Canon PIXMA iP100 Mobile Photo Printer

Canon PIXMA iP100 Mobile Photo Printer
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
List Price: $249.99
Sale Price: $166.16
Today's Bonus: 34% Off
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We bought this little gem to take to Europe. First impressions are very favorable. It's small, reliable, and prints beautifully. At just over four pounds, it's perfect for travel.

The little Bluetooth adaptor also works very well. Reading the manual (!), I discovered it is possible to mount the adapter permanently inside the printer so that it's not exposed and doesn't need attachment every time it is used. This is a simple procedure, and enhances the usefulness of the Bluetooth capability that is all but de rigueur when traveling. The installation / setup information is also in the electronic manual that comes on the CD.

But as good as the printer is, it does not come with (nor does Canon offer) a case of any kind. I found the perfect solution from Case-Mate: go to and buy the 'Glovez 15"' sleeve (like a large envelope with a velcro closure / flap). It comes in an assortment of colors and is a skin-tight (but very workable) fit in the 'length' direction. When inserted, the printer doesn't take up every bit of the case in the 'width' direction, meaning there is just enough room to also accommodate the cord and AC brick. Throw these in, close the flap, and you're always ready to roll.

Best part: this 'Glovez' sleeve is only $9.99 + $3.99 S/H, and gets to you in a few days. It's not bulky just what one wants to protect the printer but not take up room. (As an aside, the Case-Mate Glovez 13" [for the MacBook 13" and Air] fits the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 perfectly).

March 8, 2011: Came back (for the first time) to look over some of my reviews, and thought I would update this one. We took the printer to Europe for a month in the summer of 2008 (and, as noted by one of the commenters, it does indeed have a built-in usable voltage range of 100 240V, 50 60 Hz, so one needs only an adapter for local outlets, and not a transformer of any kind). It performed flawlessly then, and continues to do so today.

We take it everywhere. It goes in the bag wherever we go on vacation, or on business, and has never missed a beat. It sets up in an instant as soon as you get to your hotel room so easy to use. As stated before, I highly recommend the internally-mounting bluetooth adapter; it's never in the way, impossible to lose, and reliable. OK: Canon gets a small demerit for not building it in in the first place, but... With today's wireless-built-in portable PCs and other devices, it's a snap to hook up to the Internet within moments of arriving at your hotel, then send maps, proposals, anything else, etc. to the printer with no cables whatever. Especially good when both of us have our laptops out at a hotel room: we can both send jobs to the printer across the room without getting in each other's way. It's quick, reliable, durable, with various 'quality levels' available and I highly recommend it for mobile use.

I know Canon also makes a battery that 'bolts-on' to the back of this printer. For my application, the additional $100 wasn't worth the extra bulk to achieve a freedom from the electric grid that I didn't need. But if you conduct business in your pickup, or out in the field, it would certainly make sense: put the printer on the passenger seat and produce a customer invoice, etc. on the spot.

I seldom wax so enthusiastic over a product, and have been known to be excoriatingly critical of poor designs / execution. But Canon hit the nail dead center with this product: if you're in the market for a genuinely useful, rugged, portable printer get it. You will not regret the decision.

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