Portable printing on the go

[brambish]

I run my own business from my truck. I need to be able to print invoices and estimates to give to my customer. I've been doing it with a full size airprint capable printer but the printer just takes up too much room in the cab of my truck. I need to be able to use a printer like the HP100 or Canon 100. These portable printers are ideal in size but they only support bluetooth. I have a myfi network in my truck so something like HP eprint is usable but alas neither of these printers is wifi capable.

I've seen a utility for bluetooth printing but it seems to require a pc which, if I had a pc in the truck, I could print the invoice or estimate without the ipad.

To summarize, I need to print from my ipad to a small portable printer in my truck. It doesn't have to be a battery powered printer as I have an inverter. It just needs to be smaller than the typical desktop printer. Airprint would be ideal but wifi or bluetooth through an app would suffice.

Any suggestions?

Butch

 

[twerppoet]

Perhaps the combination of the Lantronix xPrintServer (home model) and a small portable wi-fi router like the AirPort Express. It might be possible to tie the mifi network into the router. If not, you would need to switch back and forth between the networks whenever you wanted to print.

It would give you the option of using most USB printers. They have a list of compatible printers on their site, so if you go this route be sure to check.

That is the only thing I can think of at the moment.

 

[petermillard]

I've never used this, but it's apparently possible to use an HP H470 portable printer with wifi connection to print from an iPad; I came across this blog where a guy has documented the process:-

Genuinely Original Content: Printing from the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch on the road (no router and no sockets required)

Hope it helps!