Portable printers
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For you, how portable is portable?
I have an HP deskjet6940 and also a deskjet1000 , Now both of these will require 230 volts whilst on site but will of course print.
How much weight/space have you got, not only for the printer but also the paper and possibly spare ink cartridges?
I have a tendency to print off maps before I leave home and save the weight.
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A normal modern inkjet printer weights only a few pounds and will run from a 240v Inverter powered by the caravan battery. Paper and ink from local supermarket - unless you are going to a part of the world where the locals don't use either!
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Of those in Brue's list the HP OfficeJet 200 seems to be the best bet if you want compact. However I expect you could go into any of the larger supermarkets locally and buy one for £50. They won't be as compact but there is always a premium price to pay for mobile printers. Years ago Canon used to do a bubble jet printer which was really compact but even all those years ago it was £200!
David
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We have a very compact and lighweight Canon printer, but I have no idea if they are still available.
I had this for my work, back pre 2007, and somehow I still have it!
It is a good printer, but so old that it is not easy to get it to communicate with other devices.
There must be some much more up to date version available.
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Interesting because there doesn't appear a need so not many products available. Many years ago I had a small printer, Canon I think, which was literally about 3" square and the width of an A4 sheet and worked by feeding a single sheet of paper through it. Very basic but ideal. I was interested in this post as I have a need to print updated spreadsheets on certain rallies I run.
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Hi WTG, if its a printer that you need then I hope you get some good advice but could you not just use the 'downloaded' info on a smartphone, assuming that you have one?
I have done this when doing rides with the Grandchildren,the biggest issue for me is my eyesight!
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When we looked at portable printers they were expensive and tended to take expensive non standard ink. We just went to the local large supermarket and bought a cheap on offer printer, that took standard 301 HP cartridges. You get a set with the printer, so it actually only costs about £10 when you allow for them. Replacements cost about £23 for the two, often only £19 as Tesco keep giving us £4 off ink cartridge vouchers. A set will generally last the season. Also if anything is left as our home printer uses the same cartridges, I can use them up there.
We don't find weight an issue, it is very light. It is however a bit bulky. The one we bought can even print wirelessly sometimes, through it own network, although this is a bit hit and miss, so often the cable is required.
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I was interested in your post as we have thought about it too, I like having map print outs etc but we are a bit short on space so in the end gave up on the idea. I've got a portable solar charger for the phone as one of the problems when looking at phone downloads was the battery going. But I still prefer a paper download.
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It surely in our application does not need to be "portable" in the sense of being thrown in a travelling sales man's bag. We, relatively have loads of space and the domestic market A4 colour inkjet technology printers weigh very little so could be contenders. The only issue is are they rugged enough?
I carried an old DELL [Lexmark clone] inkjet printer intending to do just what you are looking for but did not actually use it whilst away. It travelled to and back to the Pyrenees in a bedlocker of our van; and it still works.
IMO they are cheap enough to see if modern ones are as rugged.
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Any small inkjet should do for basic prints. If you start predicting too many required specifications (such as "ruggedness") you'll only bump up the price. You could probably break two or three cheaper printers and still be quids-in vs. any truly ruggedised printer.
If you start getting into true portable printers, you start running into the less common printing technologies..
Thermal printing - the old b&w field printers I remember were often thermal printers, which has poor resolution and unstable print - place it on a hot surface and the whole page blackens!
Dye-sub - I have a small Canon Selphy portable dye sub printer that produces very good 6x4/postcard sized colour prints, and will work from either a low voltage supply or an optional battery pack. Not cheap though, around 20p/print.
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Be aware of what you buy, some ink cartridges can cost well over £60.
They are often a lot dearer than the printer?
BillC
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