Portable printers are essential and practical for those who are always traveling or busy and always on the go. These little machines print just as well as the desktop counterparts but they are more compact and their portability makes them an intriguing option. Most models work even if you are nowhere near an office or power source to plug in your printer.

Mobile printers can be used for various purposes including on routes and by traveling sales people. Mobile portable printers are generally compact, small, light in weight, and very easy to carry. Bluetooth has emerged as the probably best printing option for mobile receipt printers as there are no wires and no "line of sight pointing." All you have to do is make sure that you're within the same general area of the Bluetooth printer. Currently, most mobile printers offer a Bluetooth option.

Selecting the Right portable printer:

Most Mobile printers require some form of print capacity when used in the field. The need for printing varies according to its usage of course. For some applications, a simple output is required. This can be used for basic applications such as printing a receipt or printing a ticket of some sort, or more. For larger applications, however, a more complicated output is required. Similarly, a more complicated output is required for applications like invoicing, detailed reports, service records, and machine readable receipts. It is clear that different applications have different requirements and needs and there are many factors to consider when choosing a portable mobile printer.

There are a number of important considerations to bear in mind when choosing the type of portable printer that is best for you. These considerations include software requirements and device drivers, cable interfaces, Bluetooth capabilities, environment restrictions, and overall functionality like speed, size, etc. The type of media for printing (labels, receipts, or both) is another important feature to consider. It is important to have the flexibility to print both labels and receipts as it will also be an added advantage. But, on the other hand, this will not be important if you won't be using the label printing options. The battery life of a mobile printer is another important feature to consider. The length of time of the printer will be used between charges and the need for an extra power source is also a determining factor for power supply needs.

Printing methods:

Most mobile printers use direct thermal printing. This merely means that printing is not dependent on the life of the ribbon, rather, it is dependent on the amount of thermal paper which is available. The media which is used is a heat-sensitive thermal paper which darkens when exposed to heat. During the printing process, the print head is in direct contact with the paper, and therefore, it uses both heat and pressure to mark the labels.