[gil777t]

I have a hp desktop running vista home premium 32 bit, I have a hp laptop running vista home premium 64 bit , I'm using a netgear wireless router.
I would greatly appreciate any suggestions on buying a printer that is compatable with both machines, and is easy to install and use without having to jump through hoops.

[Tactician]

get yourself a wi-fi printer and then you won't have one of the systems acting as a print "manager" you can simply install the software on both systems and not worry about it lexmark has a fairly cheap wi-fi printer ithink it cost me like $50 the hardest part of set-up is putting in your wireless security key, only because its so long and the printers dont have keyboards

[gil777t]

Thank you Tactician that will be one of the ones I'll look at.

[JohnWill]

Truthfully, I see no value in a wireless printer, and it just adds complexity. I have an HP C7280 wired and wireless, and I run it with a wired connection to the network. It's much more reliable, and it also doesn't suck up bandwidth on the already limited wireless channel. After all, you aren't going to be carrying the printer around, right?

[gil777t]

Thank you John, your point is well taken, but I'm not looking for a wireless printer. I'm looking for a printer that is compatible with vista home premium 32 bit which is my desktop that will be wired to the printer, and my laptop using vista home premium 64 bit that will use a wireless connection to share the the printer. I would like to use the laptop in different parts of my house or outside on my patio without having to go into my den and wire my laptop into the printer to print. I appreciate your experience and will take your advise under consideration. Having said that, can you recommend a printer that is compatible with vista 32 bit and vista 64 bit? That you don't have to jump through hoops to use and set up. Once again Thank you

[JohnWill]

Well, most printers should be compatible, the trick is finding one that has the Vista 64 bit drivers I would imagine. I can spend all day listing printers that would work, but without knowing the budget and the requirements for the printer, it would be a waste of time.

B/W, color? Laser, inkjet? How many pages/month do you print? Price range? What's your location, i.e. country?

[gil777t]

Thanks John for your reply. I'm looking for a color inkjet, perhaps around 40 pages a month, that does a fairly decent job with photographs. Price range around $200-300. Rochester, NY. Thank you for your timely response.

[JohnWill]

Well, you can't go wrong with the one I have, the HP Photosmart C7280. It's a networked color multi-function, does printing, scanning, copying, and FAX. It's also a networked printer, so you don't have to share it from a computer, you can put it on the network and all machines can access it directly. Works with everything Windows 2000 through Windows 7

http://www.amazon.com/HP-Photosmart-...N%3DB000UY6M2G

[gil777t]

Once again, Thanks John.
I went to the link you provided and that printer works for me, the price is right. I'm sure I'll be able to follow the wizard and won't have trouble setting it up. As a beginner I appreciate all the help and support. I use this forum as my computer technology course 101 home school. I look forward to reading solutions to other members questions.

[JohnWill]

Hopefully, it'll work for you. I know it works fine on Windows 7 64 bit, that's what I'm using here. Since before the release of the Win7 drivers, I was using the Vista 64 bit drivers for this machine, I suspect Vista 64 should work as well.



You can mark your own threads solved using the button at the top of the first page of the thread in the upper left corner.©

[gil777t]

Thanks John,
In the future I'll remember to mark it solved. Just to make sure I'm on the right track, my desktop is using vista 32 bit, and I will have to download vista 64 bit is that correct? Is vista 64 bit a free download?

[JohnWill]

No, if you have a 32 bit Vista machine, you want the 32 bit drivers. For some reason I thought you had a 64 bit machine.

[gil777t]

Hi john,
Sorry for any confusion I might have caused, my desktop is 32 bit, and my laptop 64 bit. kudos

[JohnWill]

Well, the 64 bit drivers are for the laptop in that case.

[gil777t]

Hello John,
Thanks for the reply.Please let me re-state this once again shortly so it's clear and your not responding to bits and pieces. My desktop is 32bits, my laptop is 64 bits. I'm buying the printer that you use and have suggested. are both machines compatible with the printer? If I have to install any drivers, to which machine? Are the drivers free? I'm hard wired right now to the printer via the desktop, while the laptop is using a netgear wireless router. Sorry for any confusion I have caused. Thanks John