Airprint & Google cloud print AIO printer query

[Jehanzeb]

Morning all,

 

Hope every one is doing well.

 

The school has been using Lexmark X544 printers in the past and now we would like to upgrade/change them. I've been looking at the issues that teachers and kids face in a normal day classroom. The issues we found are, unable to print directly from iPad due to lack of Airprint compatibility in printers (p.s. I am aware of different software utilities such as Handyprint, Printopia etc). Also unable to print directly from Google drive as printer does not support cloud printing. In order to provide both facilities natively, I started looking at different printers. To my surprise, the market is flooded with printers that support both options. The question is, which one to go for that is ideal for the Classroom environment.

 

Someone mentioned HP Pro X476DW inkjet AIO printer, but I am not entirely convinced that it will run economically in a Classroom environment, especially being an "inkjet" - even though the website suggest it runs like a laser and has low running costs. Ideally looking for something that is economical, has duplex colour printing option, scanning option and as I mentioned above Airprint and Cloud compatible, and obviously networked enabled. Any suggestions, experiences will be highly appreciated. Oh and has anyone installed/setup X476DW in their classrooms? How does it run?

 

Regards

 

J.

[Ian_Cooper_Printware]

HP and Epson have both invested heavily in their business inkjet ranges, meaning they now have a number of inkjet printers that are cheaper to run than most colour laser printers.

 

From HP, the cheapest are the OfficeJet Pro X devices with the full width print heads. They can take cartridges that offer up to 9,000 pages in black and 6,000 pages or so in CMY. They are decent devices, even when printing on standard copier paper.

The ordinary OfficeJet Pro devices sit below these in HPs range and have smaller inks, but are more devices aimed at a home office user.

 

Epson offer their WorkForce Pro range, and these are cheaper to buy, but I'd say slightly less robust, than the OfficeJet Pro X range. Devices like the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-5690DWF can take 4,000 page inks and are not a dissimilar running cost to the HP Pro X range. The Epsons also currently have a 3 year warranty available free of charge (you have to claim this though, it's not automatic).

[fiza]

Instead of replacing your printers why not look at Papercut? Papercut integrates with google cloud print and turns any printer into a Cloud ready printer. We use it here.

[Jehanzeb]

Ian many thanks for your kind input. Would you be kind enough to mention some of the models that are good in HP range? Also what about inkjets where printing duplex would get a little smudgy as it doesn't get time to dry quickly. My main concern is the classroom usage and also airprint and cloud service. Duplex is def a plus as it will help reduce the paper usage.

 

Regards

 

J.

[Jehanzeb]

Thank you for your kind input Fiza. There are too many issues with software dependent printing. We use Handyprint and have tried Printopia, it's very rare when something comes out properly from the printer. I saw teachers roaming around the classroom thinking it will work if we go to "this" corner or "that" corner. I believe technology has taken it's step and more functionalities have been implemented into printers themselves. Plus new printers are a little bit more economical than the older ones. Nevertheless, I shall look into Papercut.

 

Regrads

 

J.

Edited February 6, 2015 by Jehanzeb

[Ian_Cooper_Printware]

Smudging on modern inkjets shouldn't be much of a problem... The X476 you mentioned in the first instance is a very decent device, and there are some good deals on them out there at the moment (they were on promo last month, and lots of resellers stocked up).

 

As an added bonus, HP are offering a 90 day money back guarantee on the OfficeJet Pro X models currently. Details can be found here. https://h41201.www4.hp.com/buyandtry/registration.asp?sid=553763070&cid=&lid=&cs=&ls=&pid=

[fiza]

Thank you for your kind input Fiza. There are too many issues with software dependent printing. We use Handyprint and have tried Printopia, it's very rare when something comes out properly from the printer. I saw teachers roaming around the classroom thinking it will work if we go to "this" corner or "that" corner. I believe technology has taken it's step and more functionalities have been implemented into printers themselves. Plus new printers are a little bit more economical than the older ones. Nevertheless, I shall look into Papercut.

 

Regrads

 

J.

 

Have a look at iOS Printing (iPad & iPhone)

[MatthewL]

Another for PaperCut or you could even look at Everyone Print. Personally PaperCut would scream out at me.

[Jehanzeb]

Thanks Ian for your kind help. I have looked at the link you shared and currently looking at two devices X576DW and M570dn. I've also read about the page wide technology that HP has integrated in their new machines. Thanks Fiza papercut seems a good idea, considering it shows the avg usage costs and MatthewL, thank you for the link as well.

 

Regards

 

J.