Import Printers
Will an import printer work in the UK?
Some people think they’re being very clever in buying a printer from another country over the Internet and making a saving on the purchase price – as if it would make much impact on the Total Cost of Ownership over the printer’s lifetime.
Some things to bear in mind: (Not the Same Voltage)
American electrics use 100 volts, British electrics use 240 volts and European electrics 220 volts.
So European purchases will work in the UK, but if you buy an American unit and plug it directly into British supplies – FIZZBANG!! One would think everybody knew that, but repairing blown USA printers by fitting a UK power pack was a frequent – and chargeable - task.
And, Yank, if you live on an American base in the UK or Europe, and your printer breaks down, before you send it out of Little America for local repair, do the local technicians a favour and stick a big yellow label on it reading “110 volts.â€
Nobody ever, ever stuck a warning label on their 110 volt printer when sending it in for repair. Seemed to think that technicians had nothing better to do than turn every printer upside down and try to read tiny low-contrast lettering embossed on the underside of the power pack.
Specifications vary between markets – e.g. British Canon printers have CD printing, but American ones don’t, so if you eyeball the British model and then order an American one, you don’t get any CD printing, tough.
With some manufacturers, regionalised units only have regional warranty, e.g. a Euro model desktop printer only has warranty in Europe, even though the same manufacturer’s portable printers (with a universal 110/240v power pack) has world warranty.