Printer to use with rugged handheld computer

7 Jun 2021

Industrial mobile printers that are often used in the field with our rugged handheld computer products are available through companies such as the following.

 

Original article from 24 Aug 2010:

For a list of printers that have been known to work with Microsoft Windows CE and Windows Mobile devices, please visit the following website:

http://www.fieldsoftware.com/PrintersSupported.htm

HarvestMaster Printers

Our HM800 and previous HM400/300 on-combine harvest data systems come with a printer for automatically providing a hard copy of all harvest data recorded. The rugged handheld computer can only communicate with this printer through the system console (formerly SCCU).

Impact/ Dot Matrix Printers

The most common printers used with our rugged computer products are impact/ dot matrix serial printers (which are usually kept in a shack/office for use only when returning from the field) such as those listed at the following webpages.

These printers usually only require an app to open the COM port and transmit the ASCII text to be printed, though compatibility with the HP PCL standard may be required as explained in the General Compatibility section below.

Thermal/ Label Printers

A thermal/ label printer may be connected directly to our rugged computer products such as those described on the following webpages.

Connection methods often include Bluetooth, serial, infrared (with older Allegro and printer models only), and occasionally USB (though technical setup may be required for USB as explained in the General Compatibility section below). Compatibility with the HP PCL standard may be required.

Other Printers

Some other printers and adapters which have historically been used with our rugged handheld computer products (but may be no longer be available) include the following.

General Printer Compatibility

A printer must be able to connect using a USB (Windows Mobile only), 9-pin RS-232 serial cable, infrared (IrDa) (older Allegro models running Windows CE only), or Bluetooth wireless technology connection. For connecting USB printers to the Mesa Rugged Notepad, you may need to install the following driver update.

USB printer driver update

Windows Mobile Field PCs

You may need to install a third-party software program on the Field PC to add support for printers. Some recommended software programs include:

Windows CE Field PCs (older Allegros)

The Windows CE operating system on the Allegro CX Field PC and older models includes the Hewlett-Packard (HP) standard PCL 3.0 printer drivers (PCL Laser and PCL Inkjet). Programs on the Allegro that allow printing through these drivers include the Microsoft WordPad (Pocket Word) word processor program and the Z4Soft PTab spreadsheet program.

Printers that support the PCL drivers and that connect using one of the previously mentioned connection methods should work with the Allegro. Other printers, such as Canon models, may need a third-party printer driver or software program installed. Canon at one time provided some WinCE-compatible software for the BJC mobile printer series (such as the BJC-55), on their website at:

http://www.usa.canon.com

When finding Windows CE/Mobile compatible drivers for other printers, search for terms such as Windows CE, Pocket PC (Windows Mobile), HPC (Handheld PC), HPC Pro, or HPC 2000 on the printer manufacturer website.

 

Note: The information above is provided as a reference and does not imply that Juniper Systems will provide full support for the use of any specific third-party hardware or software with a Juniper Systems product.