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We looked at a lot of different kinds of printers this time around. Truth be told, a number of them are in a "class by themselves" and just don't belong in the same group of reviews of the mainstream printers we examined. For example, the Citizen Notebook II was the least expensive color printer examined. That, in and of itself, makes it noteworthy, but if you compare it to the other color printers, either on a speed basis or the number of pages you'll get out of a ribbon, you'd never even consider it. The upscale Primera Pro color printer is a similar case in point--its almost $3 per page print cost in dye sublimation mode would eliminate it from consideration--that is, if you didn't know just what the unit's particular strengths were. And how many readers wouldn't give the over $6,000 OTC Model 6 Laser even one glance, if the review were positioned right after the $400 Brother HL-630?
To be fair to you and the vendors, we decided to break out the reviews of several products into this sidebar. Keep in mind as you peruse these particular reviews that these printers were designed to serve more specialized functions, and as such, generally are priced a bit differently than more generic units.
CITIZEN NOTEBOOK PRINTER II
Citizen is best known for its dot-matrix products (and wristwatches), though it produces laser, inkjet, and other printers as well. The Notebook Printer II is a specialty printer based on thermal heat fusion technology. It's a very small, very lightweight printer meant to be used on the road with your notebook PC.
When we say small, we mean it. How does 11.7 inches wide, 4.1 inches deep, and 2.2 inches high strike you? It's also lightweight. Without the optional rechargeable battery, the printer weighs just 2.2 pounds. Add the Ni-Cad battery pack, and its weight jumps to 2.6 pounds. The unit ships with a fold-out set of plastic "ears" that acts as a paper feed, holding up to five sheets of paper, or you can manually feed one sheet from either the rear or the bottom. An optional paper feeder (not tested) can hold up to 30 sheets of paper, which seems a bit like overkill for...