Good Sunday morning folks! Today I showed the different ways folks can print wirelessly from their smartphones to their printers. Even ones that are not nearby, like across the country.
But some announcements first.
Tomorrow Monday, will be my last show in that time and day slot after 14 years. But my Sunday Global TV Sunday Morning News Tech Talk continues with those wild guys Shane Jones and Kevin O’Connell.
Look for more tech stuff next Sunday, starting with a giveaway gorgeous interchangeable lens FujiFilm camera, feedback questions from viewers and tips.
OK, back to work. Whether you use an Android, iPhone or Windows phone, there are several ways, to print wirelessly to printers, near and far. Depending on age of your phone model and printer, some of these printing methods may not work, or be trickier to set up.
ePrint
Originated with HP before the rest, ePrint is embedded in HP printers (shown on the box model when you shop) with a unique address and controlled by HP servers. Once you set up your printer, you get its unique email address which you can simply email to with attachments and all. You could be in India and “email” a document to your printer in Canada, providing it is turned on and online. Its downside is that it’s the slowest method as the email has to go through more hoops before arriving to your printer. Still, you newest HP printer may already be ePrint capable. www.hp.com/go/eprintcenter
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AirPrint
Several years old, AirPrint allows printing from your WiFi enabled iPhone or iPad to your printer through the router. Most of today’s printers are AirPrint compatible right out of the box, but older printers can be set up to work too. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4356
Wi-Fi Direct
Developed under the Wi-Fi Alliance, Wi-Fi Direct allows phones to print directly to designated printers. The software required for each phone system to work with designated printer models is available for free on each app store from the printer makers. The secure connection between phone and printer is similar to the way you connect laptops to nearby networks like Wi-Fi Protected Setup, WPS, through a your router button or PIN code.
NFC
Near Field Communication, NFC, is the newest technology showing up in smartphones and printers. Samsung leads the way here with its newest Samsung Multifunction Express SL-C460FW, as low as $299 and the Samsung (SL-C410W) Wireless Colour Laser Printer as low as $130.
Google Cloud Print
Google Cloud Print lets you print documents to any online connected printer on the web from anywhere. You can choose who can use the service and it works off any web connected device. Cloud-ready printers work best for the uninitiated.
http://www.google.ca/cloudprint/learn/
No setup needed, if you are lucky
Some printers, like the Brothers MFC-9130CW Wireless Colour Laser Multifunction Printer, right of the box, can be turned on and connected to a home or office network wirelessly through WiFi and print directly from your phone, without the need to download a mobile printer app. In my case iPhones worked best, printing the cleanest layout from rich web sites, especially from iPhones, right down to an iPhone 4. Nice
Most printers, like the Brother and Samsung I tested, have free apps for popular Android, Apple and Windows phones.
Two awesome printers
Let’s have a closer look at the two serious but affordable laser printers I used on my GlobalTV Sunday Morning Tech Segment today. Perfect for startups and home business. They both do the same stuff with a suggested list price of $399.99 but can be had for under $299 if you check weekly sales.
The Brother MFC-9130CW Wireless Colour Laser Multifunction Printer and the Samsung Multifunction Express SL-C460FW are awesome printers with Print, Scan, Copy and Fax capabilities. If you want the best printed material to impress clients, laser printers, used smartly, will do a better job. Laser printers, seem slower when starting a print job before the first sheet comes out, but the following sheets follow at about 20 pages a minute. If you like to print your pictures on photolab like prints, stay with InkJet printers. More on those in May.
I have been running both for the past few weeks and like both. Here is where each excels.
The Brother 9130CW does have a document feeder, scans better quality, features a 3.7” LCD touch display (big plus), more RAM for bigger print jobs, larger 250 sheet tray, twice the output paper capacity, single sheet feed slot and also includes iPrint&Scan and Cortado Workplace in addition to the above wireless printing. I like the easy-to-switch paper and ink saving modes and effective low toner mode. Cost of ink ownership starts with included 1000 page black, cyan, magenta and yellow ink cartridges and a 15,000 page drum unit. Replacing all four cartridges for a mix of typical text and colour printing would cost $337 and the next 15,000 page drum cartridge is $165. On average, black only pages cost $0.04 a page while mixed inks will run you $0.13 a page. www.brother.ca
The Samsung SL-C460FW is not that well known to consumers, attracting enterprise with a few consumer priced models. This model has an advantageous smaller foot print, slightly faster black printing, NFC printing of any make NFC capable phone (recent LG, Samsung, HTC phones I tried) slightly better quality printing in BW or colour, weighs only 28 lb versus the 49.6 lb for the Brother. I like being able to scan a document and send directly to your phone or fax phone content directly from your phone. It features all the above wireless printing modes. It comes with a 700 page black and 500 page starter toners, 40 per cent less than the Brother, while your first all ink replacement will cost $300 but yield 40 per cent fewer pages. The drum equivalent Imaging unit and two waste toner bottle in the similar 16,000 page limit will also cost more at $239. This means the C460FW will cost you $0.05 a page in black ink and $0.20 a mixed page. www.samsung.ca
If space is tight, go for the noticeably smaller and nicer-looking Samsung but if you want more options and lower printing costs, go Brother.
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