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In this issue
Nov. 20, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: How to make every second of your life come first
Caroline B. Glick: Whither American Jewry
Nov. 19, 2009
Binyamin L. Jolkovsky: Please Listen to this Godcast (5 minutes)
Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: What Judaism has to say about the secret of the Mona Lisa's smile
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : When borrowing is stealing
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Obama's failure, Netanyahu's opportunity
Nov. 12, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet By Marialisa Calta : A sweet sweet potato treat
JWisdom.com Does God get tired? with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Jews and money: When anti-Semitism isn't
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review July 18, 2008 / 15 Tamuz 5768

Tiny printers aid travelers in need of copies on go

By Mark Kellner

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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | DENVER — I am here ahead of Sen. Barack Obama, but he doesn't have to worry about a boarding pass to fly out of this place. I, however, do.


But there's a good chance that I'll be in better shape than I'd feared. Flying Southwest Airlines, passengers are encouraged to log in 24 hours before departure to get a boarding pass. The faster you log in, the higher your place in line.


That's OK at home, but who carries a printer on the road? I've got one here and you might want it, too, since it's rechargeable and weighs only 1.5 pounds. The $299 Printstik, available from online sellers Amazon and maker Planon, is compatible with BlackBerry hand-helds and PCs running Microsoft Windows. Compatibility for Apple Macintosh portables should come in the fall, a spokesman said.


The Printstik looks like a small stick or relay baton, and it utilizes an undefined "advanced printing technology" that seems to me very much like thermal printing.


That means you get crisp monochrome prints, but not color.


Paper is on a roll and feeds out through a front slot; you have to tear off each page. There is also a way to feed single sheets of the special paper used in the Printstik, though I did not test this method.


The "new" features of the Printstik are its size and weight. This is the smallest and lightest portable printer that prints full-sized pages that I've ever seen.


Its clearly designed for road warriors who need certain types of printing, such as boarding passes and receipts, and not others, such as letters, reports and presentations. For that, I'd recommend the larger, heavier and higher-cost Hewlett Packard OfficeJet H470, which will set you back about the same price (if you shop online). It's a larger item, but the HP is meant to replicate the functions of an office-bound inkjet printer.


Having a portable whose uses are a bit restricted might seem like a contradiction, since you might want to have everything in that tiny package. But I can see a lot of arguments for the Printstik. It can fit in your briefcase along with your laptop; the HP would probably merit a separate case. Both portable printers have rechargeable batteries, but the HP's wall adapter is larger.


Setting up the Printstik involves installing software on the host computer, and then "pairing" the computer and printer via Bluetooth. In my test, the experience went well, and I was printing quickly. Battery life seems reasonable, and the cost of "consumables," such as the printer paper, is reasonable: $25 will buy you three rolls of thermal paper, meaning a 41-cents per page price; you can buy the paper for less "on the street," the makers say. Single sheet paper works out to 11 cents a page, the spokesman said.


One thing I've learned in wandering the computing landscape is that not every product is meant for every user. A Mac user, for example, will not have any success with the Printstik until the software is available; those needing full color or high-quality paper will want the HP OfficeJet 470.


But for those of us hoping to catch a flight or needing to dash off a quick receipt, the Printstik could be a blessing in a 1.5 pound package.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.

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