinion. My rule is that if a piece of equipment doesn't pay for itself in 18 months then it's not a good purchase anyway. So after 5+ years it's just gravy on top in my opinion. If you can push it to 10 years then the machine is even more profitable. And even after HP stops support you can still get some life out of them, not to mention HP's support is terrible anyway, so losing it doesn't change much lol. In general I think 5 years is reasonable for a machine that could potentially run 3 shifts a day for that 5 years, resulting in profits that make the cost of the printer look like chump change. It's kind of like leasing cars, the monthly payment never goes away, but you always have a decent/fresh ride that won't leave you stranded and has the latest features. Just don't buy one unless you have the work load for it!
FrankW
New Member
The FB-Series is technically outdated for some years now, it is very long on the market. It has some very nice details like the camera who checks the position of the media, and the possibilities for easy batch printing. But paying some hundred bucks for UV-lamps which should last 1´000 hours, but most of the time needing to be replaced after 700 hours, are not acceptable in times were LED UV-lamps last 10´000 hours. And, to be honest, the printing quality is not up to date anymore too.
For users who have bought the machine several years ago, another 5 years should be acceptable. Users who have bought the machine recently should have paid a relatively low price, so they should be able to pay off the machine too in another five years.
Another point: some of the components of that printer are not made by HP. The printheads for example are Toshiba-Printheads. The basic technic isn´t HP, it comes to HP with the purchase of the company Colorspan. Even the vacuum system of the service station is a foreign product (ok, just a simple shop vac). The availability of that parts is something HP have no influence.
For users who have bought the machine several years ago, another 5 years should be acceptable. Users who have bought the machine recently should have paid a relatively low price, so they should be able to pay off the machine too in another five years.
Another point: some of the components of that printer are not made by HP. The printheads for example are Toshiba-Printheads. The basic technic isn´t HP, it comes to HP with the purchase of the company Colorspan. Even the vacuum system of the service station is a foreign product (ok, just a simple shop vac). The availability of that parts is something HP have no influence.
Imagine my face when we paid $600 for the replacement vacuum part, and $250 in labor... only to watch the tech open the machine up and see a Shop vacuum from china inside...
FrankW
New Member
At the HP Graphic Arts Training Center in Barcelona/Spain, someone has written R2D2 on it .
When I said to the trainer that we could buy this spare part at the hardware store, he said that they have made a lot of tests to find the right one, others get damaged soon. Not shure if I believe that.
Our rep told us one of his customers saw the vacuum and sent him away he went out and got a vacuum and replaced it himself... And it's been working ever since.
The only thing that's a pain in doing it yourself is it uses a 240v vacuum... So you need to add an electrical step down.
We also had our power supply fail. It cost us about a grand to buy and fix... It was a Chinese no name star brand PC power supply. I asked him why we just paid $1000 for a PC psu that looks worst than the $20 Chinese one I can buy from staples... And he said it has two extra wires for the motherboard, so you can't just pickup a brand name one.
We get lots of power outages... So the pay has died onus twice the past 5 years. We finally got a ups... But just incase, I wanted a better brand psu that I know won't blow up and take out the motherboard which I was told is $3-4000... So I purchased a corsair psu, Put a volt meter on the old one and added the connectors it needed to the corsair... Put it into the fb500 and it worked flawlessly.
The fb500 is all just a big pc with parts you can buy anywhere. The only problem is if it's a production machine.. being down for a few days isn't an option. Yes.. paying a thousand dollars to replace a power supply sucks. But losing days of business while we figure it out ourselves hurts a lot more. So even if you can readily buy all the parts and fix it yourself... Sometimes that's not an option.
The only thing that's a pain in doing it yourself is it uses a 240v vacuum... So you need to add an electrical step down.
We also had our power supply fail. It cost us about a grand to buy and fix... It was a Chinese no name star brand PC power supply. I asked him why we just paid $1000 for a PC psu that looks worst than the $20 Chinese one I can buy from staples... And he said it has two extra wires for the motherboard, so you can't just pickup a brand name one.
We get lots of power outages... So the pay has died onus twice the past 5 years. We finally got a ups... But just incase, I wanted a better brand psu that I know won't blow up and take out the motherboard which I was told is $3-4000... So I purchased a corsair psu, Put a volt meter on the old one and added the connectors it needed to the corsair... Put it into the fb500 and it worked flawlessly.
The fb500 is all just a big pc with parts you can buy anywhere. The only problem is if it's a production machine.. being down for a few days isn't an option. Yes.. paying a thousand dollars to replace a power supply sucks. But losing days of business while we figure it out ourselves hurts a lot more. So even if you can readily buy all the parts and fix it yourself... Sometimes that's not an option.