Am I Getting In Over My Head by Taking HP Inc to Small Claims Court?

Location: Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA

I live in Massachusetts, and recently inherited an HP Inc printer. I happily used it for a few weeks then needed to buy some new ink which I purchased from Amazon.

Little did I know that HP Inc printers are designed to prevent other inks from working in their printers, doing me no benefit.

I would like to be compensated for the $41.08 that I spent on this non-HP Inc ink.

I understand that going to small claims court will cost me at least $40 (filing charge) plus the cost of time off work, etc. All of which are worth it to me for two reasons: 1) The experience and 2) the satisfaction of holding HP Inc accountable.

However, if HP Inc is able to use some legal jujitsu that suddenly I have to hire a lawyer, fly to California, and spend hundreds or thousands of dollars, the fun quickly evaporates.

What say you all? Am I best served to just suck it up and tell my friends to never buy HP, taking some small solace in the fact that I will have denied HP a minuscule amount of revenue? Or is it worth it to move forward?

Note that my first step is to send them a 30-day demand letter, which I will send tomorrow.