If you already have your own travel printer and you’re thinking about buying another desktop printer as a dedicated home printer, think first if the additional investment is really worth it. Having one printer may already be enough to provide your printing needs, even at home. For purposes of discussion, we will rely heavily on the Canon Pixma iP100 as a reference. This printer is perfect as a reference since it is one of the highly sought for travel printers.
A Travel Printer Makes a Good Home Printer
What are the features you are looking for in a home printer? As long as it prints at a decent speed and has acceptable resolution, it should be enough for a home printer. The Pixma ip100 prints at a speed of 18 pages per minute for monochrome and 14ppm for color. These are already decent speeds. Your average desktop printer has a speed between 20 to 30ppm. Printers that print more than 30ppm tend to be more expensive and are generally used as business printers. The Pixma iP100 prints at a high resolution of 9600 x 2400 dots per inch. This resolution is already good enough to print photo quality prints, let alone graphical presentations.
Smaller Is Better
Many may disagree with this statement. However, when it comes to cleaning or tidying things up in the house, smaller is definitely better. Since most printers made for traveling are small, finding a space to store them is easier. You could easily hide them in your drawer or simply put it on your desk and it still wouldn’t be a bother. If you need to carry them within the house, it is a lot easier since most of them weigh less than 5 lbs. The latest mobile printers from Canon and HP weigh approximately 4.4lbs and 4.5lbs respectively. You can even ask kids to help out with the chores since these printers are light enough that children won’t mind carrying them.
Battery Pack Considerations
One clear advantage mobile printers have over desktop printers is their secondary power options. In layman’s terms, they have battery packs. Without power, desktop printers are reduced to paperweights. The Canon Pixma iP100, aside from operating on a 110-220V AC outlet, has an additional battery option that allows you to print additional 290 pages on a 3-hour charge. It’s either the AC supply, the optional battery or you can use the car adapter. That way, you don’t lose momentum while printing if the power dies. Of course, you will need your laptop since a desktop computer also runs on AC power.
Multiple Interface Capabilities
Since portability is the primary design consideration in making mobile printers, manufacturers include the connectivity features that are compatible with other mobile gadgets. Most mobile gadgets have either infrared or Bluetooth connectivity. That is why the Canon Pixma ip100 is capable of interfacing with mobile gadgets via infrared or Bluetooth. Even without a computer, you can still print pictures out of this wireless-enabled device. Some desktop printers have this interface as well.
Travel printers may not offer the advantages of your normal desktop printer, like flexible paper handling, duplex printing, or even heavy-duty printing. However, portable printers offer other advantages that desktop printers simply cannot.
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