Printing on Wifi HP Photosmart C4500 series

[Samp]

Hi,

Before to buy an iPad I want to know if it can print on our Wifi HP Photosmart C4500 series ?

Thanks for your advices.

Sam.

 

[Samp]

So... I think I'll buy an Androïd tablet.

iPad printing seems not realy fine.

Sam.

 

[digitalturboman]

Yes, I print photos all of the time off my wireless HP 4500 series printer. Works very well.

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

The current version of the iPad OS - iOS 4.2 - supports Apple's proprietary AirPrint protocol and printers that support this protocol can be used to print directly from within apps that have printer functionality - such as Apple's 'Pages', 'Numbers', 'Keynote', 'Safari' etc (their MS Office-like suite) as well as many other apps.

Printers that are not AirPrint compatible can be used via a number of third-party printing apps - I have PrintCentral, for example, which enables you to print to almost any WiFi printer (AirPrint compatible or not) using the in-app AirPrint menu. Basically it's totally transparent to the user - PrintCentral very cleverly appears as a print option in the AirPrint menu and then 'converts' the AirPrint format to that supported by your WiFi printer.

If you don't have a wireless printer - say it's connected by Ethernet - then PrintCentral have a (free) app for your PC or Mac (assuming, at least, that your PC or Mac have WiFi, of course!) that routes the wireless printing from your iPad via the PC or Mac to your cabled printer.

The program has lots of other features too; the one I like the best is the ability to upload/download files and folders directly between your PC and iPad without needing to sync via iTunes or go via a cloud service - like Apple's MobileMe.

I've used PrintCentral for several weeks now and it's great. You need iOS 4.2 (the multi-tasking version of the iPad OS) but, if you're buying a new iPad it will almost certainly have that on. Also, PrintCentral needs to be running in the background (it could hardly work otherwise!).

There are several other third-party apps too and I'm sure other Forum members will give you their opinions.

Best advice though is don't buy an Android tablet...;-))

Tim
Scotland

 

[Samp]

Yes, I print photos all of the time off my wireless HP 4500 series printer. Works very well.

Ok, but my post was read more than 400 time and no reply to my question, WHY ?

Let me know HOW you can print on WiFi HP4500 series, and with which application ?

Thanks for your help.

PS. I think Androïd 3.0 and Motorola Xoom look nice with a lot of nice features

Sam.

 

[col.bris]

Visitors can read posts but cannot respond unless that join also a lot depends on the subject of the thread a considerable large number of users do not need to print. I am one of those users I do not own a printer or have the need to print from any iOS device including the ipad. If for some reason I do I email it to work to print which is very very rare. I can understand printing Photos etc and as another user stated there are many options. So I guess the point is the subject of the thread is not a big one in most users minds. Hope that helps

One more thing buying an alternative product really is not the answer because I am sure you will find something else that will annoy you nothing is perfect

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

Yes, I print photos all of the time off my wireless HP 4500 series printer. Works very well.

Ok, but my post was read more than 400 time and no reply to my question, WHY ?

Let me know HOW you can print on WiFi HP4500 series, and with which application ?

Thanks for your help.

PS. I think Androïd 3.0 and Motorola Xoom look nice with a lot of nice features

Sam.

If you go to Apple's web site you'll see that this printer is not on the list of printers directly supported by the iPad - i.e. it is not AirPrint compatible. So the best way to print using the 4500 is to use a third-party app, such as PrintCentral, which (sort of) converts the AirPrint printing protocol into the protocol that non-AirPrint printers understand. There are quite a few listed in the Apple App Store, so there won't be a problem. Yes, it's not as convenient as it would be if the printer was AirPrint compatible, but if works just fine. I have a wireless Samsung Color printer that's not AirPrint compatible but I encountered no problems at all using a third-party app (PrintCentral, so that's why I've been mentioning it - I'm not connected with the firm at all).

Don't let printer compatibility be a deciding issue - you *will* be able to print from your iPad to this printer.

Tim
Scotland

 

[cjmcguire]

Yes, I print photos all of the time off my wireless HP 4500 series printer. Works very well.

I also have a hp photosmart 4500 series but can't for the life of me work out how to print from my iPad. How do you do it "digitalturboman" any help would be much appreciated. If anyone knows how to print with this printer without going through my mac please let me know.

Many thanks,

 

[DaveHancock]

I have PrintCentral, for example, which enables you to print to almost any WiFi printer (AirPrint compatible or not) using the in-app AirPrint menu. Basically it's totally transparent to the user - PrintCentral very cleverly appears as a print option in the AirPrint menu and then 'converts' the AirPrint format to that supported by your WiFi printer.
Tim
Scotland

I don't find that to be true. I can print to my PC (after WePrint is installed & the Firewall enabled for it) from PrintCentral in my iPad2 - but Safari's print menu does not see either PrintCentral or my networked printer (that PrintCentral itself does see). There does not appear to be any way to print directly from Safari by using PrintCentral.

Frankly the App seems to be a waste of money (does the App Store give refunds?).

 

[TatteredKing]

PrintCentral works great with HP 4500

Just to add my two cents, PrintCentral did indeed work with my HP 4500. Remarkably easy to get it printing once I actually set the wireless up on the printer itself.

A couple of observations that I ran across as I was fighting the printer setup:

1) Install disc worked fine on my Win7 box.

2) Install disc got the drivers in place on my Mac (OS X 10.6.7), but I could not for the life of me get the wireless setup to complete on the Mac; it just sat there trying to connect to the network forever.

The solution seemed to be to use the keypad on the printer to get it hooked to the wireless network first, and then add a new printer in the System Preferences on the Mac: A new printer called Officejet 4500 with Bonjour connection was the one that worked.

3) PrintCentral saw the wireless printer right out of the gate with no trouble. Looks like there's a lot more in that program apart from just printing. Time to spend a little time reading the docs.