Chosing the right wireless printer
When people begin the process of looking into a mobile sales solution, printing invoices in the field is a part that needs to be considered. These printers use a Bluetooth wireless connection to the mobile computer.
The first choice that needs to be made is the style and size of the invoice to be printed, 8.5 X 11 full size paper or a smaller 4” thermal size. The 4” thermal printers that we recommend are the Printek Fieldpro or a Zebra RW420, both of these printers are also in a rugged category that can handle the daily abuse from a mobile environment.
Both of these printers are small and compact. They have rechargeable batteries that have enough power to supply multi day use in the field without needing a recharge. They use a thermal print head so no ink cartridges are needed.
The full size printer options are either HP 470 WBT or a Canon Pixma ip 90, both of these are compact as well, they are not rugged and need to be left inside a vehicle plugged into a power inverter from the cigarette lighter. Another drawbacks of this type of printer is replacement of the ink cartridges, depending on your printing needs you may be replacing these cartridges a couple times per month.
For these reasons I like the 4” thermal printers better, the paper is on a long roll and the thermal head only requires to be cleaned periodically. The other is the ability to take this printer into the store with you for printing, this makes it a time saver not having to return to the vehicle after you have captured the signature on the mobile computer, print the invoice then walk back into the store to drop it off with the clerk
-Ken Weirum
bMobile Sales
