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The Portable Printer Provides Convenient Computing

andybrock | Mar 24, 2010 |

1 Comments | Rating: 1

Business computing has become quite mobile during the past decade. Instead of gathering data to take back to the office for making printouts, customers are expecting to receive literature at the moment of presentation. The portable printer fills the bill for making that desire a reality.

At the end of the twentieth century, printers were downsizing considerably. Insurance salesmen and construction estimators had found mini-printers utilizing the dot matrix format a real advantage as they could present quotations to their clients or customer hopefuls.

The design for the portable printer has merged efficiency with compact styling. Generally they are small enough to fit into the computer back or backpack. Weight is a factor and you can find portable printers that weigh just a little more than two pounds.

Instead of the ubiquitous black and white printouts of the early 1990s, today's modern portable printer is capable of producing printouts in color with a resolution of 9600 x 2400 dpi. Photographs and color advertisements can now be printed anywhere.

Canon is the leading manufacturer of portable printers. They have machines that weigh in at 2.2 pounds on up to 4.4 pounds. Their marketplace offerings for the portable printer shopper are large and worthy of considering first. When you also look at the overall size of the machine you will find that it can fit into most any carrying bag since it is 12.2-inches x 2.0-inches x 6.9-inches.

Hewlet Packard is in the portable printer market, but they do not have as many models available as Canon. The HP machine generally weighs a little more than the Canon models and will find you hefting around nine pounds in your computer backpack. The dimensional size of portable HP printers is also a consideration for the smart shopper. Their largest portable printer is 13.3-inches x 3.2-inches x 6.5-inches. The HP Photosmart 375 is conveniently sized at 8.7-inches x 4.6-inches x 4.5-inches and weighs only 3.8 pounds with a battery.

Some other things to think about when shopping for a portable printer are:

How is it powered? Do you have to carry along an extension cord, or is their a battery available to energize the printer
If you have a portable office in your vehicle you want to look at an AC adapter for your printer, if there is one made for it.
Bluetooth capability is a great feature. Some units have the capability some do not.

You will probably want a budget in the mid-$200 range when looking to purchase a quality portable printer. At that price you will get the best that most of the more reliable companies offer and you will be confident that you will have purchased a good machine.