Do you full time? We have a cabin in NC where I had an old PC set up including an inkjet all-in-one. Almost every time we went up there the ink cartridges had dried up. I had an older laser printer I replaced the ink jet with and have had not problems since. When I decided I wanted to put a printer in the trailer I got a small HP LaserJet. It has traveled well and works every time I get it out. It has WiFi so all I have to do is plug in to power and it is good to go.
If I need to scan something I take a picture with my phone or there are many places that will scan something for you.
Al
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Al, K5TAN and Missy, N4RGO WBCCI 1322
2002 Classic 30 Slideout -S/OS #004
2013 Dodge 2500 Laramie 4x4 Megacab Cummins
Does any carry a small portable printer in their AS?
we are considering one and think it may be useful on longer trips
after many reviews, we are considering this one
HP OfficeJet 250 All-in-One Mobile Printer, (CZ992A)
it is CDN $ 270 on Amazon
any thoughts or alternate suggestions?
I bought a HP DeskJet 3755. It's very small. Scanning is one page at a time though. So not the right choice if you have a lot of scanning. I have only used it for one week so not a lot of experience with it yet, but I am pleased with it.
I purchased an HP Laser Jet Pro "MFP M29w", if I remember right, it was around $129. It's size was my motivation and we've had good luck with it over the last 8 months.
I also carry that HP Deskjet 3755. It fits nicely above the media center in the 2019 models. Have not had any issues with it - scans everything, prints everything, cartridges last.
Geesh - I looked at all of these printers on line and none of them are that small, are they?
I transfer whatever I need printed out, from my laptop to a thumb drive. Then the next time I'm camped in place for a couple of days, I look for a Fedex center in whatever town I'm in and print there. Once you start looking, they seem to be everywhere. Takes just a few minutes to print out.
Not sure about the smallest size, but the Epson Eco-tank printers are great in terms of ink capacity. We just ordered our second one (for use at our warehouse, not in the Airstream - the first is in our home) because after a year of moderate use that would've consumed at least 4-5 regular cartridges in the Canon printers we have, we've used less than half of the ink originally supplied with the Epson. They even come with an extra set of refill bottles. Amazing for around $300, or less on sale. Double side printing, too, to rediuce paper use.
Just my 2 cents.
We also selected and have been using the HP250 for the past 18 months.
Battery powered if required, scanning and printing, all met our dual remote working requirements with useful connectivity. No issues connecting to our Verizon WiFi hotspot for a networked printer which is our primary use case but you can connect via BT as well.
We don't need to do "massive" volumes of printing so 20 pages at a time or less works out pretty well... we've used 1 set of cartidges in the past year plus the original "mini's" HP gives you.
No issues with ink drying up so far but as will all HP products, the consumables are generally expensive.
So, based on battery operation, WiFi & BLE connectivity, and 18 months of use we recommend your printer choice.
I use the Canon Pixma iP110. It's really small, is able to be set up wirelessly for printing from more than one laptop or desktop, Makes nice copies, and puts up with a lot.
I stopped buying HP because they almost gave the printers away, but more than made up for it by overcharging for the ink cartridges.
(Did you know the cartridges that come with new printers are not full?)
I've been happy with my Cannon printers.
Here's a report on portable printers: https://www.lifewire.com/top-mobile-printers-2377818
I also carry that HP Deskjet 3755. It fits nicely above the media center in the 2019 models. Have not had any issues with it - scans everything, prints everything, cartridges last.
I've been using the HP OfficeJet 250 for several years for work and personal use. As to comments about expensive ink cartridges, I buy refilled ones on ebay for a few dollars each - so still economical even if your cartridge drys up. I also bought my printer on Ebay - almost new, in HP box with all packaging for $150.
It stores easily in an upper compartment - taking up very little space.
We use one of the HP 200 series printers and are satisfied. The wifi connectivity function connects to the Verizon Mifi for wireless printing. We’ve found that the cartridges do not dry up, even after sitting for 5 months.
Over the years, I have managed to almost entirely eliminate the need for a printer. For instance, if you have a Mac, and you want to save a page, you can save it as a PDF instead of printing it out.
If you want to share this page with another person, you can often email it or send it in a text message which is a little bit more secure than email.
Likewise, you can display it on your smart phone, which is pretty handy.
The problems with printers are well known; the inkjet cartridges are ridiculously expensive (I once read somewhere that the ink in these cartridges is the most expensive fluid by volume in the history of mankind). The cartridges don’t last particularly long, even the refurbished ones, and they have a bad tendency to dry up if they’re not used frequently. Laser printers use toner that is far more cost-effective, and don’t dry up like the inkjet cartridges. But they are large and expensive up front, but cheaper in the long run if you do a lot of printing.
I have an Epson WF-100 printer to travel with. Works fine, but is ONLY a printer. It's an ink-jet type. Cartridges don't seem to dry out after long periods of non-use. I generally only use it once per year during the tax season, when I go to see my clients. I always print a page or two before the season starts to be sure it prints when I need it. To cover the scanning aspects of my work when away from the office, I use a smartphone app called Cam Scanner for one or two pages of scanning. If I want to scan many pages, I use my Epson ES-65WR portable scanner. It is very small, can easily fit in a drawer or even the glove box of a car. It can be controlled from a computer or smartphone.
On longer trips we bring a small all-in-one printer. We like Epson better than HP, and that's what we have at home, so we got the smallest all-in-one, the Expression XP-4100. Its about $50 from multiple sources, uses four ink cartridges and is pretty fast. It does not have a paper handler to save space. Since we use it only once in a while, we do have to do a "head cleaning" routine if the ink nozzles dried out. Its in the printer menu and takes a couple minutes. This is not for a traveling home office, it is for occasional use. Get a larger one if you need to print a lot or scan a lot.
We purchased a plastic bin at Walmart (also available at many other locations) with positively locking lid to store and transport the printer. It just fits. We got a similar bin that is smaller to hold the extra paper.
While on the road for a long time, it has helped when we need to sign a document and send it somewhere by scanning it. We print updates to our trip itinerary, recipes, pages of the Airstream manual when doing work, and many other tasks. Many trips we get by without our printer/scanner.
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