wifi or bluetooth printing?

[hulksmash]

I have been considering options for wireless printing in my wireless network, since, having to connect to my printer via a hardwire seems to hinder the mobility of my wireless network. I have attempted to use the Linksys wireless printserver, but it was too complicated so I returned it. I recall that previously, there were a few 802.11b wireless routers/access points that also had integrated parallel ports for a wireless solution to printing, however, current models do not contain this option. I am aware that the only wifi 802.11b solution for printing requires a parallel cable since USB is an incompatible technology at this point. Does anyone know of a wireless printserver solution? What are the virtues of bluetooth versus wifi? I personally feel that both are severely overpriced solutions at this point. HP's wifi printserver is about $300 and linksys is about $150. Thanks in advance

[guinness]

The only ones that I can think of is the HP printing software or ClearVue, the HP software is free and it can be found at www.hp.com/go/pocketpcprint. It can print over a network, IR, and Bluetooth. It's decent for printing out Word, Excel, or e-mails, I use it on a IR-Deskjet in one of our enterprise labs. It supports most HP's, and some Epson and Canon printers. If you need more than that I think you'll need ClearVue.[/url]

[hulksmash]

Thanks for the info. That was actually another post subject I was going to make. This one, however, is mainly concerned with finding out about hardware solutions. Thanks again for the info on the HP software, I have installed it but haven't had a chance to use it yet. And I don't have ClearVue. How much does ClearVue cost?

[vincentsiaw]

i try the hp software, it works fine, however i still prefer the old fashioned way of printing stuff, using USB cable, as it's faster and less error so far.

Other wireless stuff i try is using the infrared pert t print with my canon printer, it also works ok, but very cumbersome.

[hulksmash]

Still wondering if anyone has any wifi printing solutions, on the hardware side, either wifi printserver or bluetooth... anyone please?... Thanks in advance

[WindWalker]

Hulk, I know you are still looking for hardware, but I just wanted to toss in my HP Mobile printing over Wifi experience....all in the last 5 minutes.

Got it installed, had to do a soft reset after that....was able to print to the printer that I shared on my wifi simply and easily. Looks like a fairly painless solution.

I do not have ClearVue, so i can't coment on that, nut at least i found that mail, notes, and some other things print well enough for a quick dash off and run...

[daS]

As you might guess, I would generally recommend Bluetooth for printing. However, for home use, Wi-Fi might be the right choice.

Here's (briefly) why: In the case of Wi-Fi, you need to configure your wireless device and have access to the network. That's fine if you own it all. However, in a business setting, it would be nice to provide easy access to the printer(s) while keeping the rest of the network more secure, so Bluetooth makes a lot more sense.

With Bluetooth, you can make the printer accessible to anyone that has Bluetooth if that's what you want to do. However, even then, the actual data being sent to the printer can be encrypted if you chose.

As for real options, HP makes a Bluetooth printer and Anycom (www.anycom.com) makes a parallel port Bluetooth printer module.