Mobile Printing for Attorneys: Is PrintStik Right for Attorneys?

With its new PrintStik mobile Bluetooth printer, PlanOn takes aims squarely at the road warrior market, reports Laptop Magazine.

This printer seems designed to appeal to the bicep-challenged road warrior. Or maybe, the road warrior who appreciates a chic,1.5-pound printer.

Small. Light. Wireless Bluetooth. An inch high, eleven inches long, two inches wide. No toner. And it prints. On paper. Anywhere.

Do these features add up to a good thing or a bad thing? For the road warrior lawyer, does the PrintStik's "office in a pocket" concept work?

Most lawyers who travel nowadays either use small laptops or smart phones for communicating with the outside world. But that does not necessarily add up to a need for a featherweight printer.

This new PrintStik printer prints out in monochrome, on curly, flimsy, thermal paper, from a 20-sheet roll that costs $25 for three rolls. That makes the cost per sheet about 42 cents. And though PlanOn says the print lasts seven years, who knows how long the print will last on that thin thermal paper?

The new PrintStik works on PC-compatible laptops, with either Bluetooth or USB 2.0 connectivity. It works with Blackberry. But it does not offer iPhone compatibility yet.

We could all dream up airport/hotel/coffeeshop scenarios which might cry out for this new printer technology. Maybe even involving international travel, megabucks, or a deal cut at Rick's Cafe. It even might be fun to dream up such scenarios.

But any lawyer drawing up a deal memorandum in front of his or her principals, or dashing off a marital settlement agreement, or preparing any mission-critical document with legal effect--perish the thought, a will, trust or deed--would seem better served by investing in something a little heavier, that can print on 20-pound letter-sized paper.

PlanOn claims to have built the world's smallest mobile printer. Good idea. But likely not for lawyers. Not yet.

Related Resources:

• PlanOn PrintStik: the World's Smallest Mobile Printer! (PlanOn)
• PLANon Print Stik (PC World)
• Planon Printstik PS 900 (Cnet)