Olivetti SIMPLE_WAY Bluetooth: setup and impressions

Hello @all,

sometime ago I bought at eBay used printer Olivetti SIMPLE_WAY. It has built-in Bluetooth, and this was the only reason for buying (I hate cables and try to exploit the Bluetooth on my laptop as much as possible). I paid something like 32 EUR (incl. delivery). The black inks were empty (so, I had to buy it extra - 28 EUR @eBay for the new cartridge (IN 502) inclusing delivery).

After 1 week of waiting it arrived. I cannot say it was a love from the first sight. The colour of the deice - white - doesn't actually match the colour of other deices I have (black laptop and black boxes). Besides, I underestimated the size of the printer. It was optically too big for my desk. After trying a couple of combinations I finally left it on the desk container near the table - close enough to connect with the cable, but not directly on the desk.

(1) Setting it up...
As I said, the printer is equipped with a Bluetooth module. It sounds cool, but it's a marketing trick. The problem is that via Bluetooth this device acts like a printer only. So, no way to scan, copy or print photos. Just an ordinary printer... OK, it's too late to object.

Another issue, which bothers me, is a Linux compatibility. The device is NOT Linux-compatible. Neither printer nor scanner can be recognized and used. So, keep in mind - this is 100% Windows-oriented device. At
least, now...

The printer setup can be divided into two steps. Step 1 is USB-based setup. It's quite straightforward and is well described in the user's guide of the printer. Mainly, you install two pieces of software - the driver and
maanagement application, which allows you to perform all the functions (print photos, scan, and copy). Besides, you get a couple of utilities for printer's maintenance.

Step 2 is making Bluetooth connection between PC/laptop and printer. And this is much more fun, than USB! I suppose, that the steps described in the guide, were oriented on the Microsoft's Bluetooth stack, coming with SP2 of the XP. Since I have a Widcomm stack, those steps didn't work for me. After several evenings of tests I finally managed to get it running. So, here are the steps - for those who may be interested:

1. Download and install the newest Widcomm stack (in my case I got it from the the support site of Lenovo);
2. Start "Install new printer..."-wizard from Control Panel, section "Printers and faxes";
3. Click "Next" on the welcome screen;
   
4. Select local printer, uncheck "Plug and Play" recognition click "Next";
   
5. And now be careful: select "Create new port" option on the next screen (and not "Use following port", as user's guide recommends);
6. First option "Bluetooth printer" becomes selected. Click "Next";

Actually, at this moment wizard opens a new, smaller window, in which available Bluetooth printers are shown. Select Olivetti, enter PIN (if you any is set in the Bluetooth properties of the printer). Your computer builds pairing with the printer, new COM port is being created, and printer gets connected.

The rest of the installtion is straighforward. Since you have already installed the drivers, they get selected automatically - keep the selection. Skip printing of the test page.

(2) Running it...
So, when you get your connections configured, you may use the device. As I mentioned above, when operating via Bluetooth, only printer is available. When connected via the USB cable, you can do everything:

• print photos - good quality, some basic functions for the image improvements (white balance, contrast, etc.);
• scan to different destinations (file, application, fax, mail) - OK. The only thing you must keep in mind, is that the software supports 2 types of the files only - BMP and JPG. And the type of image is defined by fileextension! So, if you decide to save it as PNG, you will get BMP-file with "PNG"-extension. Do not be surprised by the huge size;
• copy - OK;

(3) Impressions
As I said in the very beginning, when I saw the printer for the first time, I could not say I liked it. Now I can. I had a couple of occasions to use this device quite intensively, and it seems to be rather solid and reliable.

Pros:

• Bluetooth;
• photo printer with quite good quality;
• useful software;
• PictBridge interface - not tested yet;

Cons:

• expensive and proprietary cartridges;
• limited functionality via Bluetooth;
• not Linux compatible;
  

(4) Conclusion
Just an ordinary multifunctional device, an average in its class. Bluetooth feature makes it very interesting for those, who hates cables, but limited functionality (when connected via Bluetooth) and incompatibility with Linux must be kept in mind.

Cheers,

Andrey.