I'm getting ready to cruise again, after about five years of landlocked working. My big question is what type of printer is the best to use? My old inkjet is 15 years old and ready to retire. What survives the humid tropical environment best for an onboard printer (on board a 42 footer where space is at a premium)?
BTW, I always just stored a ream of basic white paper in a ordinary locker. No problem.
We have a little i70 Canon inkjet color printer (about the size of a large book) that we keep in a freezer container (Rubbermaid-style) under the nav station. It has served well for 5 years and shows no signs of deterioration. There are smaller printers now if you're willing to do without automatic paper feed and color and such. The thing to remember is that the inks are water-soluble, so be careful with your output.
I'd second the i70, which is the replacement for the old BJC80. THey're very compact and work quite well. Be aware that you can get inks that aren't water soluble once dry.
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Sailingdog Telstar 28
New England
You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)
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For cruising, it seems like it would be really handy to have a printer that could copy & scan, too. Apparently many ports want Xeroxes of your documents. Not always a Kinko's handy! But the multi-function printers are seem so bulky (even tho there is almost nothing inside one.) Many docs you could pre-scan and have on your computer for printout as needed, but wouldn't a passport scan need to show the latest Zarpe stamps?
For cruising, it seems like it would be really handy to have a printer that could copy & scan, too. Apparently many ports want Xeroxes of your documents. Not always a Kinko's handy! But the multi-function printers are seem so bulky (even tho there is almost nothing inside one.) Many docs you could pre-scan and have on your computer for printout as needed, but wouldn't a passport scan need to show the latest Zarpe stamps?
For scanning I went with a simple flat bed scanner, thin, but full size flat bed. It stores like a book and it is not hooked up to the computer unless it is needed, how often do you really scan anything anyway ? On a boat, not very often.
Edit - one unusual thing about the scanner is that it works off of LED's and only has a USB cable, powered completely by the USB port. I found that surprising. It seems to scan okay.
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Last edited by wind_magic : 11-22-2009 at 03:40 PM.
Reason: Addition
For scanning I went with a simple flat bed scanner, thin, but full size flat bed. It stores like a book and it is not hooked up to the computer unless it is needed, how often do you really scan anything anyway ? On a boat, not very often.
Edit - one unusual thing about the scanner is that it works off of LED's and only has a USB cable, powered completely by the USB port. I found that surprising. It seems to scan okay.
Appreciate all the info from everyone. Thanks.
Wind Magic, can you give us the brand and model name of your scanner?
I've got an older Canoscan LIDE scanner. There's no magic to them, and they are outright dog slow in comparison to most scanners that require more than USB power. But, that's the compromise--it is a low-power motor that only needs the power a USB port can supply. For light use, it works very nicely.
I think the latest models all have similar buttons and software, once installed you can press one of three buttons on the scanner and "scan to email" "scan to file" "make a copy" directly with the one push.
I've got an older Canoscan LIDE scanner. There's no magic to them, and they are outright dog slow in comparison to most scanners that require more than USB power. But, that's the compromise--it is a low-power motor that only needs the power a USB port can supply. For light use, it works very nicely.
I think the latest models all have similar buttons and software, once installed you can press one of three buttons on the scanner and "scan to email" "scan to file" "make a copy" directly with the one push.
This CanoScan I have is pretty new and it does have those same buttons, actually it has four buttons, "Copy", "Scan", "E-mail", and "PDF", the last one scans into a PDF document. I used to use an all-in-one and I can't say it was any faster, I wouldn't say the CanoScan is excessively slow, but then I wasn't really paying that much attention so maybe it is.
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