Reliable small onboard printer in 2022?

[Sos]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Sort of, nevertheless I opted for their very small Laser printer instead (see above).
Laser printouts last very well and are not affected much by humidity.

Thermopaper tends to fade over time...
0.25$ per page is much more than 0.04$ per Laser printout.

The size of the thermoprinter and the option to run it from 12v is nice though. Still the Laser runs nicely with a small inverter too. If you need a printer onboard you likely have a source for 110v/220v anyway.

I had a portable Brother bubble jet onboard back in 2004. Worked very well but used infrared to connect so no use now! Good choice Brother.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by ChrisJHC

Re scanning, if you’re in the iOS world, you can now scan documents using Notes.

Works really well!

Thanks. We run android/Linux/some windows, but not iOS on the boat.

Found this duplex scanner that would work across all the operating systems we have on the boat. A little high priced for the scanner, but couple w/the lower priced Brother 2535dw printer ($89), it's a wash.

[s/v Jedi]

For scanning documents, everything changes with the smartphone apps that use the camera of the phone.

I use Genius Scan on my iPhone, of which the free version can create PDF documents of your scan and save them locally or on iCloud, ready for showing to officials which is becoming the norm, or printing them to a wireless printer.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Sort of, nevertheless I opted for their very small Laser printer instead (see above).
Laser printouts last very well and are not affected much by humidity.

Thermopaper tends to fade over time...
0.25$ per page is much more than 0.04$ per Laser printout.

Modern direct thermal paper is unaffected by humidity and lasts around 10 years in typical storage. There are two key points here:


* I checked my notes and the standard direct thermal paper is $64 for a six pack of 100 sheets per roll which is around $0.11 a sheet. If you average two pages a day then you're at under $100 a year for supplies, simply not a significant factor. The paper is compact and easy to store, and has a long shelf life when kept in the sealed wraps.


* It doesn't matter if the print fades eventually for most uses. Think about what you're printing -- crew lists, grocery lists, a portion of a map or chart, a weather forecast, copies of paperwork for a marina or government official, a list of addresses and phone numbers, directions to a store or attraction on land, an itinerary to leave with friends, a list of prescriptions to give to a local doctor. All this is ephemeral stuff.


If you're writing a narrative or log where permanence is the goal either use pen and ink or keep it electronically and print it when ashore or at the end of the voyage.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Modern direct thermal paper is unaffected by humidity and lasts around 10 years in typical storage. There are two key points here:


* I checked my notes and the standard direct thermal paper is $64 for a six pack of 100 sheets per roll which is around $0.11 a sheet. If you average two pages a day then you're at under $100 a year for supplies, simply not a significant factor. The paper is compact and easy to store, and has a long shelf life when kept in the sealed wraps.


* It doesn't matter if the print fades eventually for most uses. Think about what you're printing -- crew lists, grocery lists, a portion of a map or chart, a weather forecast, copies of paperwork for a marina or government official, a list of addresses and phone numbers, directions to a store or attraction on land, an itinerary to leave with friends, a list of prescriptions to give to a local doctor. All this is ephemeral stuff.


If you're writing a narrative or log where permanence is the goal either use pen and ink or keep it electronically and print it when ashore or at the end of the voyage.

Have you put a thermal printed page in the sun and watch it turn black? I did but I’ll admit modern variants may do better than what I had.

[KompetentKrew]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

For scanning documents, everything changes with the smartphone apps that use the camera of the phone.

I've dropped so many phones onto concrete or into the bilges or marina (I think 4 in the last 4 years) that I now try to spend no more than £200 on one.

At this price bracket a phone does everything I need, but the camera sensors are probably not as good as iPhones' ones, which is perhaps why I got so frustrated with the quality of the scans I was getting this way.

Originally Posted by Bill O

Thanks. We run android/Linux/some windows, but not iOS on the boat.

Found this duplex scanner that would work across all the operating systems we have on the boat. A little high priced for the scanner, but couple w/the lower priced Brother 2535dw printer ($89), it's a wash.

I bought a Doxie Flip, which is only postcard in size, but which comes with stitching software that allows you to scan letter or A4 pages by automatically joining a "collage" of scans. It looks like this model is now discontinued.

The Flip is a bit of a nuisance if you have a number of pages to scan, but it can also scan books and magazines - I think at the time I chose it there were other options similar to the DS-940DW, but I chose the Flip because I wanted to have that option. The Flip is brilliant for scanning old photos - it's a shame I rarely do that.

