Do You Take a Printer on the Road for Long Trips?

[keymastr]

I no longer even have one at home. Last time I tried to print something the ink had dried up even though it had only been used a couple times. Not worth the price of cartridges for the twice a year I might use it.

Cell phones and tablets do the job now just fine and are never out of ink.

 

[Larry N.]

Last time I tried to print something the ink had dried up...

Laser printers fortunately don't have that problem.

 

[mikef]

I carry a printer, copier, scanner combination. They're dirt cheap. Many times, I find myself needing to scan a document, transform it to a pdf file and fax it, using faxzero.com.

 

[Lou Schneider]

Last time I tried to print something the ink had dried up even though it had only been used a couple times. Not worth the price of cartridges for the twice a year I might use it.

I carry a $29 HP inkjet printer in my worktruck that I use infrequently.  When the cartridges refuse to print, it's due to dried up ink clogging the printhead.  The ink in the cartridge itself is fine, it's just the little bit on the surface of the ink jets dries up.

Remove the cartridge and wipe a damp or wet paper towel across the printhead (the ink is water soluble).  Make sure you're wiping the print head on the bottom of the cartridge, not the electrical contacts on the front edge.  Once you clear out the dried ink the cartridge will work as good as new.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

We avoid printing as much as possible, but spending 4-5 months on the road inevitably brings up the need for paper occasionally. My wife's chronic medical problems often require that we make paper copies of medical records for each new physician she sees, or that some form be filled out manually and faxed (we use Faxitnice.com internet fax). And some businesses or gov't agencies won't accept digital copies or photos via email (security risk) but will take faxes.

It seems obvious that one should not carry a printer unless they have the occasional need to print, right? But there still are some times when paper is the most convenient way to do things.

 

[mikef]

What's the advantage in using faxitnice.com, Gary? I compared it with faxzero.com and there is a fee. Maybe your site offers something you can do, without having to scan anything?

 

[RVRAC]

When we spend four-five months south during winter, we cannot be without a printer.

 

[99WinAdventurer37G]

What's the advantage in using faxitnice.com, Gary? I compared it with faxzero.com and there is a fee. Maybe your site offers something you can do, without having to scan anything?

Here's a link to an ap that you take a picture, then it converts it to a .pdf that you can then send via efax.com or other online faxing service.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.intsig.camscanner&hl=en

The ap is called CamScanner, it's available as an apple ap as well.