Portable (aka small) boat printer recommendations

[lustyd]

Hi all, thinking it would be useful to have a small printer on board just in case we need to print anything while travelling.

Does anyone have any experience of any models they'd recommend? Definitely don't see a need for battery power but this seems to be included in the small ones. While we do have wifi on board I'd prefer to print with USB for simplicity, and only needs to support Windows devices but iOS would be a bonus too I guess.

 

[KompetentKrew]

There was a thread about this on CruisersForum a couple of weeks ago: Recomendations for a good compact ink jet printer - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

 

[RobbieW]

Get a small laser printer, ink jet heads dry up with infrequent use. I used to wrap the head in cling film between uses, eventually switched to laser

 

[Kelpie]

Can only report our own experience, a Samsung 2026 laser, cost about £60 and has worked flawlessly since we moved aboard in July. I have a 3kw inverter, I'm sure it would run off something smaller though. Next time I use it I will check the power draw.

 

[mjcoon]

Get a small laser printer, ink jet heads dry up with infrequent use. I used to wrap the head in cling film between uses, eventually switched to laser

Though if you get a small B&W Brother USB-only laser, take care of the USB socket. I have repaired two with broken sockets which had rendered them useless.

 

[Kelpie]

Can only report our own experience, a Samsung 2026 laser, cost about £60 and has worked flawlessly since we moved aboard in July. I have a 3kw inverter, I'm sure it would run off something smaller though. Next time I use it I will check the power draw.

Just had the printer out, it briefly drew 50A at 12v for less than a second at startup. Actual draw whilst printing was less than half of that. So I would expect a decent quality 300w+ inverter would manage with that.

 

[[3889]]

Printing is sooo passé. My insurance cert arrives by email attachment, my SSR arrives by email attachment. Both accepted in electronic format by various continental types without question. What needs printing? In the remote eventually you need to print, marinas or businesses are more than happy to oblige, IME. Perhaps different if you're heading for Pacific Islands but really not necessary in Europe.

 

[ithet]

Following as interested also, but still waiting for suggestion of a reasonably priced small printer that is currently available.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Printing is sooo passé. My insurance cert arrives by email attachment, my SSR arrives by email attachment. Both accepted in electronic format by various continental types without question. What needs printing? In the remote eventually you need to print, marinas or businesses are more than happy to oblige, IME. Perhaps different if you're heading for Pacific Islands but really not necessary in Europe.

And if your smartphone, tablet or whatever runs out of charge at the wrong moment, or is destroyed by getting wet? From long experience of travelling worldwide (air, not yachting), I carry hard copy for all important documents.

 

[lustyd]

Thanks all for the suggestions. I hadn't thought too much about the power and hadn't realised there were such compact laser printers around. Unfortunately that muddies the waters a bit as I definitely prefer laser but don't yet have an inverter! That said I'm unlikely to need to print while at sea so in theory could work. I found the Canon Laserjet M110WE which seems to be the smallest from a reputable brand, as well as the above mentioned Samsung in case anyone else finds this and is looking. There were a few other small lasers too once I started looking.
Agree with AntarcticPilot, printing is completely unnecessary right up until it's essential. Many of the YouTube channels have said it greases the wheels to turn up with "copies you can keep" at customs & immigration

 

[mjcoon]

... I found the Canon Laserjet M110WE which seems to be the smallest from a reputable brand, ..

There seems to be a B&W HP laser by that number. I have a colour HP laser, and found that they produce a very comprehensive manual explaining how it works, how to take it apart and how to use the special maintenance menu. So I give the brand top marks!

 

[lustyd]

Sorry yes think I meant HP ? agree I used to service HP printers and they are easy to work on and well documented. I can’t imagine a home one breaking but we used to replace fuses units after about 20k sheets of printing as they’d get gunked up and scratched.

 

[mjcoon]

Sorry yes think I meant HP ? agree I used to service HP printers and they are easy to work on and well documented. I can’t imagine a home one breaking but we used to replace fuses units after about 20k sheets of printing as they’d get gunked up and scratched.

Sounds like you could do like me and get printers for nothing from Freegle ilovefreegle.org and resuscitate them and put them back in action...

 

[lustyd]

I'm sure I could, but this needs something quite specific so easier to pick it out and buy it. Useful link though I have all kinds of things I need to get rid of

 

[Richard10002]

I've got an HP3720 inkjet. Small footprint, Not very well built, but has worked reasonably OK for several years.

 

[Lucy52]

Faced with this problem, I bought an HP OfficeJet 200 Mobile. Mains or battery operated. I have no issue with drying up cartridges, and it gives me b/w and colour copies. It has a small footprint, but no paper tray, so I load paper when printing. It only gets occasional use, the odd letter or document, and occasional photo. I would buy another. A friend on a barge who works from home and has greater printing needs uses a colour laser printer, with cartridges at £80 each.

 

[DipperToo]

Just purchased a Canon Pixma TR150. Marginally narrower than the HP Officejet200 mobile. I 'think' the cash back offer may have ended but I got £60 back from Canon which made it an acceptable price of around £180 which included the battery pack. Very quiet in operation but like all portable printers a bit more expensive in cost per page for ink.

 

[julianmingham]

I chose the hp LaserJet Pro M15w for an on-board printer. It’s compact and reliable. I print to it using the printers own ‘direct’ Wi-Fi.

 

[Graham376]

I've had an HP3760 wireless printer/scanner on board for the last year, nice and compact and the print heads are on the cartridges so if they were to dry up, a wipe with a damp tissue would work. Only drawback is it will only scan and copy single sheet of paper, not book pages. HP DeskJet 3760 All-in-One Printer, Instant Ink with 2 Months Trial, White : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

 

[Blueboatman]

Had a canon pixma with battery for 10 years.
On board, no issues
Very unobtrusive on chart table or stored, a little slow to fire up from cold and so-so resolution but no quibbles otherwise.

Managed to roll a pencil into it ?along with the paper which made it fooked.. so replaced it with identical unit off eBay for sub £40.
Too useful to bin.
Generic print ink cartridge packs work just fine without issues.?