Printing using Bluetooth

meadowlark · 02-22-08, 03:24 PM

Is it possible to print directly from the Advantage using the bluetooth connection? I know that some have used the HP program to print on a network, but was wondering if a direct print without a network is possible.

bigtsr · 02-22-08, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by meadowlark

Is it possible to print directly from the Advantage using the bluetooth connection? I know that some have used the HP program to print on a network, but was wondering if a direct print without a network is possible.

It depends on what printer you have,I bought a Epson RX595
at Costco it's feature rich great printer and has a USB port on it
so I plugged my BT dongle into it and printed from both my Ax51v
also my Advantage 7501.

Julie · 02-22-08, 03:40 PM

You may need to install some software on your Pocket PC, unless you can find a print profile within your Pocket PC's Bluetooth parameters.

I reviewed printing software as a Judge in the recent Smartphone & Pocket PC Best Software Awards. There are a couple of pretty good packages out there, but none of them print from every application, so you'll want to research your choices carefully to make sure you choose a package that will print from the applications you use.

ActivePrint does not allow for an independent and direct connection to a printer - it relies on a passthrough connection through your computer. So you can create a bluetooth partnership with your computer and share the computer's printer connection. In this scenario, your printer does not need to be bluetooth enabled. ActivePrint was easy to set up and worked very well.

PrintBoy allows for a direct connection to a bluetooth enabled printer. Since I don't have a Bluetooth enabled printer, I set PrintBoy up to use the shared printers through my computer's connection. This took a little more effort to set up, but it worked pretty well.

I found printing documents directly from my pocket pc to be too limited for my uses. Instead I store all my documents on my SD card. If I want to print any of my documents, I just insert my SD card into my computer (which has an SD slot, but you could use a USB card reader) and print from there. At the unversity where I teach I sometimes print from a printer that has an SD slot, so this works well for me.

meadowlark · 02-22-08, 03:48 PM

Julie,

What a great idea about putting the SD Card into the printer. I had not even thought of that. I am using SoftMaker 2006, and have not looked to see if direct printing is an option. However, I like your SD Card idea. Is it possible to review pages on the printer, as you would with a photo?

Julie · 02-22-08, 04:03 PM

I don't have a lot of experience with the printer at the university. It's attached to a secretary's computer. But I don't think you'll be able to view the file on the printer since the printer probably does not have the necessary viewer loaded on it - most of these printers let you view jpg and other image files because that's really a basic operation.

When I've printed WORD or EXCEL files on this printer, the secretary has some software installed on her computer that allows her to view the files on her computer (I guess it somehow reads the SD card as an external drive). Since it's not my computer and printer, I haven't really been able to play around with it and see for myself how it works.

mibrani · 06-17-08, 03:54 AM

Originally Posted by bigtsr

It depends on what printer you have,I bought a Epson RX595
at Costco it's feature rich great printer and has a USB port on it
so I plugged my BT dongle into it and printed from both my Ax51v
also my Advantage 7501.

Hi bigtsr,

Did you manage to print using bluetooth by only using a Bluetooth Dongle( the one that connects to the PC via USB) or did you use a bluetooth printer adapter? If you managed to print only using BT dongle then please tell me how you did it...

I tried doing the same using Windows Mobile 5 on my pocket PC but it didn't seem to be possible due to DCE/DTE or whatever.

Your help is REALLY appreciated.

bigtsr · 06-17-08, 10:46 AM

Well despite my first post I have quit using BT to printer,
the file was simple test text file that worked then I started
receiving multiple error messages and BT pairing became
all screwed up.
I have not tried anymore as I now just BT the file to the
pc to which the printer is attached and print from there.