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See how Pentax PocketJets compare with each other and other portable printers...

Comparisons Menu

• Competitive Commercial Product Comparisons
  Compare PocketJet features to other commercially available portable printers.
  
  
• Consumer Printer Cost Comparisons
  Compare PocketJet cost to other commercially available portable printers.
  
  
• Competitive Industrial Product Comparisons
  Compare PocketJet features to other industrial portable printers.
  
  
• Industrial Printer Cost Comparisons
  Compare PocketJet cost to other industrial portable printers.
  
  
• Glossary of Terms

The Pentax PocketJet Family High Quality Printer Offering

• Print characters and graphics are always sharp and clear and never smudge or smear when handled or exposed to the environment
• Printing speed up to three pages per minute is not hindered by memory limitations
• Weight and dimensions are as small as possible - measuring 10.04" in length and weighing a little over 1.12 lb including the battery
• The printer can accommodate letter, legal, or A4 width paper
• The use of single sheet printing for document printing
• The use of roll paper for cost savings by using the "end of print" feature that prints only the amount of paper needed and allows for "hands free" printing
• Moving parts are minimal and designed sufficiently rugged for portable reliability
• Little or no maintenance is needed regardless of usage cycle
• Flexibility to adapt to many operating platforms
• Consumables are minimal, cost sensitive, and withstand changes in the user's environment
• Prints at any altitude and withstands some of the most demanding temperatures

Extensive experience in meeting specific customer demands for an excellent mobile printing solution has evolved into the current offering of the Pentax PocketJet family of printers.

• PocketJet 3Plus printers are the "top of the line" 300-dpi mobile printers offered by Pentax. This offering is recommended for any printing application that requires "extensive" graphic printing. Please note that not all PDA or handheld applications will support a 300-dpi requirement.
• The Pentax PocketJet 3 printers are 200-dpi printers. This printer is recommended for all uses, however, you may find that intricate graphics or very small, fine print may not be as clear and crisp as on the 300-dpi PocketJet units. The PocketJet 200 was designed with the dual objective of lowering the price of mobile printing while providing excellent quality printing with a Laptop, Handheld and/or PDA. With the Pentax direct thermal technology, the heat of the printing head determines the quality of the print. Pentax has adjusted the heat of 200-dpi print to have quality comparable to black and white laser output.

What exactly is the difference between each PocketJet model you may be wondering...

Competitive Commercial Product Comparisons
SPECS	PENTAX PocketJet Family	HP DeskJet 450cbi	Brother MW100	Canon BJC-85	PENTAX Advantage
Size = Height Width Depth	1.18" 10.04" 2.17"	6.5" 13.3" 3.2"	0.7" 3.9" 6.3"	2.3" 11.8" 6.2"	Small size makes it Ultra -Portable yet full function for invoice or report printing
Volume/Size Displacement	25.7	276.6	17.2	168.3	The go-anywhere printer
Weight	1.12 LB with battery 0.89 LB without battery	4.6 lbs with battery	11 oz with battery and paper cassette	4.5 lbs with battery	Easy to transport, Small, lightweight on-the-road printer
Print Method	Direct Thermal	Inkjet	Direct Thermal	Inkjet	High quality output with only one moving part, DURABLE
Printing Resolution	PJ3: 203x200 dpi PJ3Plus 300x300 dpi	1200 x1200 dpi	300 x 300 dpi	720 x 360 dpi	Fast, high-quality printing regardless of the resolution
Print Speed	Up to 3 PPM	Up to 5 PPM (Normal quality mode) Up to 1.6 PPM (Best quality mode)	15 seconds per sheet	Up to 5 PPM	No memory limitations means no additional cost
Battery Type	NiMH	Lithium- ion	Lithium- ion	NiMH	Long lasting Fast charging Extended life
Price includes Battery	YES	YES	YES	NO	No additional charge
Pages per Battery charge	Over 100	Not listed	100	Up to 200	Good for most full-days work loads
Time To Recharge	120 min	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Fast charging
Paper Type	(Thermal) Cut Sheet Continuous Roll Perforated Roll Fanfold	(Plain) 20 to 24 LB bond paper	(Thermal) Brother A7 Cut Paper (2.9" x 4.1")	(Plain) Max. 38 LB	Pentax high quality paper with the Pentax guarantee - the only consumable needed
Page Size	100' of any size (Roll) 3" to 100' (Perf Roll) 8.5" to 100' (Perf Roll) 8.5" by 11" (single sheet) Legal (single sheet)	Letter, cards, Executive, legal	2.9" x 4.1" sheets 2-ply carbon labels	Letter, legal, cards, envelopes, transparencies	Practically unlimited choice of paper size that provides you with weather resistant printing

