Yes, a tablet can be connected to a USB or printer. But depending on the tablet it can be a pain in the nether regions.
Again WiFi, as in a local wireless network (not a mobile telephone network) is your answer.
If your printer is relatively modern it is likely the manufacturer has created an app for it. When your tablet (or phone) is connected to a network with the printer as part of the network the send to option in most apps will include your printer once the printer app has been installed.
Similarly there are apps that allow file sharing over a network, alleviating the need for a USB connection. You can also use so called cloud computing, provided you have internet, such as dropbox and Android (Google)/ Microsoft/ Apple (depending on your device(s)) to share files.
I've not even bothered trying to connect my iPad to a USB (there is no straightforward method) but my cheap android tablet came with an adaptor (I haven't tried it) that allows a USB to be plugged into the tablet's USB charging port.
My smartphone has a micro memory card slot, I can remove the card and use it in an adaptor to plug into a card reader on a PC.
Don't forget you can connect a smartphone, tablet or similar directly to a PC (as if the device is a USB device) to transfer files.
It depends on what you are trying to do. My wife, a technophobe, was struggling with getting photos off her phone. I set dropbox on her phone to automatically upload photographs (note this uses data from your mobile phone plan) and when she turned on her PC it automatically downloads them to her PC (using home internet data).
There is so much you can do. The problem is knowing what you really want, what solutions are available, and which solution best meets your needs.


Reply With Quote
Bookmarks