From: shri@unreal.cs.umass.edu (H.Shrikumar)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops,comp.sys.palmtops
Subject: Quickie portable printer survey ... summary.
Summary: Here it is :-)
Date: 6 Jan 93 03:07:19 GMT
Reply-To: shri@unreal.cs.umass.edu (H.Shrikumar)
Followup-To: comp.sys.laptops
Organization: UMass, Amherst MA + Temporal Sys & Computer Networks Bombay India

Hi,

 Thanx for the reports that I did get, here is a small compilation 
of the stuff.  I append the actual mails in a slightly digested
form (words verbatim) at the end of this post.

{Does someone have a Diconix serial ? I would like the info thats ?? please!!}

+---------:--------------------------------------------------------------------
Model Name: StarMicronicsSJ48 BJ200       CitizenPN48 CanonBJ10ex  Diconix180si
Interface :  parallel         parallel    parallel    parallel     Serial
OneTime   :  $280             $320-330    $300         $300        $330
Batt Price:  $40              AC only     incl.        incl ??     $20
Consumable:  $20 inkCartridge $20 inkCart $3-4 ribbon $19-24 ink   $9
          :  $6/200 inkjet paper       (Thermalfusion)(near laser?)96 & 192dpi
          : Can use plain paper                                     plain paper
Pages/Fill: about 300         ?           36 pages     ??   (Do You Know) ??
Per Page  : 6.7 cents         ?           8-11 cents   ?            ?
Size      : 12x9x2 inches     8x9x5 in    2x3x12 in    12x8x2 in    2x6.5x11
Weight    : 5 lbs             6-7 lbs     3.5-4 lb     4lbs         3.5lb
Batt Time : 25-30 pages       AC only     25-30 pages  ?            ?
Speed     : 80cps             200cps/3ppm 1ppm         ?            ?
+---------:--------------------------------------------------------------------

OneTime Cost includes battery, basic case (not fancy), and minimum hardware
one must buy once and probably never again, till it breaks down.

Consumables includes the money you spend if you print and save if you
dont. Eg ribbons, ink cartridges, toner whatever, paper (if special
paper, Plain paper is considered free)

Pages per fill is the number of pages that you can expect to print,
assuming normal letters and text, with perhaps a letter head kind
of graphics, with one fill of the above Consumables price.

PerPage cost includes only the price of consumables. (the fixed cost
is *not* being amortised over any useful life estimates, you can
do that, since that milage will really vary.

------------------:<----------------
From steev@ipecac.esd.sgi.com Tue Dec 29 13:25:37 1992

Model of portable printer:	Star Micronics SJ-48
Serial/parallel/both:	parallel
Fixed (one-time) price:	$280 + $40 (battery) = $320
Price of consumables	$20 - ink cartridge 
(including SpecialPaper, ink, head etc):  
                       works fine with standard cut sheet paper
No of pages output for the above price of consumables:   about 300 (I think)
Size:  about 12x9x2 (inches)
Weight: about 5 lbs
NiCd ? How long do they last ?  about 25 - 30 pages
Reliability:  It's been very reliable so far
Speed:	   about 80CPS
Comments:   If you want best quality output, use ink-jet paper which cost
	me $6 for 200 sheets.  Can only use cut sheets, and sheets have to
	be fed one at a time, unless the optional $80 30 sheet feeder is
	bought.  The SJ-48 is pretty much the same as the Canon BJ10e
	but has different fonts and emulations.  It also comes with 
	Bitstream's facelift and some Speedo fonts (for Windows).

