Volume 19, Number 8
December 2002
Going Truly Mobile
Reviewed by Alan Pearlman
As a lawyer on the go in today's upbeat mobile world, I'm
always on the lookout for the best and smallest equipment so I
can be truly mobile yet truly productive. Until now most, if not
all, printers and scanners touted as "mobile" have been fairly
large, weighty units that failed to perform as well as their
bigger siblings.
I recently found two items that are musts if your practice takes
you on the road more than half the time. Pentax Technologies
recently perfected two truly mobile pieces, a printer and a
scanner. The fabulous Pentax PocketJet 200 Ultra-Portable printer
is without a doubt one of the smallest, lightest, and most
effective printers for all on-the-go needs, producing sharp,
clear resolution, crisp graphics, and extremely high-quality
documents.
This unit is an excellent addition to my out-of-office practice.
Several times after reaching an agreement in court for a
settlement conference in chambers, I've been able to print the
corrected version of the agreement right then and there, instead
of going back to the office, making changes, and sending the
document back and forth for signatures. It makes clients-and
their lawyers-much happier to get on with the agreement and their
lives, rather than having to wait and reschedule a later
meeting.
Most of us see the documents we create as extensions of our
professional selves and take pride in how they look. The unit
measures up amazingly well against laser-quality printers. It
boasts a 203 x 200 dpi resolution (dots per inch, for the
non-techies) and a print speed of up to three pages per minute.
It supports Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT, 2000, ME, CE, all Palm
units, Pocket PC units, and even my Blackberry OS! This unit
really packs a big punch, even though it weighs in at only one to
two pounds with the battery installed. A fully charged battery
prints up to 40 pages.
I was very skeptical about the unit's potential print quality,
but after my first page, I knew this was the printer for me. It
uses something called "direct thermal printing technology," which
means it never needs new ribbons, print heads, cartridges, or the
like. No matter how many pages I print, I never worry about
running out of ink. The secret is in the paper-specially designed
thermal stock from Pentax. (I confess that I carry about 50 to
100 sheets with me on the road but haven't yet run out.) I love
the look, feel, and quality of my documents.
The unit can run on an AC adapter as well as battery power, with
a choice of serial, parallel, infrared, or USB interface cable. I
especially enjoy using my infrared attachment to print
directly-without a cable-from my Pocket PC. Infrared printing has
also come in handy from my laptop to my PocketJet 200.
The Pentax DSmobile USB scanner is a compact, lightweight,
high-quality machine that weighs a mere 12 ounces and measures
just 11 inches long. It's the ideal scanner for any confined
space, in the office or on the road.
The scanner has a simplified sheet-fed design that allows you to
scan everything from business cards to legal paper in one unit.
Also, it requires no bulky power supply unit to lug around. All
of its operational power is drawn directly from my laptop, and it
consumes less power than most other units I've tested. I can scan
while running my laptop on battery power. Pentax also has
developed an optional advanced scanning module, the CIS, or
Contact Image Scanner, which operates with fewer moving parts
than the traditional CCD or Charge Coupled Device, significantly
reducing the chance of a mechanical breakdown of the unit.
The DSmobile also supports Windows 98, Me, 2000, or XP, or for
that matter any PC that has a USB port and accompanying software.
For you tech-support junkies, Pentax offers free tech support for
the life of the product.
The Pentax PocketJet 200 printer and the DSmobile USB scanner are
products of Pentax Technologies (800/543-6144,
www.pentaxtech.com). Both products are priced between $150 and
$250, depending on place of purchase.
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