HP has finally released a driver for the Officejet 100 Mobile Printer that supports OS X Lion. The now-10.7-compatible printer was one of the last printers in HP’s lineup to gain Lion support.
Download: HP Officejet 100 Printer Driver for OS X Lion Version 12.13.20 (Direct FTP Link)
Here’s the catch: Unlike nearly every other printer for OS X Lion, the driver is not currently available via Apple Software Update. Apple pushed printer makers really hard to release drivers exclusively on Apple Software Update this go-around. In fact, it’s hard at times to set up some printer models on OS X Lion if you don’t have an Internet connection for the computer.
I can figure how this happened. HP’s Officejet 100 probably required significant customizations from the base HP printer driver. It’s one of the only HP printers that primarily prints via Bluetooth, which in and of itself requires additional battle testing. Since it’s sold in stores, HP didn’t want to wait and pushed the driver out on their web site early.
Eventually, I suspect, this driver will get rolled into the next HP Printer Driver Update that gets pushed out via Apple Software Update. The good news is that for road warriors, you can download and keep this driver on a flash drive. That’s another reason I suspect HP posted a standalone download… this printer is meant to be used in situations (on the road) where you may not be able to pop on the Internet and grab the driver. For a particular Mac.
I just purchased my Officejet 100 for over half off at Office Depot. $149 after a $50 trade-in (I traded in a brand new, in-box printer I found on clearance at Target for $10… a year ago). While I wasn’t too keen on trading in a brand new printer, needlessly creating e-waste for the sake of price discrimination, I am in love with the Officejet 100. It’s Bluetooth, plugs into my car’s DC-in or AC outlets, and does USB as well.
While on travel, I can toss it in my backpack and have a printer in my hotel room. But where it really shines is on the road. If I need a coupon, I can print it without having to drive home. With the price of gas, driving home to grab a coupon can become worthless… before even factoring in the loss of time. Now, I can print from my car whenever I want, and ditch the coupon box. Less stress, and more productivity.
When combined with a NeatReceipt scanner, I have the ability to scan and print from anywhere in the world. Paper, mastered.
Hi Christopher,
Nice blog. I just got the HP Officejet 100 but it won’t connect to my MacBook Air 2011 13″ via bluetooth. It says the bluetooth from the printer is refusing it. The Macbook Air can “see” the printer on its bluetooth screen but it does not connect. Any ideas you can offer? It works fine when it is connected via USB but I bought this printer because of the bluetooth “wireless” properties. How did you get yours to work? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you
Hunter
Bluetooth between the Officejet 100 and OS X Lion has been a lot more lackluster than I had hoped. Typically, I find it faster and easier to just plug in the USB cable, than deal with the hassle.
It’s hard to point the blame in one direction or the other. Yes, it does work… eventually, but I often have to reconnect a few times. By then, especially in a car or some other cramped space, I’m more frustrated than the benefit Bluetooth would have given.
Bottom line, rather than give you troubleshooting litanies, I’d say just pack a compact USB cable with the printer and move on.
Hi Chris, the above link for the Mac OS X Lion download is not working. I went to the hp website and looked under their available versions, and they only list Mac OS X, but not Mac OS X Lion.
Another tip, be sure to update the firmware. You’ll need a Windows PC to do it, but the latest firmware for the OfficeJet 100 improves both Bluetooth printing, and overall print quality, even over USB.
Dodi,
HP has replaced the driver with a newer, all-in-one HP driver package that supports most printers on 10.6 – 10.8. The only downside is that it’s 110 MB, and not just for the OfficeJet 100.
You can find it on HP Tech Support, drill down to Drivers & Downloads and type in OfficeJet 100 in the model.