More details on the BJ200:  It's AC only, weighs about 6 to 7 lbs, and is more
like 8x9x5 inches.  It has a built in 50 (or was it 100) sheet feeder.  It is
about 200CPS and can print about 3 pages/minute.  It's kind of an awkward shape
to be lugging around with your portable, but if it is mainly going to be used
as a desktop printer, than I think it's a better deal than the HP Deskjet 500.
You can find them mail order for around $320 to $330.  I just bought one (with
some other family members) for my father-in-law.  I played with it for an hour
and was quite impressed.  Oh, and it uses the same $20 ink cartridge as the BJ10

--------------:<---------------
From tim@tim.src.utah.edu Tue Dec 29 19:47:54 1992

Model of portable printer:  Citizen PN48
Serial/parallel/both:  Parallel
Fixed (one-time) price:  
  I bought it about a year ago and got it for $300.  It was the PN48
  professional kit:  printer, AC adapter, NICAD battery, 1 single-strike
  ribbon, 1 multi-strike ribbon, carrying case, and parallel cable.
  The "other" kit did not come with the ribbons, battery, or carrying
  case.  I would recommend getting the professional kit since it comes
  with the battery.  It's a 300dpi thermal fusion printer.
Price of consumables (including SpecialPaper, ink, head etc):
  No special paper required.  The ribbons come in 2 flavors: single-strike
  and multi-strike.  The single strike ribbon will print roughly 70,000
  characters (less if printing graphics).  The multi-strike ribbon prints
  roughly 100,000 characters.  Cost per ribbon is around $3-4 depending
  on quantity bought and how much you shop around.
No of pages output for the above price of consumables: (answered above)
Size:
    Very compact.  2" x 3" x 12".  A very good-looking printer, well
    designed.
Weight:
    Printer w/ battery weighs about 3.5-4 pounds.  Pretty light.
NiCd ? How long do they last ?
    The battery will last about 25-30 pages.  I always carry the AC
    adapter with me.  The printer has an LCD display that will let you
    know how much estimated power it has left.  A nice touch.  Fully 
    recharges in about 2-3 hours (I think, I've been using the AC adaptor
    lately since I haven't had to travel)
Reliability:
    Very reliable.  No problems with it yet.
Comments:
    Pros:  small, light, excellent print quality (PC magazine did a portable
           printer comparison, the PN48 was the Editor's Choice.  Individual
           character were magnified 20-30 times and the PN48 definitely had
           the best print quality--smoother lines/edges).  Fairly inexpensive
           to operate.  Very quiet when printing.  The multi-strike ribbons
           print rough-drafts and non-presentation documents quite nicely
           and economically.  Printer automatically goes into "sleep" mode
           when it's not in use and will even turn off after a set amount
           of time to conserve battery power.  All of this is configurable
           with an on-line LCD display menu.  Good manuals too.
    Cons:  kind of slow (1 page per minute, slower if graphics).  No paper
           feeder--you have to feed sheets in 1 at a time.  However, it's
           very easy to feed paper in STRAIGHT.  You just stick the paper 
           into the slot, and the printer kind of "sucks" the paper in for
           you.  
    If you need a printer to print 20-30 page documents at a time, you might
    want to consider one with a paper feeder and perhaps a little faster. 
    If print quality or size is your main concern, then the PN48 is a good 
    option. It's very small and fits into your briefcase or laptop case 
    easily. It also does envelopes and different weight paper quite nicely.

--------------------:<--------------
From junikka@math.wisc.edu Wed Dec 30 19:39:02 1992

Model of portable printer: Canon BJ 10ex
Serial/parallel/both: Parallel
Fixed (one-time) price: I paid $300.66 locally.
Price of consumables 
(including SpecialPaper, ink, head etc): Ink varies $19 to $24
No of pages output for the above price of consumables:
 Don't know yet.
Size:                   [I filled in above from an Educalc catalog -- shri]
Weight:
NiCd ? How long do they last ?
Reliability: Feels good, no problems during the first week and half.
Comments:  I like the print quality. It surpriced me.

----------------------:<--------------

The Diconix serial is from an Educalc catalog. I have an hp95lx, so
a serial printer was of special interest to me.

-- shrikumar ( shri@legato.cs.umass.edu )

PS: HPer might also like to note that there is the HP2240A printer
(older model) that Educalc has for $75, and the real HP2240B model
for $116. These are infra red printers for the HP48 etc, and are
calculator printers .. printing on rolls, 24 chars per line.