Job Discussion Forums

Kestrel · Joined: 15 May 2003 Posts: 31 Location: Kyoto, Japan

Just wondering if any of you guys out there have picked upa printer while in Japan for a computer from North America. Are there any problems involved in doing so? My computer is a brand-new Toshiba laptop running English language XP--will the drivers and installation software for a printer I get all be Japanese? Thanks for any info...

guest of Japan · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 1601 Location: Japan

I did it. When I lived in America I had an HP printer. When I came to Japan I bought a different HP printer. I was unable to load the disc for the new printer due to the Japanese problem. For the longest time I ran the printer off the program for my old printer. It worked, but I couldn't use some of the newer funtions of my Japanese printer. Eventually my tech guru friend helped me to download the English program for my Japanese printer from the net. If your printer isn't too new you should be able to find the driver at the company homepage or at CNet.com.

Good luck.

Kestrel · Joined: 15 May 2003 Posts: 31 Location: Kyoto, Japan

Oh yeah, the interenet.... Why didn't I think of that? I guess I oughta be able to pick up the drivers I'll need there pretty handily. Thanks for the tip!

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

Short answer: yep. No problems at all. I've found MOST of all hardware & drivers I've tried to install on my N.American laptop (running WinME) has worked without a glitch...

(Oh, sometimes you have to put up with garbage characters in filenames, driver lists, program menus, etc... but that doesn't bug me too much as long as I can still figure it out by clicking around....

G. luck!

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

Guest of Japan - areyou running Win XP? From my experience with it, it is a very different kettle of fish from previous versions. Might be good to clarify that you are as the OP was interested specifically in that.

I have known friends who could NOT get their Japanese printers working on a US WinXP machine. I guess the pendulum swings both ways.

guest of Japan · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 1601 Location: Japan

You're right Shmooj, I didn't say. I use windows 98. I don't know if that changes things.

Kestrel · Joined: 15 May 2003 Posts: 31 Location: Kyoto, Japan

Hmm, sadly I'm not quite tech-savvy enough to know about OS issues either--I was hoping one of you guys would.... Maybe it's time to fire off an email to HP and see what they can tell me.... Thanks for the input, guys!

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

Your original post has not quite been answered. Yes, you are very very unlikely to find any English drivers or documentation for a printer you buy off the shelf here.

You are in Kyoto. It is highly likely that there is a shop somewhere in Osaka that will cater to those wanting to buy English OS hardware and software. Heck, there's one in Nagoya so there must be one in Osaka. The one in Nagoya is at this link:
http://deacondirect.com/top.html
and they will probably be able to help you with advice and a contact nearer you. They are pretty good. My friend had them build him a machine and they did a good job he said.

guest of Japan · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 1601 Location: Japan

I spoke with my computer guru friend last night and he said there is nothing to fear. According to him there are very few OS specific drivers. He said there could be documentation problems, but as long as you buy a famous name printer you should have no problems whatsoever.