If you're like me, hearing the words "Dad, my printer's not working" can never lead to something good.
First of all, it's usually at 11:00 at night, the evening before my son's term paper is due. (Maybe, one day, he'll complete it a day early? Nah, I don't think so). Or, it might happen as I'm running out the door 15 minutes late to my next appointment, just as I'm trying to print my MapQuest directions to my destination.
And then, it's time for the quick diagnosis. Did the USB cable unplug? Am I out of ink? Is it just one color, or three? Did I remember to plunk down the extra $35 to have spare ink cartridges lying around the house?
Well, here's an idea for the common printer fiasco. A simple, spare, wireless printer.
Printers are no longer expensive. Where companies such as Epson and HP make their money is on what they call "consumables," but what we commonly call ink, and they purposely keep the hardware cost low. Therefore, installing a spare printer onto your network does not have to be expensive. In fact, if you spend more than $100 on your next printer, then you're probably spending too much. Remember, we're talking about the "spare" here.
I decided to put the spare printer in my bedroom, and through a beautiful appliance called an Apple Airport Express, I was able to make it wireless, and connect it to most of the computers in my house.
The Canon Pixma iP4300 seemed like a logical choice for my spare. It was easy to use, printed both color and black and white documents (like just about all printers do now) and could also print beautiful color photographs if I so desired. Also, it cost $99, and in fact, came with a $100 rebate when I bought my Apple iMac. So, in fact, it was free. (Check the Apple website when you buy Apple products - most computers come with $100 rebate offers on certain printers - can't beat that deal!)
Setting up the printer was easy. Following the simple Canon directions from their Quick Start guide, I basically plugged it in, loaded in the ink cartridges, and turned it on. I also had to install the printer driver software onto all of the computers in my house that was going to have access to the spare. That took around 10 minutes of direction following.
My house is a combination of laptops (mine, my wife's, my daughter's) and desktops (my son's and a spare in the basement.) And the last thing I wanted were wires running all over my bedroom for my spare printer. That's where the Apple Airport Express came in.
The Apple Airport Express (which costs around $99 and plugs into any outlet)) helps turn a room into a local wireless network. By simply plugging my room's Ethernet wire into one end of the Airport Express, and the printer into the USB hub of the Airport Express, I effectively made my printer a wireless printer in the room. The Airport Express assigns itself it's own network in your house – for example mine shows up as the Apple Network 039a35. So, all I have to do in order to print from my laptop is switch to my Apple Network (wireless houses will list the available networks in your area) and choose from the list of what Apple calls Bonjour Printers. (Just like you'd choose any printer available to your computer.) By clicking on the Canon iP4300 from the Bonjour printer list, I can now print my documents, from across the room, or across the hall.
The distance you can take your laptop from your printer depends on where your Apple Airport Express is situated – mine can go around 75 feet, and up two flights of stairs – but that will depend on the interference you have in your house. The Airport Express also serves to strengthen the wire signal in the room that is resides in, so if your bedroom is far from your wireless router, it's a great accessory to have around.
So now, when my son's printer is screaming for ink, I always have a back-up. Of course, I haven't told him about it yet. Let's see if I can teach him to get that paper done a day early first.