For those of us who use

the Pocket PC to do a lot of writing, the printer

aspect is like the final frontier. It’s full

of compromises, where different printers emphasize

different features. But if you narrow it down to the

most important question related to the Pocket PC,

being the portability itself, there aren’t many

options left. In fact, if you want full-scale A4-printing

from the back of your pocket (or at least from within

your coat), there’s only one option for you.

   The driver for PocketJet 200

isn’t really a driver but a pure printing software

program, and you know which one it is: the PrintPocket

CE from Field Software (check out my

review in the archive), and you can download a

trial version of this from the Pentax

site (or Field

Software’s own, of course). This is a bad move

because this means that in the long run, you’ll actually

have to buy the software to be able to use the printer

after the trial version expires. The information isn’t

clear on this point and could come as a nasty surprise

for users of the Pocket PC. Still, PrintPocket CE

is a good choice for printing software and we wouldn’t

have this problem if Microsoft had included print

support in the beginning, so I guess Pentax did what

they could. Since the PocketJet 200 is intended for

many different platforms, it seems unlikely that they

can include printing software for ALL of them, so

if you choose not to develop your own software, Pentax’s

way is the way to go. Still, it’s an extra cost, and

    The PocketJet 200 is very

basic, but let’s face it – what does a writer

really need? For this is clearly a device aimed for

people working with text, contracts, figures and diagrams.

A decent printout, most of the time for temporary

work, is all we require and that’s what PocketJet

200 delivers. The PocketJet 200 comes with either

a serial or an IrDa-interface, and with the IrDa you

attach it in the serial connection and use the cord

to aim the interface towards the transmitting gate.

The PocketJet 200 uses thermal technology to print,

the same kind that fax machines and smaller receipt

printers use, and that’s why Pentax has been

able to keep the printer so small. It’s not much

wider than a regular A4, and when you grab it, it

feels like you’re holding a very massive rod.

But it’s light and smooth and fits easily into

any bag – a great travel companion. It’s

quiet and fairly fast, prints about three A4-pages

loaded with text in one minute at a quality of 200

dpi. The PocketJet II prints at 300 dpi, but apart

from this, nothing sets these two guys apart. The

quality is excellent, especially considering the drawbacks

that thermal technology has on the durability of the

printouts. But I’ve had my printouts stand tests

that would make any paper cry in despair, and the

The printer is powered either by plugging it into

the wall or through the included rechargeable battery.

The battery lasts for about 40 pages, not impressive

enough to make me loose my breath but fair enough

to work with. That being said, we move on to the darker

uses thermal paper, which means that you won’t be

able to get it everywhere and have to pay more once

you do find it. And, you have to feed each paper manually

into the printer and this is tedious work, especially

if you’re printing larger documents. There’s

an optional feeder for rollpaper to solve this problem,

but this pushes up the price even more, and also adds

bulk and weight. However, I did not have any problems

with paper jams or wrinkles. Just feed it gently,

not push it violently, and you’ll have no problem

    I ran into trouble when

using the PocketJet 200 with my iPAQ, and the support

from Pentax was excellent. Their support division

gets the highest grade. As far as the software goes,

PrintPocket CE stands for the support which is also

excellent. You won’t be left in the cold if something

    The PocketJet runs on

all Pocket PCs right now except for the iPAQ, which

handles Ir-transmission in a different way. Pentax

is currently working on this and will soon release

a new IrDa-interface that takes care of the problem.

Note that while the photos in this review include

an iPAQ, you cannot for the moment use the PocketJet

200 with your iPAQ. But Pentax assures me you’ll be

the use of thermal paper to be a bug or something

I would like to see fixed, since the advantage of

this technology is obvious when you look at the size

of the printer. You’ll just have to be aware of the

fact that the paper-matter will be handled differently

when you’re using the PocketJet 200. But something

that helps you feed the paper without having to buy

an extra piece of hardware would’ve been nice. You

want to be able to let the printer do its job without

you feeding it all the time. Finally, don’t make us

pay for the software as well! That’s just not acceptable

and many consumers will probably feel cheated on their

printer if they don’t know this when they buy the

PocketJet 200 from Pentax directly,

where paper is also available. From this page, you

have links to local offices and you can choose whichever

is closest to you. The printer with an included IrDa-interface

costs $319.95; additional A4-paper costs between $8.49

   I like the PocketJet 200. This

is portable printing, and since you’re already

used to compromises from your Pocket PC, you should

have learned to appreciate the value of basic functionality.

And that’s what PocketJet 200 delivers, in a

smooth package with high quality. If you want more,