There are many reasons to own a portable photo printer. The most obvious reason is if you’re a professional photographer or need photo prints for any of your business needs. If you’re not familiar with portable photo printers, then you might be imagining someone lugging around a small machine that needs to be carried in a separate bag.
That might have been the case years ago, but there have been significant advancements in the designs of the modern portable photo printer. Not only have printer companies figured out ways to build tiny machines, but they have also figure out ways to build high quality portable photo printers.
The designs have become so advanced that some have been referred to as ‘offices on the go’, an ‘office in your pocket’. To put it simply, anyone who travels for business and has a need for photo prints should own a portable photo printer.
A Wide Array of Choices
Of course, these relatively new portable photo printers aren’t just for the businessperson. If you happen to be a photo enthusiast, it’s a great item to own. You will have the freedom of printing high quality prints from anywhere, as long as you own a digital camera that was built after 2003.
Almost all digital cameras sold since 2004 are PictBridge-compatible, which means you will be able to print directly from your digital camera without the use of a computer. Even if you’re not a photo enthusiast, a portable photo printer can be a great investment. If you spend a lot of time with the family or friends, it’s something that can bring people together.
You’ll be able to see photos right away. This is especially a good idea when there are babies or youngsters in the family. Other great uses are for road trips, cruises, and any other type of vacation. All of that said, there’s one advantage to owning a portable photo printer that many people look past, which is that you can also use it at home.
In most cases, it can replace your desktop model. So, instead of owning two printers, or one that is stationary, you can own one that’s similar in price, yet is portable. Therefore giving you the advantage of flexibility and portability, from just about anywhere.
The best portable photo printer will also offer manual as well as automatic image enhancement. Regardless of the portable photo printer model, prints will be fade-resistant. When it comes to pricing, expect a range from $200 to $500.
Canon PIXMA iP100 Mobile Photo Printer
[easyazon-image-link asin="B0012W9APQ" alt="Canon PIXMA iP100 Mobile Photo Printer" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41gQQLeshQL._SL160_.jpg" align="left" width="160" height="160"]The most popular and well known portable color printers that definitely qualify as an office on the road along with your laptop and cell phone is the Canon PIXMA iP100 Mobile Photo Printer. A great portable printer that can perform as well as many an office printer with excellent print quality and good print speed of 50 seconds for a 4 x 6 inch borderless photo.
Documents can be printed at 20 ppm black and 14 ppm for color. Print quality is more than sufficient with resolution of 600 x 600 dpi black and 9600 x 2400 dpi on color. It is a little on the expensive side especially if you want to go wireless. As is usually the case it does not come with battery or Bluetooth adapter and a separate purchase is required somewhat bumping up the price.
You can pick one up on Amazon for around $200.
The price is increased by adding the Canon BU-30 Bluetooth Adapter which can be obtained for around $45.
Then furthermore you obviously need the Canon LK-62 Printer Portable Kit Battery which costs on Amazon about $90.
HP Officejet H470 Mobile Printer
[easyazon-image-link asin="B0010Z3KZG" alt="HP OfficeJet H470 Mobile Printer" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21%2BgqBDZ5XL._SL160_.jpg" align="right" width="160" height="160"]Between this and the Canon, there is little to separate them. Speed and quality are very similar. The HP OfficeJet H470 Mobile Printer has a speed of 22 ppm for black documents and 18 ppm color. Resolution is 1200 x 1200 dpi black and for color 4800 optimized dpi and 1200 input dpi.
There is a trick to buying this model. To be fully mobile with battery and wireless then by buying the HP H470wbt Officejet Mobile Printer you’re ready for the road fully wireless and equipped with battery. This model comes in 3 different forms.
All the same printer but you can purchase the H470 which is the base model without battery or Bluetooth where as the H470b comes with battery supplied. Then of course the fully equipped H470wbt.
To purchase the fully ready for the road H470wbt from Amazon will be around $350.
The weight for portable photo printers averages around 5 lbs. They are both small enough to fit into a small bag and they are very close in performance. I don’t think you would feel let down by any of these models. However it’s always worth cross checking the base model and weighing up if it is a better deal to buy them all as separates.
The base model HP Officejet H470 Mobile Printer can be as cheaply on Amazon at $140 and adding the HP bt500 Network adapter from Amazon for as little as $32 and the HP C8263A Lithium Ion Battery again from Amazon for around $72.
Summary
So keep your eyes on the varying prices at Amazon and make a value judgment based on whatever the prices are at the time of your search.
Prior to purchasing a portable photo printer, it’s a good idea to make a list of what your needs are. This way you’ll be able to match them with each model’s features. This might sound time-consuming, but it will actually end up saving you time. Your next step should be to check ratings and reviews.
Customers will always be the most honest about the product. One thing you’re going to want to check is how good a model is on ink consumption. That said when it comes to portable photo printers, there are some thermal heat models available, and so ink won’t even be a concern in these cases.
Usually, it’s a good idea to stay with the big four printer companies – Epson, Brother, Canon, and Hp – but in this case, there are less popular printer companies that make some well-designed and unique portable photo printers. The good news is that unlike desktop printers, it’s tough to go wrong when purchasing a portable photo printer.
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