Okay, in theory, Airprint sounds like a great idea and I am all for it. It does concern me however that only HP are offering this option on their printers which begs the question why this is.
Is it that HP have a deal of sorts with Apple or is it genuinely open to all printer vendors and no one else is opting to support it?
I find the latter strange given the large user base of IOS devices and the convenience Airprint would offer the user.

Originally Posted by donka

Okay, in theory, Airprint sounds like a great idea and I am all for it. It does concern me however that only HP are offering this option on their printers which begs the question why this is.
Is it that HP have a deal of sorts with Apple or is it genuinely open to all printer vendors and no one else is opting to support it?
I find the latter strange given the large user base of IOS devices and the convenience Airprint would offer the user.

Apple and HP must have collaborated on this to get the initial batch or AirPrint compatible printers out.

I thought that I heard that there was at least one Epson printer with AirPrint but I don't know what it is.

AirPrint compatibility seems to be tied to the HP proprietary ePrint standard so you wonder how many other printer manufacturers will take it up.

At first I was resentful at having to buy an additional printer that I didn't otherwise need. It wasn't the cost, it was just that the iPad needed a special printer.

There is the obvious benefit of not needing a printer driver. With the limited resources available on the iPad, any driver based solution would have been limited and possibly proprietary anyway.

Having spent $100 on the printer, it was simplicity itself to set up and, while not a fast printer (given the price), it does start printing within a second of hitting the print button.

Apple iPad Tablet: iPad airprint with Epson printers

There is also a driver for Windows computers that allow easy printing through airprint to any attached printer, providing the windows computer is online, it works as well as a HP airprint printer.

I use an AirPrint service provided by Javox to print to any local printer. You don't have to buy an HP designed for use with the iPad. But it takes some work to install from a command prompt. Your think someone would write a script to do the service installation as an app and sell it.

Makes me think the iPad is a device designed to soak money from our wallets. Someone sitting at a board room table at Apple HQ saying " how long do you thin we can keep squeezing 5 bucks here...20 bucks there?"

Nate

Originally Posted by nateccnn

I use an AirPrint service provided by Javox to print to any local printer. You don't have to buy an HP designed for use with the iPad. But it takes some work to install from a command prompt. Your think someone would write a script to do the service installation as an app and sell it.

Makes me think the iPad is a device designed to soak money from our wallets. Someone sitting at a board room table at Apple HQ saying " how long do you thin we can keep squeezing 5 bucks here...20 bucks there?"

Nate

There is indeed a (free) script that installs the AirPrint service on any PC with an attached printer (that printer does not have to be an AirPrint compatible device, any printer will work), if that PC has WiFi connectivity. It works just fine and enables your iPad to print seamlessly, just as though it was printing (directly) to an AirPrint printer. The only 'downside' is that the PC needs to be turned on!

Download AirPrint Installer for Windows 7/XP/Vista | Jaxov

This installer avoids the need to (manually) install the software using the Windows Control Panel.

Tim
Scotland

For me, the whole point of AirPrint is that I can print directly from the iPad, not via a PC or Mac.

Originally Posted by RAC

For me, the whole point of AirPrint is that I can print directly from the iPad, not via a PC or Mac.

Exactly. I could use pretty much any printer on my network if I printed from my iPad via my laptop. The whole point of airprint for the iPad is to print without the need to turn my laptop on.

There are a few apps that can print on a network, but they only work with certain other apps. Epson has the epson iprint which I use for my 4S and my iPad, I can print most things that are saved as files or pictures. It also works with Documents2Go rather well, but not any of the apple office knockoffs. I've just tried connecting my workforce 310 to an airport via a usb cable and also to the existing network, but I am getting no recognition there and that is really starting to make me angry. Why in the world would I need another router if it didn't add anything productive to my already successful system? I love working with my apple stuff, but this is getting old, the way that they constantly make everything not compatible with anything else. Hopefully they will get with the program and start making things more compatible across the board. I bought the airport for the sole reason of turning my printer into a AirPrint compatible printer. When I look at the utility on my pc it shows up, nowhere is it recognized on my devices though.