Considering Small Printers
Back in the day, traveling with a printer either meant that you were going around with something the size of a small desk in a moving truck (and providing printer support on site to a business), or you were traveling with an ink jet, or you were traveling with a thermal printer, like grocery stores use for printing receipts.
All of these printers had their drawbacks. For instance, thermal printers needed their own special type of paper and the results were often strange. Ink jets gave you good results, but changes in temperature, humidity or set up could have you spending hours cleaning the heads. Similarly, ink jet printing could get very pricey very quickly. These were all problems that you might have had to deal with.
A laptop printer, on the other hand, could be brought in, but it required excessive care and usually saw the end of its use life in three months. These were not great solutions and the people who used them and the people who supported them were unhappy.
The nice thing, though, is that desktop printers have actually shrunk from being upwards of seventy pounds down to compact printers that are around twenty pounds. You can find ink jet printers and laser printers that are this small, and the ink jet printers are much sturdier than they were before.
The real gem in this lineup is the shrinking laser printer, however. They were initially produced for college students who had little space and these small personal printers worked out quite nicely, produce pages in the rage of 12 per minute. They had good durability cycles and they could be packed up tidily at the end of the semester.
Cost per page on consumables for a laser is about 7 cents per black and white page with 10% coverage – typical reports (or papers) won’t strain them. For some of the more robust photo printers, the cost per page is upwards of a dollar, but it is kind of neat to be able to print out hard copies of your photos on your vacation while you’re there.
The nice thing about these printers is that they are small. Our own HP 1006 Personal LaserJet is just a bit larger than a toaster and when we’re off to the trade shows, we can print out data sheets and sales reports for our customers. It measures in the neighborhood of 14” wide by 18” deep by 9” tall and it fits happily into its box.
While it has a pass through tray, we’ve found that it’s a pain to use, and so hardly ever use it. However, the ease of connection, the general utility and the low cost of the consumables (the type 35A standard print cartridge) means that it’s a clear winner when it comes to portable business printing.
The market for small portable printers is still in its infant stage and you will need to be careful before purchasing a portable printer. If you’re in a hurry read our review of the HP h47wbt mobile printer. It has received raving reviews from a lot of people.
categories: office,printer,computer,work,travel,portable
