Changing Region Code of HP Photosmart 8150?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fred Finisterre
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Fred Finisterre

A friend has moved from Europe to Asia and took his printer with him.

He bought some new ink cartridges locally and they don't work in his printer
(gives message about 'wrong region').

Anyone know how he can update his printer to accept Asian cartridges?

Cheers,

Fred.
 
Fred Finisterre said:
A friend has moved from Europe to Asia and took his printer with him.

He bought some new ink cartridges locally and they don't work in his printer
(gives message about 'wrong region').

Anyone know how he can update his printer to accept Asian cartridges?

Cheers,

Fred.
Click to expand...

I believe that HP will provide that information to your friend or will do it
for him. Contact them directly.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging
 
Hmmm... HP went to printer regionalization a while back. They "claim"
it was to control grey market sales, claiming it was becoming profitable
for dealers to "ride" currency fluctuations and buy cartridges to sell
from outside of their countries.

Coincidentally, this change appeared just about the same time the EU
legislated that printers would have to provide refillable cartridges to
be sold in EU countries.

I don't know if this can be "fixed". I suppose it depends upon if it is
written in firmware or not, and if that can be rewritten.

It does raise an interesting legal question, I would think. Did HP
reveal to the purchaser that the unit was regional? If they did, then
the buyer might have been wise to have sold the unit before moving, or
have bought a replacement when he moved to his new locale.

However, if HP didn't reveal this in their manuals, the purchaser would
have had no reason to assume they couldn't use the printer in another
locale, and in that case, it seems he has a legal right to a free
exchange or repair to make the cartridges and printer work together.

I would suggest your friend contact HP where he is now and see if they
can offer a firmware change that can allow it to use the consumables
from the locale he is currently living within, or maybe they will offer
some cartridges that will work with the printer as it is.

Art
 
Arthur said:
Hmmm... HP went to printer regionalization a while back. They "claim"
it was to control grey market sales, claiming it was becoming
profitable for dealers to "ride" currency fluctuations and buy
cartridges to sell from outside of their countries.
Click to expand...

They were stupid. Trying to be a hog (even if that was true) and
providing an opening for the relabelers. Maybe if they would drop the
price in half they would not do this and the grey market would dry up.
Coincidentally, this change appeared just about the same time the EU
legislated that printers would have to provide refillable cartridges
to be sold in EU countries.
Click to expand...

That is another dumb blunder to legislate clogged printheads, poor
results, and rapid fading. Instead they should have put price controls
on the ink.
 
I had no idea about this: crazy!
There are some quite nice little portable Hp printers which I might take to
another country with my portable from the uk (England) does this mean that
EU ones should work but outside they probably won't (even HP branded ones)

Does this also apply to HP Lasers (for intance) not that I'm likely to take
one abroad.

Fortunately, I'm not using Vista or the printer itself would probably refuse
to work as I set foot on the ferry at Dover!
 
jasee said:
I had no idea about this: crazy!
There are some quite nice little portable Hp printers which I might take
to another country with my portable from the uk (England) does this mean
that EU ones should work but outside they probably won't (even HP branded
ones)
Click to expand...

The HP portable printers such as the 4x6" photosmarts and the Deskjet 460
are designed to use cartridges from all regions AFAIK.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
 
Bob said:
The HP portable printers such as the 4x6" photosmarts and the Deskjet
460 are designed to use cartridges from all regions AFAIK.
Click to expand...

What the HP associate did not tell you they are designed to be an ink
dispenser and as a cash cow for HP.
 
Fred Finisterre said:
A friend has moved from Europe to Asia and took his printer with him.

He bought some new ink cartridges locally and they don't work in his
printer (gives message about 'wrong region').

Anyone know how he can update his printer to accept Asian cartridges?
Click to expand...

He will need to contact HP from his new region while sitting at a computer
connected to his printer. They can walk him through changing his printer to
the new region over the phone. Once this is done his old cartridges will no
longer work, he should use the ink up before doing this procedure.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
 
I don't recall exactly how many regions HP divided their printers and
consumables into, but I believe it was around 3 or 4. This doesn't mean
the printer won't work in one place versus another, but that the
consumables (specifically the ink cartridges, for now) must be paired
with the printer of the same region.

In most cases, the area is large enough that a move will not place
people out of their region.

You can find the list of countries and their zones here:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...en&cc=us&dlc=en&docname=bpa02108#zone_mapping


I notice they seems to indicate a Zone 4, but this grouping only
contains zones 1-3.

Art
 
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