Common Printers

Rock's check-in requires the use of specific Zebra printers. Since most models have many SKUs/options, you'll want to be careful when ordering to specify the exact model number that includes the features you need. Working with a vendor that specializes in Zebra printers is often better than "going it alone" and Googling for the cheapest price. Rock has been tested on the following models:

1. ZD421d/621d - These are our currently-recommended models (the ZD421d in particular). The cutter module (which we highly recommend) is purchased separately and is user-installable (as is the ethernet port), unlike earlier models. Make sure you purchase the 
2. ZD500 - This model (now discontinued) is more expensive than the others as it can do direct thermal and thermal transfer, and also comes with Ethernet and dual band 802.11n Wi-Fi. It can be ordered with or without a cutter, but the cutter is not user-installable after the fact. This is a large printer, as it needs to accommodate the thermal transfer roll mechanism, but is proving to be a workhorse in many organizations.
3. GX420d / GK420d - Now discontinued, these are de facto standard desktop printers used in countless check-in systems. While they were available with (now) horrible 802.11g Wi-Fi, we do not recommend using that mode with Rock due to the lack of stability with 802.11b/g. That said, if you have them, they still work great via USB (only supported by the Windows check-in client) and Ethernet.
4. QLn series - These are battery powered mobile printers for specialized applications (read: you need to walk around with it).
5. LP2844-Z - These oldies but goodies have been replaced with newer models, but if you still have them, they should work (although this model does not support extended-character printing). Oh, and the 'Z' in the name is really important, as a plain-old LP2844 doesn't talk ZPL, which is necessary for Rock.

While it's highly likely that other Zebra models could work (technically any printer that supports ZPL should work) we've only tested with the models above.

We recommend that when purchasing these Zebra printers, you get ones with built-in Ethernet ports and/or Wi-Fi. This allows more flexibility such as printing from the server (when self-hosting) or the iPad app. If you currently have models that do not have Ethernet or Wi-Fi, you will need to use the Windows client to enable printing via USB. Some models also support Bluetooth LE, which Rock supports only via the iPad app. Bluetooth is a good option if you want to use iPad clients and your printers are not networked via Ethernet or Wi-Fi (or the local network does not allow Wi-Fi clients to talk to each other.)

We also highly recommend printers with cutters, as this eliminates 99% of the jamming problems you get when visitors have to manually tear-off labels. However, we do not recommend trying to mix cutter and non-cutter printers within the same system. It's technically possible to do so, but you have to do some hacky things to make such a system stable.