Star Micronics TSP143IIIU Thermal Receipt Printer 250 mm/sec USB iOS Auto Cutter Grey 39472310

Key Features

• Two separate USB ports: Type-B for a Windows or Android host, Type-A for an iOS device.
• Apple MFi certified, so an iPad can be driven and charged over one Lightning to USB-A lead.
• Prints direct thermal receipts at up to 250 mm per second at 203 dpi.
• The USB A-to-B host cable is supplied; the Lightning lead for an iPad is not.
• No network interface of any kind, which keeps the till off the store network entirely.
• The Type-A port also powers compatible Star accessories such as the SCD222U display.
• Wall mounting bracket, rubber feet and a switch cover are all in the box.
• Guillotine auto cutter rated for 2,000,000 cuts, with a 100 km print head life.
• The power supply is built into the printer, so only a mains cord leaves the unit.
• Drives a cash drawer or external buzzer from the built-in peripheral connector.
• Takes 80 mm and 58 mm receipt rolls, with the 58 mm paper guide supplied in the box.
• Energy Star certified, and backed in the United States by a 2-year Star warranty.

Key Specifications

• Model: TSP143IIIU Grey, Star generation TSP100III
• Interfaces: USB Type-B for host data, USB Type-A for an iOS device
• Print method: Direct thermal line printing
• Print speed: Up to 250 mm per second
• Resolution: 203 dpi
• Media width: 80 mm and 58 mm rolls, up to 83 mm roll diameter
• Print width: 72 mm on 80 mm paper, 51 mm on 58 mm paper
• Auto cutter: Guillotine, rated 2,000,000 cuts, 100 km print head life
• Power: Internal supply, 100 to 240 V AC, 50/60 Hz
• Peripheral port: Cash drawer and external buzzer connector
• Warranty: 2 years in the United States
• Dimensions: 142 x 204 x 132 mm, approximately 1.68 kg

Two ports, two jobs

This printer has two USB ports and they are not interchangeable. The Type-B port is the host data connection: it takes the supplied A-to-B cable from a Windows PC or an Android device and carries print data in the ordinary way. The Type-A port faces the other direction. It is there for an iOS device, and it also supplies power to a tablet or drives a compatible Star accessory such as the SCD222U customer display. Star does note that if a device is charging on the Type-A port while another host occupies the Type-B port at the same time, charging is limited to 0.5 amps. There is no Ethernet, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on this part number.

Driving an iPad

The TSP100III series is Apple MFi certified for its USB models, and that certification is what lets an iPad or iPhone talk to this printer over a wire, with the till application printing directly and the tablet charging from the same lead. The printer has no Lightning connector on it. What it has is the USB Type-A port, and the connection is made with a Lightning to USB Type-A cable running from the tablet to the printer. Star's own support article is blunt about it: the TSP100IIIU only supports a USB Type-A connection. For a fixed counter iPad till with no network dependency, that is a clean and very stable arrangement.

The cable you need

Read this before ordering for an iPad deployment. The box contains a USB A-to-B cable, which is the cable for a PC or Android host. It does not contain a Lightning cable. A buyer who plans to run an iPad on this printer has to supply that lead separately, and it is the single most common reason a TSP143IIIU arrives and cannot be commissioned on the day. The supplier part description for this code abbreviates Lightning to Ltg, which reads like something in the carton. It is not. Order the Lightning to USB Type-A cable at the same time as the printer and the installation takes ten minutes.

Speed and cutter life

Every TSP143 in this range prints at the same headline rate, up to 250 millimetres per second at 203 dpi, which clears a normal grocery or hospitality receipt in about a second. What separates a printer that lasts from one that does not is the cutter, and Star rates the guillotine here at two million cuts. The print head is rated for 100 kilometres of paper and the mechanism carries a 60 million line MCBF figure. For a till running two hundred transactions a day those numbers are the difference between a consumable and a fixture. Media handling is drop-in: lift the cover, drop the roll in, close it, and the printer feeds and cuts without threading.

Internal power supply

The power supply is inside the printer. That sounds like a footnote until you have wired a counter and discovered that the printer needs somewhere to hide a brick, and that the brick has to sit where a cleaner will not kick it. Star runs mains straight into the chassis at 100 to 240 volts, 50 or 60 hertz, so the only thing leaving the printer is a detachable mains cord. It makes the unit slightly deeper than a printer with an external adapter and considerably tidier once installed. It also means one fewer part to lose when a unit is moved between sites, and one fewer thing to specify when you order a replacement.

What is included

Star's accessory list for this printer covers the main unit, a mains power cable, the USB A-to-B interface cable, the paper roll guide for 58 millimetre media, four rubber feet, a switch cover, a wall mounting bracket with two screws, and the Easy Setup and Safety guides. The Lightning cable for an iOS device is not included, as noted above. Star's United States marketing copy mentions a starter paper roll that its own factory accessory list does not itemise, and Star notes that included accessories vary by model, so treat a first roll of receipt paper as a separate line on the order.

Warranty and support

Star covers this printer in the United States with a 2-year warranty, and offers EXTEND-A-STAR and SWAP-A-STAR service plans that take the term to three or four years, with SWAP-A-STAR providing an advance replacement unit rather than a repair turnaround. Note that Star's European operation publishes a longer standard term; the figure that applies to a printer bought in the United States is the 2-year one, and that is what we quote. Drivers, manuals and configuration utilities remain available from Star's support site, and the unit is Energy Star certified.

For a fixed iPad or PC till that wants a wired connection, a two million cut guillotine and no network to configure, the Star TSP143IIIU 39472310 is a proven choice; remember the Lightning cable. Contact us to learn more or secure this solution for your business today.