Printer Time Tests

Printer Time Tests

After receiving many questions about printing speeds of various printers, we decided to run an informal poll of how long it takes various printers to print out a fairly typical Pocket Word document containing a full page of formatted text. This sample document is available here and I encourage anyone using PrintPocketCE for the Pocket PC to download this document, copy it to your Pocket PC, print it out using PrintPocketCE and report the results back to reports@fieldsoftware.com (include Pocket PC device used, type of printer, time to print). Unless otherwise noted, all times given are for printing with infrared connection. Note that, since PrintPocketCE, PocketShot, and PocketClipPrint all use the same "printer engine" (our PrinterCE technology), these printer times should be fairly representative of all our printing tools.

Click here to download test document (TestPrint.doc)

NOTE: These are unverified times reported by users for informational purposes only.

Settings to get the best printing times: from the "Select Printer" screen, tap "More Settings" button then check the following settings:

	"Compressed Printing" should be ON (checkmark visible).
	"IR Buffer Adjustment" should be OFF (NO checkmark)
	"Draft Mode" - default setting is OFF (NO checkmark). This produces the best quality printing. Checking "Draft Mode" (ON) will produce somewhat lower quality printing but can speed up printing times significantly.
	"Print Density" can affect printing speed somewhat - the darker the setting, the slower the printing (but only slightly).
	For infrared printing, the "Port Speed" setting on "Select Printer" has no effect.
	For information on what all printer settings do, go here.

NOTE to Canon BJC Users: Certain Canon BJC printers seem to have a flawed Infrared IR port that reports an incorrect "buffer size" value to the Windows CE device. If you have a Canon BJC printer that is printing noticeably slower than the times reported below, or is not printing at all, try selecting the "More Settings" -> "IR Buffer Adjustment" ON and compare printing times.

Printer

Time (mm:ss)

Pocket PC Device

Mobile Inkjet Printers with Battery power and built-in Infrared

HP DeskJet 340CBi

1:00

HP 545

Canon BJC-50
See NOTE above!

1:26
1:35
1:47
2:15

Casio E-125
Casio E-115
HP 545
Compaq iPAQ

Canon BJC-80
See NOTE above!

1:55
1:57

Compaq Aero 2180
Casio E-115

Canon BJC-85
See NOTE above!

1:12
1:40

HP 545
Compaq iPAQ

Thermal Printers - Battery powered & built-in Infrared

Pentax PocketJet 200
8.5" wide thermal

0:20
0:22

Compaq iPAQ
HP545

Seiko DPU-3445
4" wide thermal

0:29
0:34

Compaq iPAQ
HP545

SiPix A6
4" wide thermal

4:45

Compaq iPAQ

Citizen PD-04
4" wide thermal

1:00
1:15

Compaq iPAQ
HP545

Industrial Thermal Printers - Battery powered & built-in Infrared

O'Neil MicroFlash 4"

0:49

Compaq iPAQ

Extech S3000 3"

4:05

Compaq iPAQ

Standard Inkjet Printers

Epson 740 Stylus
with External Infrared Port

0:42
0:43

Compaq iPAQ
HP545

HP870CSe
with External Infrared Port

0:19
0:21

Compaq iPAQ
HP545

HP990CSe

0:20

Compaq iPAQ

Laser Printers

HP 5P

0:31

Casio E-115

HP 6P
HP 6L

0:25
1:40

Casio E-115
Compaq iPAQ

HP 2100

0:45
0:4
1:00

Casio E-115
Compaq iPAQ
Casio E-115

HP 8100

0:47

HP 548

Lexmark Optra S1250 (using HP PCL selection)

0:42

Casio E-115