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Having portable printers for laptops offer you the advantages of bringing them along on your travels. You can print with them while on the road. You can use them without plugging them in. You can connect with them wirelessly with your mobile gadgets. Yes, they are certainly useful whenever you’re using them on the road. Unfortunately, they do not offer much more when you’re just using them as a home printer. In fact, using a desktop printer at home may actually be more useful.

Unfit for Heavy Printing Needs
Most laptop printers are quite small and they do not have high capacity trays that most desktop printers have. If they do have a tray, they do not offer more than holding 50 pages. One laptop having this feature is the HP OfficeJet H470. It has a tray where you can just fold it in when not in use. However, compared to desktops, 50 sheets is too little when you’re printing a lot of documents. Most portable printers do not have automated document feeders and you have to feed the documents manually. This doesn’t even include the output tray. Desktop printers offer output trays which can hold hundreds of pages. Most mobile printers don’t have this feature.

Accident Prone
Since they are named mobile printers, it is only normal for it to be transported most of the time. This means that it will be subjected to more risks of getting bumped or being dropped accidentally. Unlike a desktop where it only sits at home, you need to be more careful with a laptop printer.

Relatively Slow Printers
While most desktop printers offer speeds as high as 35 pages per minute, the highest available speed for portable printers for laptops is 22ppm and that is in monochrome only. In color, the highest speed is 18ppm. This isn’t too much of a disadvantage if you do not frequently use your printers. However, if you are using your printer for mass producing documents, you are better off buying a desktop printer. This way, you don’t have to wait long for large documents to be done.

Uni-functional Machine
This is not exactly a disadvantage for these devices. It’s just the way they are. Mobile printers are designed to print documents while being mobile at the same time. They do not offer other functions such as scanning and copying like most multi-functional printers do.

Storage Hassle
Although this would prove as an advantage since you do not have to allocate more space, in terms of time, it will take you more time to setup a portable printer. Normally, desktop printers are just sitting on the desks, plugged and stacked up with paper. Mobile printers on the other hand are stored inside bags or drawers. Sometimes, the ink cartridges are removed for storage purposes.

Conclusion
Having a portable printer while you’re living a portable lifestyle is certainly advantageous. However, if you only plan on using them as a home printer, you are better off buying a desktop printer instead. Desktop printers may offer you better speed and resolutions for the same price.