Customer Reviews

SiPix Pocket Printer A6 - Printer - B/W - direct thermal - A6 - 400 dpi x 400...

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

... Portable printers are not meant to compete against laserprinters or ink jets. They are made to provide printouts under non-office conditions, i.e., field use, and except for environs were extreme heat-in-the-shade --- like deserts, are operant, a thermal printer is most reliable, needs little maintenance and consumes few resources.

Thermal printouts are used all the time as TRANSITORY computer output on paper, such as ATMs, gas station receipts etc., to give users a copy of output. I've used 2 thermal printers since 1984, and these printers have outlived their CPUs.

I use the printer as general output on a boat or a plane, often in transit to remote locations, exposed to high humidity and at times printing from within a ziplock bag. The IR signal penetrates the bag nicely, and allows printing in a water resistant container. Thermal paper doesn't run when wet, and when cold laminated, allows one to take printouts diving ... were water temps rarely exceed 90F.

Competing ink jet printers, while capable of A4 size sheets, can have comparably illegible fonts, higher cost and maintenance and print horribly under humid conditions. A4 paper is more inconvenient to carry.

The Sipix is very similar to a thermal printer engine released by Alps in 1998...

A full spec sheet is availableonline...

It has a rated life of 50 million print impressions and paper advance mechanism life of 20km. That's roughly 17,000 prints or 72,000 sheets advanced of A4 paper. Using A6 paper, that's substantially more sheets.

Rolled Paper is Superior to Sheet Paper. Printouts rarely use the full length of a single A6 sheet, thus the unprinted area is wasted. In long printouts, type will span several pages, and sheet paper will be wasted on unprinted margins.

What is wrong with the Sipix is the cost, its not worth [the price]. ....
The Sipix thicker thermal paper maybe less prone to curl, but it still does, and its not suitable for rolls. Roll paper are torn are various lengths. The Sipix paper is too strong and does not tear cleanly. Sipix paper is too expensive, even if heavily discounted... You can buy bulk A6 wide paper of over 76 feet per roll, of thinner grade paper for [$] for 25 rolls, and simply cut 8' rolls for convenience. ...

As a heavy user of word processing on my Palm via DataViz's Documents to Go 4.0 (available from Amazon) which allows me to download -- and work on -- MS Word files on my PDA, I was anxious to find a means to print these Word documents directly from my Palm -- without having to synch and output from my PC. Additionally, if the printer were also portable, that would be even better.

The Sipix Pocket Printer A6 -- along with the Docs to Print and IR Print software programs (both available from doctoprint.irprint.com as either a free trial or to purchase) -- fit the bill quite nicely.

The Sipix A6 printer is just a little bit larger than the Palm itself. It runs on AA batteries and receives its info from the Palm via infrared (IR), which makes it totally cordless. The Sipix also uses thermal imaging, which eliminates the need for ribbons or ink jet cartridges, which is convenient; but it does require the use of specially coated A6 size thermal paper, also available from Sipix (and Amazon) in either rolls or sheets. (I use the latter -- and carry a little stapler with me -- since it lays flatter and looks much neater.)

The basic Sipix A6 software (also from IR Print) that comes with the unit, only allows one to print entries from the Palm Calendar, To Do, Memo and Address functions, which in itself, is only mildly useful.

To do more, here's what you'll need to install on your Palm:

Docs To Go (DataViz) + Docs to Print + IR Print*

* The more enhanced version of IR Print available from their website.

Once all three of these are installed, you'll be able to print Word documents, not only to the Sipix A6, but also to all of the IR capable models from HP (such as the DeskJet 990 series) and from Canon (including the BJC line of portable ink jet printers), which is really cool!

Being thermal, the print quality of the Sipix unit is, unfortunately, rather crude; and the speed is rather slow (especially when compared to regular laser and ink jet printers). But the Sipix is still the smallest portable printer available today for my Palm. And I carry it -- along with a slim box of A6 paper -- everywhere with me in my briefcase.

