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SCMP Reporter

UNTIL recently, carrying a portable printer was like having a second notebook computer. But now printers are so small they can be carried in the pocket of a briefcase.

  Since the popularity and the advantages of notebook PCs, it has not taken long for portable printers to enter the market.

   The ''any time, any place'' notion has led a number of companies to develop printers that are small, lightweight, and able to run on either batteries, or mains supply.

  The two real midgets are the Citizen Notebook Printer PN48 and the IBM Portable Printer by Lexmark.

   Citizen claims its PN48 is the world's smallest laser-quality printer and, measuring 279 x 90 x 50 mm, it is slightly smaller than the IBM portable.

   Both weigh under one kilogram and are thermal fusion dot-matrix printers.

   The Citizen costs about HK$2,300 and the IBM is $2,700.

   The main disadvantages with their compact size is that they lack memory and speed.

   They both have an input buffer of only four kilobytes and can only print 53 characters per second (cps) at 10 characters per inch (cpi) on letter quality (LQ).

   Another problem is a lack of battery power - the IBM can print only 25 pages of normal text for each battery charge, the Citizen only 12.

   Larger than the Citizen and the IBM is the Hewlett Packard Desk Jet Portable. The smallest of the bubble-jet range, it measures 310 x 146 x 65mm and weighs two kilograms, and so is still very portable.

  It offers more fonts than any other portable printer, and, at 167 cps, it is the fastest (at 10 cpi/LQ). It can print up to 100 pages on one battery charge and has a receive buffer of 48 KB.

  Hewlett Packard claims the same performance and print quality with this portable model as from the company's best-selling desktop printer, the Desk Jet 500.

   The Hewlett Packard Desk Jet Portable is priced about $3,300.

   Although portable printers are not aimed at any specific market, Clement Yau, marketing programme manager at Hewlett-Packard, said: ''They're designed for those who need a quality printer of small size, for taking home or for travel.

   ''They may be useful for consultants or people in sales and marketing who visit other offices.''    Canon, which proclaims ''laser-quality output at a dot-matrix price'', has a number of larger portable printers, including the BJ-10ex, the new BJ-10sx, and the BJ-20.

   There is little variation on the size of the Canon models, all are about 310 x 220 x 50 mm, and all weigh under two kg. All the Canon portable printers have good input buffer size of up to 37 Kb.

   The BJ-10sx has a faster print speed than the 10ex or the 20, printing 110 cps, where as the other two print at 83 cps, in high-quality mode.

   The battery will supply the BJ-10ex and sx with enough power for 30 pages of normal text and the BJ-20 with 40.

   The BJ-10ex is priced at about HK$1,700, the BJ-10sx at around $2,400, and the BJ-20 at about $2,100.

     More recent developments include an IBM notebook PC with a built-in printer.

   It has been released in Japan, but is not yet available to Hongkong buyers.



Portable printers now in mini-league