Registered: Aug 2001
Location: TX
Posts: 80

Anybody using an IR printer adapter?

I would really like to print directly from my VDx. I have been looking for an adapter but everyone of them are $70 and up! I'm having difficulty justifying the expense. None of my printers at work have IR ports nor does the one I have at home.

If you have an adapter do you use it as much as you thought you would? Has it been worth the cost? And which adaptor do you have? I appreciate any input.

Thanks,
Teri

Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

Does an HP990 with built-in IR count? FWIW, I really don't use it that much, but the capability was a factor in my purchase decision. It's a really good inkjet printer, and when the price dropped to $299, I couldn't resist.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Pullman, WA
Posts: 130

I've been wondering this myself - if it is really worth it. I'm in college, and live off campus. It would be nice once in a while to not have to return to my apartment to print whatever I've been working on (though it is only a few minutes away). I wonder in addition to the worth of the printing hardware/software combo, how does the printing really come out. I would be printing from WordSmith, MinCalc and/or ThinkDB. Are people happy with the results when printing form these programs? Thanx.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

The HP comes with a version of IRPrint (and there's an updated version on ISComplete's website). Unfortunately, it only allows you to print from a limited number of applications on the Palm. I haven't looked that closely at the other options yet. The output from the things that IRPrint _does_ print from, though, is good enough.

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Nebraska- the Good life
Posts: 695

I had Bachmann's 'InfraReady Adapter' and 'PrintBoy Deluxe'.

These are well-made products, and work pretty much exactly as advertised! Easy to use, no real glitches or problems.

I ended up not ever really using it. I hot-sync at home and at work, and can print pretty much everything from the Palm Desktop or other programs without needing any other help.

I carried the adapter unit with me- it is about 1/2 the size of a deck of cards, and has a cable with an IR eye on it- all over the place, but just never really ended up needing to print anything that urgently.

The unit does have two drawbacks- 1.) It takes over the printer's port so the printer is no longer attached ot the computer, and 2.) To be 'nomadic', you need to keep the large selection of printer drivers handy. They are small, but the overall prgram is a bit large with them.

I also tried a Seiko DP-something (1220?) printer. This was a small IR-ready thermal printer that was also well made, and well worth the $40 I got it for at an Egghead.com auction- but...

It was not quite as portable as it looked- there was a largish paper holder. I also had a hard time finding a good printer driver for it- PrintBoy, IRPrint and PalmPrint all worked- and all did one or two things really well, but none did everything I was hoping for. Also, in that unit, the paper size is a bit awkward to locate.\

I ended up not carrying it too much, so it sat at home or in the office- right beside the printer hooked up to my desktop.

I would LOVE a Palm printer that was about the size and cost of a small printing calculator, and used adding machine roll paper! We rarely print out more than brief notes- contact info, the day's schedule, etc. I do not care if it used IR or a hot-sync cable to connect- as long as it was REALLY portable!

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 175

I used my InfraReady with PrintBoy alot more before I got a serial cradle for my PC at the office. Still use it occasionally when I'm at someone else's office.

The Adapter connects to the parallel port, so it doesn't interrupt the connections on our lasers at the office because they're all hooked up to the network.

As far as the drivers, I've narrowed my selection down to the most used printers: Lexmark (which I have at home), HP Lasers, HP Inkjets, Canon, Epson and a generic driver.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 153

Useful but...

I have an HP350 with IrDA attachment. I used to pack it for on the road use with my venerable Newton. I beat using the portable to fax myself documents just to get a copy. Now I use it with Instep (www.instepgroup.com) and my PRISM. I don't use it much anymore but my wife has started using it with my old Visor Deluxe. She just wanted a word processor combo and this is working great for her. Deluxe, Stowaway keyboard, and HP350 is a nice compact, non-desk hogging package.

Registered: Aug 2001
Location: TX
Posts: 80

quote:

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Originally posted by Toby
Does an HP990 with built-in IR count? FWIW, I really don't use it that much, but the capability was a factor in my purchase decision. It's a really good inkjet printer, and when the price dropped to $299, I couldn't resist.

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Could you please explain how I can justify that expense to my husband? Especially considering I just bought a new photo printer this summer. My last words were "This will be the last printer I need for a long, long time."

I don't sync at work so I have no way of printing my files or inventory while I am there. We have old HP lazerjets. I wish our budget included one of these adapters. I'm working on them... Hospitals don't have budgets for frivolous items.

I appreciate everyone's input so far.

Teri

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Nebraska- the Good life
Posts: 695

Teri- I know this is not a great answer, but how about loading the files desired on your home computer, then E-mailing them to yourself at work?

The Canon BJ-85(?) IR printer is portable, and I have seen it on sale for under $150 or so on several sites- used on Amazon.com, eBay, etc.

Bachmann offers (I believe) other IR adapters that fit on your printer more permanently- and I think they are cheaper than the InfraReady- I cannot recall their URL right now, though.

Registered: Aug 2001
Location: TX
Posts: 80

You make me laugh Madkins007! You assume that the backward laboratory I work in has easy access to the internet! The head of our hospital IS department thinks the internet is a passing fad... My supervisor only recently was able to convince them to install a network card for her so she could access the internet through the hospital network. (And they had to order her a network card because they don't keep any in stock!) I'm not kidding. And to top it off, she had inherited her computer from a lab we bought out. IS almost confiscated it when they found out she had a CD ROM drive.... (renegade!)

Her internet connection is not an always on connection and it chugs along slower than a snail on tar paper.

But emailing the files is still a possibility. Thank you. I have checked out the Bachman site and have not been able to find the adapter you are speaking about. I'll check again this evening.

Teri