Looking for a portable inkjet printer that you can take almost anywhere? Worried about having to lug an inkjet around with you through airports for business or school trips? Take a look at the Brother PocketJet 3.  As the name states, this little printer can literally fit in your pocket, with its tiny size of 10.04×2.17×1.18 inches, and surprisingly, it weighs only 1 pound.

Say “good-bye” to messes and ink spillage, this printer doesn’t need ink or toner!  How does little machine work, then, you might wonder?  Well, it’s simple really.  The PocketJet 3 uses direct thermal technology.  Basically, instead of buying ink, you buy special thermal paper.  This thermal paper has a solid-state ink inside of the paper.  When the matrix inside the printer is heated, the dye reacts with heat and shifts into the pattern you wish to have printed.  The ink inside the paper is coming through the paper and creating the text.  This is a different kind of printing than most are used to, but it is much more portable than laser or inkjet printers.

What the PocketJet 3 has to offer in relation to features is pretty impressive. The Brother 3 has the ability to create resolutions of up to 203 dpi, which isn’t very high, but for a 1 pound printer, it is pretty impressive. USB, Bluetooth and IrDA interfaces are all located on this petite device, and it is compatible with a surprisingly large amount of operating systems.  Blackberry, Palm, Pocket PC, Windows Mobile, Windows, Mac and Linux all work in conjunction with the PocketJet.  An internal battery generally powers this unit, but users who opt to use AC or DC power from a cigarette lighter can do that too.  

There are downsides, though. The PocketJet 3 has a very expensive upfront price, and the paper itself costs a pretty penny too.  For those who want a quality, mobile printer, however, this is a perfect way to spend your money.