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 had drawbacks; thermal printers had special paper requirements, and their output often looked strange. Inkjets had lovely output, but would be temperamental about changes in temperature, humidity or just being jostled; you ended up spending more time clearing the heads with the head cleaning utility than you ever did printing. Plus, the cost per page went through the roof.
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.
Happily enough, all the recent changes in technology did not leave printers behind. Desktop printers shrunk from 70-pound monsters down to 20 pounds and smaller. Ink jet and lasers printers have shrunk and ink jets have gotten much more stable as to how they can deal with their environment.
The real winner has been the ever shrinking laser printer. While initially marketed for college students who needed to pack a printer they could fit into a dorm room, these small ‘personal laser’ printers are still pretty impressive, with pages per minute in the 12+ range, and good durability cycles – and they’re small enough to fit into a suitcase.
When you are looking at a laser printer when it comes to consumables means that you get rates of about 7 cents per page; this is when you are looking at black and white pages with about 10 percent coverage. Remember that if you want something more like photo printing, the cost will go up, but in many ways, the quality is worth it.
When we say that these things are small – we mean it. The HP 1006 Personal LaserJet is tiny – it’s a bit bigger than a toaster. It gets thrown into the demo kit when we go to trade shows, so that we can print sales reports and data sheets on the fly for customers. It measures about 14″ wide by 8″ deep by 9″ tall, and it folds up readily 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 portable small 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.
