• $195

• More than just a printer
• Excellent software
• Print quality is very nice

• None

Design:
Cost/benefit:
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Overall:

The PP-50 is the most compact printer available for PalmOS devices.  It is a thermal type printer which utilizes thermal roll paper.  It is capable of printing text as well as graphics in amazing detail -- it prints at 8 dot/mm or 203 dpi.  Power is supplied by a 7.2V rechargeable power pack. 

The device is basically a "sled" type cradle.  The Palm device slides into the printer as shown to the left. 

The printer itself has only three interfaces - a combo ON/OFF paper feed button, a serial port connector (more on that later), and an AC adapter inlet.  There are also two LEDs - an ON/OFF indicator and a battery charge indicator (the ON/OFF LED will also blink to indicate paper out and slow blink to indicate printing mechanism overheat - holding this button for over 2 seconds prints a detailed test page).  All of these are located at the front panel - right below the buttons on the Palm.

The tech specs note that, when fully charged, the PP-50 can print out over 5000 inches of alpha numerics!

Included in the box are the palm-sized printer, the AC batter recharger, a User's Manual, and four software applications.  A serial HotSync cable (for use in the PP-50's serial port) is optional.

The five included applications are:

Print Manager
This application is used to print data from the standard Palm applications (i.e. DateBook, Address, Memo and ToDo).  It is also the central application for controlling printer options and determining printer/Palm battery status.

But, it doesn't stop here...printing from the built-in PalmOS applications also brings on a bevy of options for WHAT to print from each app as well.  For example, printing from DateBook allows "This Week", "This Month" and "Due" (everything until the end of the year) selections;  "To" and "From" date ranges are also possible; even "Today's" forthcoming events.  If that wasn't versatile enough you can even "Print Repeated Event" to print appointments of similar nature which are met at regular intervals or fixed dates. And, oh yes, you can print a single event too ;-)

Screen Print
This application allows the printing out of the exact "one-to-one" screen images generated by any PalmOS application (I did have issues printing some hi-res applications - but the same technical issues exist with applications such as ScreenShotHack).  Enabling this checkbox in the Print Manager essentially creates a hack.  Now, by tapping in the lower right hand corner of the Find silkscreen button, any Palm screen can be printed.  Very Nice! 

Screen Pad
This is a very simple freehand drawing application. It is intended for on-the-spot printouts of sketches, rough illustrations, etc.  Even though it is a "simple" app it does hove some sophisticated features such as geometric shape drawings, pen thickness, and object duplication.

Two fonts are permanently loaded into the PP-50 memory: WESTERN and National; National allows the selected (from a font list) national alphabet to be downloaded and edited. Entirely new characters and symbols can be created on the Palm directly with the "Edit" screen or on a PC.

DATECS also includes a Windows application (no Mac version as far as I know) to convert logos into .PDB format for upload to the Palm.  A logo can be downloaded to the printer with the Font Manager and used as special formatting for all printouts.  This would be nice for logos on printed receipts - using the PP-50 and the Palm as a great portable POS device.

Palm Print Emulator
The final application is a small bit of software wizardry.  This application "emulates" the popular PalmPrint application.  That is, any application that has native printing using the PalmPrint software can print directly to the PP-50.  This is accomplished by seamlessly translating PalmPrint commands to make them compatible with the PP-50.  The software comes pre-configured with individual parameters for seven applications (MultiMailPROIII for example).  This application also allows for the setting of a wide array of options per application "profile".

Conclusion
I really liked this device.  It's small, light (420gr with paper and battery), and prints very sharp.  The software is well written and works as described - no bugs.  About the only thing that I had issue with was the AC charger was a European design not usable in the US without an adapter.  Negating this tiny issue is the exceptional battery life and longevity.  It's been two months and the battery hasn't needed charging yet.

I can also see some vendor creating a Palm Credit Card swipe device that can be connected to and operated via the serial port on the PP-50.  Add a Palm VII or a newly announced "always-on" wireless device (such as the Palm i705), and you've got one accomplished POS system.

Please note, you WILL need to purchase the right version of PP-50 for your Palm.  I tried a Palm V series with a Palm III serial adapter, it didn't work; the shape of the devices themselves is different enough that it won't slide into the PP-50's cradle.

If you need a Palm printing solution this is a very fine one.  Here's the technical matrix:

Technical Data
Printing method: Line thermal dot printing
Print speed: 50 mm per second
Dot density: 8 dot/mm, 203 dpi - horizontal and vertical
Inbuilt fonts: A - 12x24; B - 9x16
Loadable fonts: C - 12x24; D - 9x16
Loadable logo: 384x248 pixels
Printing columns: Font A,C - 32 columns; Font B, D - 42 columns
Power supply:Rechargeable battery pack
Environment:
Operation 0^oC - 45^oC / 10 - 90%RH
Storage - 25^oC - 70^oC / 10 - 90%RH

Reliability: 50 Million pulses / 50 km
Dimensions: 195 mm x 50 mm x 87 mm
Weight: 420 gr., including battery and paper
Thermal paper: Roll 57 mm wide x 40 mm