MISISSAUGA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 12/18/12 -- According to a new national survey from HP, Canadians are too busy preparing for the holidays to enjoy doing what they value most at this time of year - spending time with family and friends.

HP Canada and Ipsos Reid surveyed more than 1,000 Canadians and found that:

--  Almost all respondents -- 96% -- said spending time with family and
    friends is important, and 93% said hearing from family and friends is
    important; 
--  One in five Canadians -- 21% -- say they are too busy preparing and
    organizing holiday festivities to fully enjoy the season; 
--  Nearly half -- 48% -- said shopping or wrapping gifts takes up most of
    their free time, yet; 
--  Just over one quarter -- 28% -- that said "receiving the gift I want is
    important." 

"Survey results show that at this busy time of the year, Canadians need tools and resources to balance all their holiday tasks with what's truly important," said Lloyd Bryant, Vice President and General Manager, Printing and Personal Systems, HP Canada. "HP offers resources to help families connect and prepare for the holidays - whether it's finding the perfect gift like a new printer or notebook, easy online tools that help consumers save time and money, or fun activities that help them get the most out of their time together."

HP Holiday Headquarters: Using technology to find time

The launch of HP Holiday Headquarters this season gives busy Canadians a one-stop online shop to help save time on holiday preparations and gifts - and spend time where it counts: with family and friends. Customers can go online and discover templates for everything from greeting cards and holiday letters to seasonal calendars and decorations. There are also timesaving holiday projects, advice, and tools to make getting ready for the holidays fun, easy, and much less painless than waiting in yet another long line.

Holiday dilemmas solved

HP's Holiday Headquarters gives consumers solutions to the most time-intensive holiday tasks. For example, the survey found that personalized greetings still mean a lot to Canadians, with 29% reporting that they plan to write cards and letters.

Shoppers crunched for time can go online to HP's Holiday Headquarters and, in minutes, create and design holiday cards using simple HP templates - and save time and money to print full-color cards at home.

For those who need a last-minute - but thoughtful - gift, photos are great gifts for family and friends. HP makes it easy to create customized calendars and photo cubes at home. Kids can get in on the holiday fun, too - they can design cards on the HP ENVY x2, using a stylus to create personalized doodles.

HP also has powerful presents for everyone on the list, from the hard- to-shop-for college student to the busy road warrior, with the best picks in this year's HP Holiday Gift Guide. From PCs and printers to monitors and accessories, there's no shortage of options.

Learn more here - and find other ways to use technology to simplify holiday preparations, and spend valuable time with family and friends throughout the season.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world's largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP (NYSE:HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

© 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.