I use the Sipix to print rough drafts of my work (including product reviews such as this one), which is wonderful, since perusing a printed copy -- especially with multiple pages -- is still easier than scrolling up-and-down a miniature screen.

The Sipix printer, as a watch-out, does have a tendency to drain four AA alkalines rather quickly. As a remedy, I've switched to the new AA size Energizer photo-lithium batteries, which cost a little more, but last many times longer.

With my Sipix A6 printer, I can now print Word files directly from my Palm -- whenever and wherever I need it -- which is truly a dream come true!

I bought this printer about a month ago,just because I thought it was so cute...however, once I got it I realised that it was a lot more than that. It is perfect for those moments where you would normally be using a pen and scraps of paper. I use it for work out on the field all the time- I get ideas on the ride, then print them out when I get there. It's really a must-have if you're constantly out of the office and don't want to be banking on the fact that there's a printer where you're going.

I am trying to resolve my issue for this printer with the seller and this is not intended to be feedback for them. It is however a substantial warning for anyone who needs to print from a PDA. This is not the product you need...I promise. The manufacturer has discontinued this printer as well as a host of other products. They will sell you paper for this printer. However, you need to having a working product before bothering to buy the paper. In the handbook that came with the printer, they claim you will be able to find a driver online but you will not. Sipix lists no phone numbers, technical help, or any other help source to solve the problems. Do yourself a favor and find another solution. If you find one for a reasonable cost, let me know. I truly need answers.

When I was looking for a printer for my Toshiba e335 Pocket PC, I heard a lot of people who bought this printer had problems with their printer when their Pocket PC os was 2002. Well, I guess the company has fixed the problem because my printer works well with my pocket pc! My only complaint is that the printer is noisy and not quiet enough to use in a classroom setting when the room needs to be silent. A great buy!

This product comes with a European Plug, so unless you live in Europe, you'll pretty much have to run this thing on batteries unless you can find an American Plug that works for this device.

There is no USB connectivity. It is old technology, therefore you must either have a serial male connector on your computer or an infrared device that can send (not just receive) data. This means the infrared receiver on HP Pavilion laptops won't do, because they are meant for the HP remote control only. Even with an Serial to USB converter, this printer fails to work because its poor drivers does not designate the correct port.

I tried using an infrared device also, yet it still failed for some reason. Whenever I tried to print something, including a test page, this LED on this device would start blinking and my IRDA device would say it is losing its connection with this printer.

Finding drivers online for this printer is very difficult and the ones that I do find do not solve the problems I face.

It would be a great printer if I could get it to work. Otherwise, it is going to cause alot of headaches.

I won't recommend this item unless you're purchasing it for something other than an PC or laptop. If you really want a portable printer for your laptop, I would advise looking for somewhere else and be willing to spend more money on newer products.

The SiPix A6 is a nice little add-on for people who need prints in the field. One thing to remember is that for most Palms, you NEED some piece of software to print with. IRPrint is a good one, but there are others.

The OEM paper is a bit costly, but you can sometimes find thermal register paper in rolls in about the same size at a well-stocked office supply store. I scored a good deal a few years ago but have not seen any like it since. (Doubly annoying as you really cannot store too much of this paper without it going grey.)

I own 2, and they still work perfect. I make my own paper by sawing thermal fax paper rolls in half using my table saw.
My wife just recently purchased and Acer Windows Vista laptop with built in IR port and I installed the XP drivers. It took a few attempts but after the 3rd try Vista asked to install with the most compatible options ... something or other. After install I had to go into printer properties and change the port to IR. Worked the first time on the printer test page.
These printer are available on the Bay-e for around $15 bucks.

The company that made the product is now defunct. I was never able to get my printer to work. It came with a cable that did not work. I bought an IR device that never made a connection and then after contacting the seller, I bought the cable they said to buy. It still does not work.

If you have Windows Vista, then this printer is absolutely useless. The installation CD is only for Windows 2000, Windows XP and Macs. The technical support website listed all over the installation manual [...]) is a dead link. There is no way to install this and no one at the company who will be of any help. Waste of money.