Portable Printers

[urbis]

Hello,

Been looking at portable printers, but looking for something cheap and preferably Bluetooth enabled.

Something like the Brother MW-140BT, but this seems to be discontinued.

It's going to be used for printing diagnostic information.

Any suggestions, or anyone selling anything cheap?

Cheers!

[PA0PBZ]

There is still this one:

http://www.brother.co.uk/portable-printers/mw145bt

And a range of portable A4 printers:

http://www.brother.co.uk/portable-printers/pocket-jet

But none is what I'd call cheap...

[urbis]

Yeah, bit too much unfortunately (but both look ideal!)

[Fraser]

It is,

I own four Pentax Pocketjet III BT enabled portable A4 printers. Just had a look on eBay and they are selling for around £50. Not bad but you also have to factor in the thermal paper costs.

Fraser

[urbis]

Could be interesting, how much is the paper? Is it on a reel?

I'll have a browse!

[Fraser]

Brother bought the Pocketjet rights from Pentax.

My printers take roll or cut sheet. FAX machine paper works fine in them.

Do some Googling on Pentax Pocketjet or Pentax portable A4 printer and you will find plenty on them. Mine work great and these were standard issue printers in U.S. Police cars !

IIRC the Blue Tooth was an option so make sure you buy one that carries the BT capability. These printers also come with an internal battery but if the printer is old and has not been used, you may need to make or buy a new nicad battery stick.

Fraser

[Fraser]

I also have some Citizen portable BT enabled 4" 'bog roll' printers that are used by people like mobile ticket issuers and parking wardens. I managed to get a brand new one reasonably cheaply on eBay but they can be quite expensive. Look for the Citizen PD24 series. Again, BT is an option but it runs on easily available thermal paper and a lithium battery.

Fraser

[urbis]

Hi Fraser,

They could definitely be of interest.

It's car diagnostic software which generates a PDF report (A4), but I'm assuming this could be shrunk down to fit?

Cheers!

[Fraser]

Can't remember what capabilities the Citizen has. The manual is available on line so you can check compatibility. For your use the Pentax or Brother A4 printers may be better as they can print on posh thermal paper that you can present to your client directly

A search on eBay for A4 thermal printer provided me with my units. IIRC my Printjet III units cost me only £20 for four including power supplies and soft cases.....came from a liquidator who cleared an office.

Take a look on eBay before buying new, there are some bargains as people seem to distrust thermal printers. In your application they would be great.

Fraser

[nali]

The HP Officejet 100 retails at about £150-200, that's inkjet

Mind you the downside of ink is it runs if it gets wet which may or may not be a factor

[urbis]

I've seen those and actually had one similar a few years ago, they're just a bit hefty.

[Magicmushroom666]

I use a HP officejet 100 which I find is great, works great on the battery, and takes a standard HP cartridge which you can buy at places like staples. Cartridge includes the head and is reasonably priced unlike the cannon portable which has seperate printheads and more expensive consumables.

Its certainly not as small as the thermal roll printers, but is a lot more versatile.