Need printer to throw in a truck.

[swatbat]

One of my clients is getting ready to throw a tablet pc in a truck to do repairs at client sites and needs a printer to put in the truck. This is going to be in the hands of mechanics so the more rugged then better.

I've seen some good thermal printers that would work but the software they use wants a printer that will print a full page.

Anyone have any good recomendations? I'm worried a standard inkjet or laser will leak like crazy.

 

[AreEss]

Chances are there will be form printing involved, going through multiple sheets.
Even if there isn't, I highly recommend the newest lines of dot matrix printers from Epson and NEC. They are incredibly sturdy, very fast, and now connect via USB. Plus you don't need an hour's training to understand how to properly change toner or cartridges; "printing's faint. Switch ribbons. Done."

 

[nobody_here]

HP Deskjet 460

I ran a service van in Atlanta for three years with one riding around with me. Now granted, I did not toss it around, but it has gone on a few flights in my checked baggage well padded with clothes and was taken in and out of the van many times, kept it sitting on the passenger seat and a few times during emergency braking it fell to the floorboard and survived, never had a problem with leaking ink on the plane or in a van parked all day closed up in Hotlanta....

YMMV, it's not exactly designed for abuse, but its small enough to be portable but fast enough to be productive

 

[swatbat]

I was thinking about one of those little hp printers.

I don't really think the printer will take but so much abuse but want something that can take a bump or 2. Depending on the size of the printer it may end up in one of the tool bins on the back of the truck or in the cab. Haven't figured that out yet.

Right now the plan is to use a MobileDemand tablet with the truck mount for the machine. Nice thing about this machine is they have it with a credit card reader that bolts to the side of it. Plan is to run that over an evdo modem(with an imprinter for backup) and have the printer either wi-fi or bluetooth so the tablet can be pulled out of the truck when needed. The not so nice thing is how expensive that tablet is but hey you pay for a rugged system. We had a demo of it a few weeks ago and the system is very nice.

Printer will be used for printing service tickets and maybe some data off things like alldata or mitchels ondemand.

 

[AreEss]

Printer will be used for printing service tickets and maybe some data off things like alldata or mitchels ondemand.

In some areas, triplicate's required for service tickets - mechanic's copy, customer copy, records copy. I would definitely recommend an off the shelf dot matrix. Not only that, but triplicate -is- required for credit card acceptance on a typical batch system (customer signature stuff) and a form-feed dot matrix is perfect for that. Plus, they're ten times cheaper than inkjet, roughly. Inkjet is going to cost you more, period - you need four carts, or even at just black, that's $40-50.
Epson LX-300+II - $210, ribbon $6.
http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/s...0051&productId=156408&cmArea=SC3:CG44:CL40302
http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/s...evelCatName=LX-300&productId=10700&cmArea=PMM
The Ever-Living Panasonic KX-P2130 (I have four!) - $250, ribbon $15
http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/s...0051&productId=122097&cmArea=SC3:CG44:CL40302

 

[swatbat]

They will be using standard paper not the continous feed that a lot of impact printers use(although a lot use standard paper). As far as multiple copies go the standard for the shops is printing out 2 copies on normal printer paper. The forums are also really setup for a inkjet or laser but an impact should be able to handle them. I'll look into the epson ones some more.