Moving To Another Country? Contact HP Customer Services First.

Planning to emigrate? Probably the last thing you're concerned about is making sure your Hewlett Packard printer works in your destination country. Yet a little known Hewlett Packard policy means this is one thing you should ensure before stowing your bags and catching that flight. HP region encode their printers to only work with ink cartridges bought in the same nation. Hence consumers who replenish their printer with cartridges bought in their new homeland will find them incompatible, and their printer useless.

HP encode their printers in order to guarantee consumers only pay locally dictated prices: an English consumer becomes unable to exploit a favourable exchange rate with the dollar to buy cheap ink, for example. This is perfectly within Hewlett Packard's rights as the manufacturer. Inadvertently however, the policy persecutes consumers who emigrate, unaware that their printers will be incomptible with locally encoded cartridges.

Fortunately, consumers in this situation need not shell out to buy a new HP printer: the region code can be easily reset over the phone. Simply call Hewlett Packard customer services, explain your situation and be persistent: HP may be initially reluctant to distribute the correct code, though ultimately should do so without charge. Calling HP will ensure your printer works once you've emigrated, and save you a major headache.

Happy moving!

Lexmark Printers To Be Sold Through UK Apple Store

The connections between printers and Steve Jobs' branding behemoth Apple may not be immediately obvious; yet the two realms are strangely entangled. Last year for example, printer manufacturers like Hewlett Packard raced to become the first company to release an iPhone application for their wireless printers. Now meanwhile, speculation is rife as to when Jobs will announce printer compatibility for the recently released iPad. Printers and Apple have proved natural partners.

Yesterday's announcement by Lexmark that they will soon begin selling wireless printers through the UK Apple Store then is less surprising than first appears. Indeed other manufacturers must be kicking themselves that they missed the cross-branding opportunity.

Initially only three Lexmark printers will be available through Apple: the Interact, Interpret and Prospect wireless printers. Each of these models includes Smartsolutions software, enabling (with the proper app) nearly instantaneous printing from your iPhone. Moreover though these printers normally cost £120-170, Apple is offering a special deal: anyone that buys a Mac alongside their Lexmark printer receives a £70 rebate.

Hewlett Packard and other ink cartridge producers will doubtless be watching closely to see how the promotion fares.

Of course those who take advantage of the offer will need to keep their Apple-friendly Lexmark printer stocked. For great quality ink cartridge and paper supplies, 999inks.co.uk remains your premier online retailer.

Epson Release World's Fastest All-In-One Office Printer

Small business owners frustrated by the glacial pace of their printing equipment may rejoice: Epson have recently released the fastest All-In-One printer in the world. The Workforce 520 prints 15ppm (pages per minute) in black and 5ppm in colour, in addition to scanning documents at 2400dpi resolution direct to your email inbox.

Currently retailing in the US for $129.99, the Workforce 520 features ink cartridges great for reducing costs too: the colour cartridges are sold separately, meaning you need only replace individual colours as they run out. The Workforce 520 therefore saves not only time but money too. Of course, as soon as the printer becomes available in the UK, look forward to quality discount cartridges from 999inks.co.uk.