Before selecting your new mobile printer, read through the printer’s documents and gain as much information as possible to understand the operation of the printer and its maintenance. You want to choose a printer that is simple to operate and requires little to no maintenance. You also want to check into the printing options is has, print speed, media that it uses, battery power and form factor. If the printer requires you to carry multiple spare batteries or boxes of media, this may not be the right printer for you.

When choosing your mobile printer, verify what type of battery it uses. Most mobile printers now use the popular Li-Ion batteries, yet some still use NiCad and NiMH. The Li-Ion battery when compared to the later two provides more battery life, more battery charges and is lighter.

There’s nothing worse than meeting with a client and just as you are finalizing the deal, your printer fails. The best way to avoid downtime is to purchase a reliable printer, these are usually “ruggedized” mobile printers. These printers have ratings that inform you of what types of condition can they operate in. In addition to the ruggedized rating, the printer should have a way of communicating a hardware failure and also a way to indicate its operating condition.

Mobile printer manufacturers provide customer support and warranties. Some manufacturers offer extended warranties, extended customer support and help desk support - usually for a price. When choosing your printer regarding support, verify what type of phone support you will receive. Some manufacturers don’t offer 800 number support and some only offer support during specific hours of the day.

Before purchasing your printer, you MUST verify the compatibility with your current devices and future upgrades. There can be conflicts with operating systems, programming languages, computing platforms and communication & security standards. To increase your chances of mobile printer compatibility, you should as these questions:

• Are the mobile printer’s drivers compatible with your current network?

• What characters and fonts are available?

• What are the printer’s requirements?

• What language does the printer use?

Mobile printers have become a near necessity for the mobile employee. Mobile printers have increased productivity, improved cash flow & revenues, reduce operating costs and enhance customer retention in a competitive market. Choosing a mobile printer can be a daunting task, but if you follow these five tips, we can make this process as painless a possible and help you to choose the right mobile printer for your needs.