Need a wirelss Scanner/ printer

[Learjet035]

I have an hp photosmart 4200 that is plugged into an airport base station.
One problem though... When I scan something I have to break out my laptop and plug it into the printer directly to get the scan. The printer, as far as I can tell won't send out the scan via the airport.

If I buy the new photosmart with wifi & Bluetooth and put it in the other room will it send my scans to my iMac in the other room?

Sounds like it should but I've yet to see that work.

Thanks.

 

[Learjet035]

Better yet, is there a work around to get the printer
to send the scan to my iMac via airport extreme so I don't need to buy a new printer?

Thanks.

 

[Learjet035]

No one here has a wireless scanner they can recommend?

 

[skorpien]

If the new photosmart is compatible with Mac OS X, it should work.

The only way you'd be able to get your old printer to work (and I'm guessing it's USB only and does not have an Ethernet port) is to buy a USB multifunction print server, either wired or wireless, and connect it to your Base Station.

Edimax has some great print servers and they are the only ones I've found that have Mac software for them. I have a wired MFP print server with my Epson RX 595 and it works great. The only issue I have is that I need to open the Edimax software and establish a connection with my printer before I can print or scan (only the Windows software is automatic), but it still beats having to physically connect to my printer every time I need to scan.

 

[Learjet035]

Awesome!
Thanks a ton skorpien, I've never even heard of a print server.

You are correct it only has 1 USB out of the printer.

Looks like print servers run about 50$ and a new printer is 150$

I'm not very network savvy, so whacha think?

New printer, or go for the network.

Thanks again!

 

[skorpien]

If you go for a print server, make absolute sure it's a multifunction print server. Otherwise you will only be able to print and not scan and would have wasted $50 for nothing 🙁 I have something equivalent to the Edimax PS-1206MF (uses the same chipset, I flashed it with Edimax's firmware 😛). That particular model runs around $100 USD.

http://www.edimax.com/en/produce_detail.php?pd_id=51&pl1_id=2&pl2_id=14

That's the product information page for the PS-1206MF. There's a list of compatible printers, and although the 4200 isn't listed specifically, there are plenty of photosmarts that are. My particular printer wasn't in that list but works flawlessly.

I'm quite happy with my setup currently. The deciding factor for me was the fact that my printer was still fairly new. You can take this as an opportunity to upgrade, or you can keep your printer and go with the MFP print server. It would be a little less hassle to get a new printer, and it would be less expensive to get the print server. The final decision is yours to make though.