Competitive Industrial Product Comparisons
SPECS	PENTAX PocketJet Family	Syscan ZFT-3 Friction	Intermec 6820	O'Neil MicroFlash 4T	PENTAX Advantage
Size = Height Width Depth	1.18" 10.04" 2.17"	5.6" 15" 4.3"	15" 16.5" 5.13"	7.37" 6.82" 2.67"	Small size makes it Ultra -Portable yet full function for invoice or report printing
Volume/Size Displacemet	25.7	361.2	1269.7	134.2	The go-anywhere printer
Weight	1.12 LB with battery 0.89 LB without battery	Not listed	12.25 lbs	39.6 oz with battery and paper roll	Easy to transport, Small, lightweight on-the-road printer
Print Method	Direct Thermal	Impact	Impact	Direct Thermal	High quality output with only one moving part, DURABLE
Printing Resolution	PJ3: 203x200 dpi PJ3Plus: 300x300 dpi			203 dpi	Fast, high-quality printing regardless of the resolution
Print Speed	Up to 3 PPM	288 CPS Draft Elite	2 PPM	2" per second	No memory limitations means no additional cost
Battery Type	NiMH	N/A	Lead Acid	(2) Sony 7.2V Lithium-ion	Long lasting Fast charging Extended life
Price includes Battery	YES	NO	YES	YES	No additional charge
Pages per Battery charge	Over 100	N/A	Dozens of Tickets	Replaceable	Good for most full-days work loads
Time To Recharge	120 min	N/A	60 min	N/A	Fast charging
Paper Type	(Thermal) Cut Sheet Continuous Roll Perforated Roll Fanfold	Fanfold 4PLY (Depends on Form Construction)	Carbonless NCR Paper 1-3 ply Fanfold	(Thermal) Roll Labels	Pentax high quality paper with the Pentax guarantee, Your only consumable
Page Size	100' of any size (Roll) 3" to 100' (Perf Roll) 8.5" to 100' (Perf Roll) 8.5" by 11" (single sheet) Legal (single sheet)	Not listed	7.5" to 8.5" x 11"	4.41" on a Roll of1,560"	Practically unlimited choice of paper size that provides you with weather resistant printing

Glossary of Terms

Mobile Worker:

1. A worker who must perform work that requires mobile communication.
2. A worker who is away from the office or desk more than 20 percent of the time.
3. A worker who has a job with no desk or office.

Portable Printer: A printer that provides image quality, portability, and durability with the ability to adapt to changing environments.

PPM: Page Per Minute defines the maximum number of sheets the printer can physically output each minute.

CPS: Characters Per Second defines the maximum number of characters the printer can physically output each second.

Consumable Cost Per Page: An estimate of the cost of consumables (such as inks, paper, ribbon) for each page output generated.

Resolution: The quality of print expressed in dots per inch (dpi) on paper.

Dots Per Inch: (dpi) a measure of resolution that states the number of dots that the device can print in a linear inch.

Direct Thermal Print Method: Creates permanent images that do not dissolve in the presence of water. The image is heated directly onto a specially coated paper stock without the need for ink, wax or die. The only moving parts in the design are those necessary to move the paper through the printer. There are no moving print heads or ribbon feeders.

Font: One complete collection of letters, punctuation marks, numbers, and special characters with a consistent and identifiable typeface, weight (roman or bold), posture (upright or italic), and type size. The term often is used incorrectly in reference to a typeface or font family.

Inkjet Print Method: A non-impact printing method that emits ink from nozzles as they pass over the page. A print head scans the page in horizontal strips, using a motor assembly to move it from left to right and back, as another motor assembly rolls the paper in vertical steps.

Impact Print Method: Also known as Dot-matrix print method or line printers, this method strikes a ribbon that presses against the paper or print medium to form characters. This method can be used to print multiple part-forms.

Ir: Infrared port that enables exchange of data with infrared-capable devices.

IrDA: Infrared that meets the specifications for infrared wireless communication set by the Infrared Data Association.

NiMH Battery: NiMH is the abbreviation for nickel-metal hydride, a compound used to create rechargeable batteries that do not include toxic substances. This type of battery offers superior performance.

Parallel: A port connection for the synchronous, high-speed flow of data along parallel lines to the printer. Parallel ports negotiate with peripheral devices to determine whether they're ready to receive data, and report error messages if a device isn't ready.

Plug and Play (PnP): An industry-wide hardware standard for add-in hardware that requires the hardware to be able to identify itself, on demand, in a standard fashion. Plug and Play uses both hardware (a Plug and Play BIOS) and software (a Plug and Play-compatible operating system).

Raster Graphics: Printing pictures as opposed to text by using bit-mapped graphics. A Bit-mapped graphic is a graphic image formed by a pattern of pixels and limited in resolution to the maximum resolution of the printer.

Resolution: (dpi) the number of dots that the device can print in a linear inch.

Serial: A port that synchronizes and manages asynchronous communication. The serial port not only sends and receives asynchronous data in a one-bit-after-the-other stream, but it also negotiates with the receiving device to ensure that no data is lost when it is sent or received. The negotiation occurs through hardware or software handshaking.

Text: Data composed only of standard ASCII characters, without any formatting codes.

Text Mode: A mode in which the printer prints only those characters contained in its built-in character set.

USB: Abbreviation for Universal Serial Bus port.

WYSIWYG: What you see is what you get. This term is regarding windows applications translating what you see on the computer screen to what the printer prints.

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