A few days ago we received a Canon BJ-30 Bubble jet printer as part of a group of printer donations. We tested this tiny printer which measures about 1 foot wide by 1/2 foot long when the lid is closed. Amazingly the donated printer still contained ink.
Sadly it seems that Canon has discontinued making any drivers or information for Windows available on their web site. We tested the printer under Ubuntu Linux version 10.04 and it printed a test page flawlessly (we even got a full tank of ink). I called our favourite ink re-filler and found that the do indeed still carry the cartridges for this portable printer.
We looked around for information about the BJ-30 and discovered that this tiny printer is 720dpi x 360 dpi, although we suspect that number is a software-interpolation number that depends on a Windows driver. As anyone can see from our screen shot above the printer seems to print just fine.
The biggest downside to the printer we felt was the lack of a USB port, and the slow speed of printing. The test page took about 40 seconds to print. Our guess is the lack of speed is due to the bubble-jet nature of the printer. eHow has a good article about the basic differences between Bubble-jet and Inkjet printers.
The screen-shot above shows the BJ-30 web page on Canon. Canon basically no longer provides any support for this printer. As a computer refurbisher it always saddens me to see companies not putting effort into maintaining legacy equipment. When we recommend manufacturers we're more likely to recommend manufacturers who continue to provide information and drivers for legacy equipment.
In Ubuntu we plugged in the printer AFTER the machine was turned on, something you shouldn't do (plug it in the parallel port before turning on the computer). We then clicked on System > Administration > Printing and clicked the Add option to add a printer. We selected LPT1 and then went through the manufacturers until we found Canon and BJ-30.
If it wasn't for the large brick-like power adapter we'd almost recommend this as a nice printer for notebook owners. Even though most notebooks no longer have a parallel port, adapters to convert parallel to USB are available from different manufacturers.
Pros: Very compact, cartridges still available.
Cons: Slow, not USB, big "brick" power adapter
Sadly it seems that Canon has discontinued making any drivers or information for Windows available on their web site. We tested the printer under Ubuntu Linux version 10.04 and it printed a test page flawlessly (we even got a full tank of ink). I called our favourite ink re-filler and found that the do indeed still carry the cartridges for this portable printer.
We looked around for information about the BJ-30 and discovered that this tiny printer is 720dpi x 360 dpi, although we suspect that number is a software-interpolation number that depends on a Windows driver. As anyone can see from our screen shot above the printer seems to print just fine.
The biggest downside to the printer we felt was the lack of a USB port, and the slow speed of printing. The test page took about 40 seconds to print. Our guess is the lack of speed is due to the bubble-jet nature of the printer. eHow has a good article about the basic differences between Bubble-jet and Inkjet printers.
In Ubuntu we plugged in the printer AFTER the machine was turned on, something you shouldn't do (plug it in the parallel port before turning on the computer). We then clicked on System > Administration > Printing and clicked the Add option to add a printer. We selected LPT1 and then went through the manufacturers until we found Canon and BJ-30.
If it wasn't for the large brick-like power adapter we'd almost recommend this as a nice printer for notebook owners. Even though most notebooks no longer have a parallel port, adapters to convert parallel to USB are available from different manufacturers.
Pros: Very compact, cartridges still available.
Cons: Slow, not USB, big "brick" power adapter
Comments