Compact Printers for Students Heading Back to School

Whether heading back to the dorms in college, or just trying to find something that will fit in the study space in a student's room, space and portability can be an issue. Several printers hit the market right before the back-to-school rush that not only will give students more desk space for studying, but some even give a portability option because of their size for printing in a pinch.

Pixma IP100 printer by Canon

The Pixma IP100 is no bigger than a small laptop measuring 12.7 x 7.2 inches and only weighs 4.4 pounds. It prints 20 pages per minute in black and white, and 14 pages per minute color at a resolution of 600 x 600 (black) and a maximum of 9600 x 2400 (color). The price is around $250 so the size advantage isn't cheap, but being able to easily store the printer when not needed might be worth it to those with a small study space. There is also an available Bluetooth adapter that allows for wireless printing.

Hewlett Packard HP H470wbt Officejet Mobile Printer

Quality here will cost you with this printer priced around $350, but this top of the line compact printer will give you the space you need, and provide impressive color for student's reports. The HP H470wbt measures 13.4 x 7.3 inches and weighs 7.5 pounds, so while it is not as portable as the Pixma IP100, it can produce 22 pages per minute in black (up to 1200 x 1200) and white and 18 pages per minute color (up to 4800 DPI), which is really fast, and it can be a completely wireless printer.

Brother PocketJet 3 Plus

Just about as portable as you can get, the PocketJet 3 Plus is a black and white only printer (300 x 300 DPI) and will print pages at three pages per minute. This may sound really slow, but for basically a solely portable printer, and especially if you are in a bind and forgot to print a paper, three pages per minute could save your life. Dimensions are 10.5 x 1.5 inches and it only weighs 14.4 ounces. It is priced around $200.

Samsung ML-1630 monochrome laser printer

The ML-1630 is not going to be a portable printer, as it weighs in at 17.9 pounds, but it is compact and will not take up lots of space if you have a dedicated area for your printer. If you won't be printing in color, then this printer is excellent and puts out 17 pages per minute at 1200 x 600 DPI. The price isn't too bad for a laser printer of this quality, around $200. Samsung brags that the most important feature is that this printer is virtually silent.

Hewlett Packard OfficeJet 100 Mobile Printer

This little guy measures only 6.9 x 13.7 x 3.3 inches and weighs 5.1 pounds, but gives you lots of features for your money. It will print up to 22 pages per minute black and white (600 x 600) and up to 18 pages per minute in color (4800 x 1200). The HP Officejet 100 Mobile Printer will set you back about $279 dollars, but is an excellent printer for the price. It has a lithium ion battery and operates with Bluetooth technology for truly mobile printing that doesn't require a power cable or wires for printing at all.

These printers should help students save space and still produce a professional quality report. Portability might also save some students from late grades for missing a deadline.

Sources:

http://printers.toptenreviews.com/compact/index.htm

www.hp.com

www.canon.com

http://www.brother-usa.com/