Mobile Printers
If you spend little time behind a desk but have to print often, a tiny portable printer might be the tool you need. Both models we tested are lightweight and fold up to about the size of a textbook. They can communicate via Bluetooth wireless, and can run on batteries or plug into your car's power adapter. Both incurred higher ink costs than the average desktop inkjet, by a couple of cents per page. Of the two models we evaluated, the HP Deskjet 450wbt generated more-attractive color graphics, whereas Canon's i80 printed crisper line art. The Canon model printed more quickly across the board.
Editor's Pick: Despite its slower performance, HP's Deskjet 450wbt is our portable pick for its richer features and superior print quality.
Canon i80 Color Bubble Jet Printer
Photograph: Rick RiznerCanon's diminutive
i80 is the smallest
mobile printer we've seen in quite a while, and the least expensive--until you
add a rechargeable battery ($100) or Bluetooth adapter ($80). We marveled at
the i80's compact design: The upper half of the shell flips open to become a
30-sheet paper tray. The configuration that we tested weighs 4 pounds, plus 10
ounces for the AC adapter. The i80's snap-on battery and charging kit adds 1.5
pounds. The optional car charger costs $90. Canon estimates that a fully
charged battery will last for 450 pages.
Black pages printed on the i80 cost 5.3 cents per page, and pages of color plus black cost 13.4 cents. The i80 printed text at a creditable 5.7 ppm. Its text looked strongly black, though a bit of splatter showed on large type. Color photos looked almost as good as those printed by photo printers, marred only by a slightly reddish cast.
Upshot: The i80 makes a good traveling companion, but we think that Canon should have included the battery in the package.
HP Deskjet 450wbt
Photograph: Rick RiznerIf you have to print while you travel, you won't find a
better printer than HP's $349
Deskjet 450wbt. The
450wbt runs on battery or AC power, and it weighs less than 5 pounds with its
ink cartridges installed and its lithium ion battery attached. When closed, it
is easy to carry. The tray holds 45 sheets. The model we tested came with
Bluetooth installed; but the base model carries USB 2.0, parallel, and infrared
ports, for $100 less.
The Deskjet 450wbt operated a bit more slowly than general-purpose inkjets. It printed text at 3.8 ppm, versus the test set average of 5.7 ppm. Text looked slightly grayish in places, but letters were well formed. It printed color graphics at 0.8 ppm. When we installed the optional $25 photo ink cartridge, the 450wbt turned out great glossy photos in both gray scale and color. Color glossies, though somewhat oversaturated, reproduced detail nicely. On line art, however, the 450wbt fared poorly: Narrow parallel lines bled together.
The 450wbt holds only two ink cartridges at a time. To switch between documents and photos, you'll have to swap cartridges.
Upshot: The HP 450wbt makes printing high-quality graphics on the go extremely convenient.
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