Laptop With Built-in Printer

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

There were attempts at it, long ago. Seems like a good idea. Wonder why it didn't catch on?

The Executive Computer; Canon's New Laptop Packs a Nice Printer Inside - New York Times

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

The first "laptop" I owned had a built in printer. The printer used paper the size of roll of reciept paper used at the gorcery store. That original laptop had a memory capacity of something like 128 kilobites and weighed in around 30 lbs. Sometimes I wish I still had it but was probably lucky when I sold it for $100.

[gophish Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close gophish]

One of the reasons for the original failure was size and this new one from Cannon although smaller still suffers from that. You have to really want to print in your hotel room very badly to carry an almost 8 pound notebook around. Another draw back I see is if something goes wrong it's all together and you need t5o give up your laptop to get it fixed. If I really wanted to print on the road that bad I would get one of those ultra small travel printers.

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

Where these are good is when you have to do quotes in house i.e: service work (window or furnace replacement, etc.) or when I had a 'truth in housing' inspection done and the inspector had to print out the report. You have the program into the computer, enter the data, print out the completed form and bada bing, your done.

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

Some good points made by Vintner and gophish. I was thinking it wouldn't be practical if something ever did go wrong but I suppose it is good for people who need it for their job.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

One of the reasons for the original failure was size and this new one from Cannon although smaller still suffers from that. You have to really want to print in your hotel room very badly to carry an almost 8 pound notebook around. Another draw back I see is if something goes wrong it's all together and you need t5o give up your laptop to get it fixed. If I really wanted to print on the road that bad I would get one of those ultra small travel printers.

Back in the day, when i was on the road and needed to print something off my portable computer, I plugged the telephone into the modem jack and faxed the document to the hotel fax number. I would then go down to the front desk and collect my document.

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

I agree with others -- it would be a useful feature for specific jobs, but the added weight/size would be a deterrent for most laptop buyers.

It is very hard to make a profit on such a specialized product, especially in the razor-thin (and ever-shrinking) profit margin world of laptops. We'll see if this pans out for Canon, but my guess is that it will not.

Kurt

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

I agree with others -- it would be a useful feature for specific jobs, but the added weight/size would be a deterrent for most laptop buyers.

It is very hard to make a profit on such a specialized product, especially in the razor-thin (and ever-shrinking) profit margin world of laptops. We'll see if this pans out for Canon, but my guess is that it will not.

Kurt

The linked article is from 1993 - this is not a current offering.

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

The linked article is from 1993 - this is not a current offering.

Oops -- missed that. Well, I guess my prediction was correct!

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Oops -- missed that. Well, I guess my prediction was correct!

I remember having a small Canon bubble-jet printer that I occasionally packed in my suitcase. Most of the time, though, if a fax wasn't good enough I just made sure I knew where the nearest Kinko's was located.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

The linked article is from 1993 - this is not a current offering.

Thus the wording in my OP.

I was beginning to think I missed something, and Canon had a new one on the market.

For all the comments as to why it has never panned out, I would think in 17 years someone coulda made one smaller, more convenient.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Thus the wording in my OP.

I was beginning to think I missed something, and Canon had a new one on the market.

For all the comments as to why it has never panned out, I would think in 17 years someone coulda made one smaller, more convenient.

17 years ago 90% of my work product was reports, documents, and correspondence delivered in hard copy.

In 2010 I don't produce more than about five bound documents per year, and maybe one hard copy piece of correspondence per month. Everything is now done electronically.

I have many clients who simply will not accept a document in hard copy any longer. They want it delivered electronically so it can go into a filing system. If it's ordinary correspondence they want it in e-mail, so it's can filed electronically, and searched and retrieved electronically. If it's a presentation, it's done with PowerPoint on a screen.

Fifteen years ago when I was on the road I needed to be able to print. Now the portable printer has been almost completely replaced by the thumb drive and the network card.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

The reason I brought it up is that I sit here with DW's laptop daily, and we take it when we travel. If I book something on HW, PL, or, infrequently, RCI, or book a rental car, or book air fare, or want to print out an email, or internet page, or for all the other reasons to print something, I used to have to take it down to ole PoC station and hook it up to it's own printer (whose ink cartridge appears to have dried up), or copy and paste it to an email and send it to me, where I print it at Ole PoC.

It would nice just to click on a print button.

& it seem unusual that in all the advances in technology, this one has gone overlooked.