I would really love a Flip in A4 size, and have sometimes imagined hacking a Raspberry Pi into an old Canon Lide.

[Ardens2]

We have the HP Office Jet 200 wireless with portable and mobile printing. Got it at Amazon and it works great. Have had it 2 years. If I need something scanned I take a picture of it and air drop it to my laptop or email it to myself and print it that way. It is pretty small, has a battery that you can charge so you don't always need power.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[jt11791]

Originally Posted by ohthetrees

We sprung for the HP Office Jet 200 Mobile Printer. I don’t remember how much it cost, but I remember it being substantially more expensive than other small travel printers, but the reviews were good enough we went for it. No regrets. We have had it for a year and a half of constant cruising in Mexico. It lives stored vertically (which I was worried about) in a cabinet and has never missed a beat. No clogged heads ever. Good quality prints, and plenty quick. YMMV.

I bought this one too, about two years ago. It's been great, no complaints.

[Britboater]

Originally Posted by blu3534

Why not also choose color and scanner if one goes for a printer? The Epson EcoTank (https://www.amazon.de/-/en/EcoTank-R...dp/B09GB6CD1P/) is nice. The above mentioned Canon Pixma or the Epson Workforce https://www.amazon.de/-/en/WorkForce.../dp/B07Y9YPDZX are much more compact though (but I don't know them myself).

These printers are inkjet and not great for boat use….

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Britboater

These printers are inkjet and not great for boat use….

The Canon Pixma portable printers are the best option according to all who own them, but they are pricey if they can be found at all.

The ink problems mentioned are not applicable to these. I only need to replace cartridges when they run empty and have my current ones in use for 6 years already.

[planejan]

We purchased the following printer and keep it in a case onboard. It has worked fine for the past 4 years. Make sure you set up the software properly on your computer before you leave.
CANON PIXMA iP110 Wireless Mobile... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NV9LL9Q...p_mob_ap_share

[argonauta1]

HP Office Jet 100 Mobile L411 worked well for us.

[JimStarkey]

HP makes an Officejet 100 Mobile inkjet printer that runs on rechargeable batteries and is reasonably compact. We've had one on board in New England and the Caribbean for close to 10 years without problems. It does need to be exercised a couple of times a year to keep the cartridge from drying out. It's only downside (besides cost) is that it doesn't handle AirPrint, so it can't print directly from an iPhone or iPad, but with a certain amount of pain and suffering, a PC can be configured to frontend the printer for Apple devices. Personally, I wouldn't even consider a B&W printer -- virtually anything you'd want to print is in color: charts, the CG Documentation, photos, etc.

[Rimica]

Do not buy Epson products if you intend to travel. We bought an Epson in Canada and sail with it to Europe. We tried to buy supplies for it in Europe. The Epson branded cartridge bought in Europe will not work on Epson branded printer bought in America.

I asked for a refund of the Epson supplies as it does not indicate this issue on the package. Epson in California via their legal department told me to get lost as the issue was noted on page xxx of the user manual in the smallest print possible.

I will not buy Epson again, ever.

[wingssail]

Canon TR150.
Since our first printer, a Kodak, was recalled we have used Canon portable printers, about four of them in total since 1987. They have been generally reliable and produce good results. The print quality of each generation of these Canon printers is better than the previous. Photos up to A4 are good enough to frame and hang on the wall. A few generations ago they featured a scanning print head which we liked. Now we use a LIDE flat bed scanner or the phone's camera.

I've been irritated with Canon because they don't always produce new drivers when the Windows OS changes, but there have been third party drivers available.

We currently have a new Canon TR150 printing from our Windows 11 laptop. Other than a fiddly menu structure and WiFi set up it is fine, as good or better than the previous ones. Photos up to A4 are good enough to frame and hang on the wall. We have not tried printing directly from the phone but I have no doubt that it will work.

Our printer sits on our nav station shelf, always ready to use, in port and at sea, 24 hours a day. No special protection at all. This week we completed a very strenuous, four day, heavy weather, regatta and printed sailing instructions and weather updates (for use on deck) while underway. We keep a couple of spare print cartridges and replace them when they run out. One time we've had a print head clog and were unable to clean it. We bought a new print head. Otherwise clogging has not been an issue. Since we live onboard 12 months a year and use our computer and printer frequently perhaps this is the reason for our good luck with them.

Canon printers and supplies have been readily available to us on Amazon and Amazon Mexico.