Best Printer for Boat ?

[Capt. lulz]

Here's what google has found me:
Compact Printer 2011 - TopTenREVIEWS

[osirissail]

I have used both laser printers and inkjets on board for 10 years or more without any problems. But buying ink refills can make or break your budget. So I go with Okidata for Laser and Canon MG6120 multifunction scanner/copier/printer inkjet.
- - The Canon MG6120 is new and I got it in Walmarts - works great and ink is only $13 per color.

[David M]

A small cheap one and another identical one in a box sealed in plastic. They are all disposable items only intended to last a few years.

I used to like HP's but they can't even make good disposable junk anymore. Would saying "bad junk" be redundant?...not in this case. I now prefer Canon's, which are better junk.

[savoir]

I can recommend the Canon Pixma series. They are medium good at everything and come at an average price of only $100. All are ink jet and all can copy and scan. You can get smaller and you can get better but you'll pay especially for laser which really only shines with high volume use.

The ink costs a bomb but so does HP - I have one of them as well. $100 is typical for a pair of HP black + color cartridges.

My Canon is 2 years old and has never missed a beat.

[StringBimini]

Dot matrix is making a comeback!

[savoir]

Unless you are pumping out volume lasers are a waste of money.

[Capt. lulz]

Originally Posted by savoir

Unless you are pumping out volume lasers are a waste of money.

I find this statement to be false.

Laser vs. inkjet printers: which is better? - printers, laser printers, inkjet printers - PC World Business

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1763714,00.asp

I personally prefer laser because:

• cheaper to print
• sharper text
• faster print
• dry pages don't smear
• don't normally need to print anything in color

Though I believe laser printers can't be as compact as ink. (correct me if I'm wrong)

[savoir]

Color laser printers are roughly double the price and double the size of the ink jet equivalent.

I repeat, unless you are pumping out volume they are a waste of money.

We are talking boat not office.

[sded]

I am currently using an HP3050A PSC after my old boat HP inkjet died after 5 years, Light, compact, and cheap. No complaints.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by savoir

Unless you are pumping out volume lasers are a waste of money.

Definitely Yes and No. If you don't have a requirement for the permanency of a document printed with a laser printer, then having one is indeed a waste of money as inkjets are many times cheaper.
- - But I need to produce many legal documents while long distance cruising and laser is the only way to ensure the document is both professional looking and long lasting.
- - So I have both laser and inkjet on board. I use the inkjet for most everything as it offers both color and economy.

[Jon Hacking]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Laser is no good for the water. It works (transfers the toner) based on static charge and high moisture content in the air screws that up and clumps the toner powder. So inkjet is the better way to go in a moist environment...

Maybe so, but we've thrown out 2 nice inkjet printers because of clogged print heads & our latest laser is working a treat. Down here in the tropics we don't need to print much but when we want to print I don't want to have to futz with the print head. If you don't use an inkjet often, the heat here evaporates the ink & what's left clogs the print heads.

Our Samsung multi-function laser cost $165 & has been reliable for over a year now. Copies & printouts are cheap & we've had no problems (touch wood). It takes a bit more power but we run it from our 1,500W (non-sine-wave) inverter just fine & it's never on for long enough to matter. Now that officials are asking for more documentation (crew lists, etc) we're glad we got it.

[Mark Johnson]

Hi Drew,
I use a HP Officejet H470. It is portable & VERY compact! The smallest I've seen in fact. It makes excellent copies, "including photo quality", but not FAX or scan. It has an input of 18V DC @2A, so will work fine on a 12V car adapter. This allows you to avoid firing up a power hog inverter, which is best avoided if you can. It also connects to your laptop by WIFI if you choose to, but you loose the ability to connect the laptop to the Internet by WIFI if you do, so I use mine hard wired. The HP cartridges work fine BTW, and last long enough. Be aware, however, that HP has been involved in a class action law suite because the printer tells you that your cartridges are empty, LONG before they are! (The contention is that it is so endemic that it is an intentional deception, in order to sell more cartridges). I have no idea, but it is not a problem. I keep spares of both cartridges, ignore the warnings, and only change them when the last page printed was getting "too light" at the bottom. Sometimes the "warning" came on at or before 50% empty!

It IS of coarse expensive. Something around $300...

Best of luck with it,
Mark

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Mark Johnson

It IS of coarse expensive. Something around $300...

It -was- expensive... $120.- now: HP Officejet H470 Mobile Printer Color Ink-jet printer - 22 ppm - 50 sheets

which just shows how they think about their buyers. They assume we're stupid enough to just let them charge us 3x as much as the next guy.

ciao!
Nick.

[SoonerSailor]

We keep an HP470 on board too. No problems with it for 3 years, which has been a better record than any inkjet Ive had at home.

[HappySeagull]

Canon i350 or the older S series that all use the BCI 24 cartridges.These can easily be refilled with an eyedropper onto the inkpads.No holes drilled into the cartridge are required.New cartridges are fairly cheap,especially the aftermarket ones.
Keep a lookout at yardsales etc.
There's no "empty ink" circuitry to hack.(aaargh!)

They are just ink so the actual printhead is separate.This has never given me problems yet,but I suppose it could be an issue someday as to screwing up...It's replaceable though.

For a scanner,get the Canon Lide20.Usb powered.Slow,but good enough.