HP Officejet 100 Mobile Printer review: HP Officejet 100 Mobile Printer

We gave the HP Officejet H470 a mediocre rating in 2008 for hardware flaws and poor quality graphics prints, but its latest mobile effort sports a sleek design, wireless connectivity, and capable simplicity. Its $270 price tag might be hard to swallow when you frame it against similarly priced all-in-one desktop printers, but with few other options in the mobile-printing category, we recommend the HP Officejet 100 if your work depends on the ability to print high-quality documents anywhere.

Design and features
The HP Officejet 100 Mobile Printer's physical composition is nearly identical to its predecessor with the exception of simple updates to the silver color scheme and a larger lid that extends coverage over the entire machine. Like the older version, the corners are contoured and the output bay, lid, and ink cartridge cover all fold neatly into the body of the printer for streamlined transport.

This time around, HP does away with three separate model options and gives you a single model instead, but offers accessories like a Bluetooth dongle and a carrying case for purchase on the HP Web site. The Officejet 100 is compact for easy transport, measuring just smaller than a single-function inkjet printer at 13.7 inches wide, 6.9 inches deep, and 3.3 inches high. With the included lithium ion rechargeable battery (rated to last an unverifiable 500 pages with a full charge) installed, the printer only weighs 5 pounds, which is roughly the weight of the average laptop computer.

The top of the rectangular printer pops up to reveal an integrated 50-sheet paper input guide with an adjustable slider to fit a short range of media sizes from regular 8.5-inch-by-11-inch paper down to 3-inch-by-5-inch index cards. A simple control panel lives just below that with four buttons for power, paper feed, job cancel, and a Bluetooth button to put the printer in pairing mode.

Part of the Officejet 100's appeal is its versatile connectivity options, with Bluetooth being the latest tool for integration. You can also set it up using a standard USB cord, although it's worth noting that HP doesn't include one in the box. Additionally, this printer mysteriously omits the SD/miniSD/MMC card slot, so your only possible choice for direct media transfers is the PictBridge USB port on the back.

The omission of a media card slot is a hassle for snapshot photographers, so you'll likely prefer the previous Officejet model if you fall into that group. Keep in mind, however, that the Officejet 100 is HP's first mobile printer to include integrated Bluetooth, so you'll need to rely exclusively on the USB connection to connect the H470 or your computer.

The actual printing technology is handled by two cartridges that load into the center of the Officejet 100: one tricolor and one black. Using the calculations and page yields for the standard-size cartridges listed on the site, a full page of black-only ink will cost 5.5 cents per page, while a full-color print will run you 8.8 cents per page. Along with the high premium you'll pay for the initial hardware purchase, you'll also shell out more cash than average to refill it. At least HP cuts you a deal with its extra-large ink cartridges that cost slightly more but save more in the long run.

Performance
The Officejet 100 continues to demonstrate the impressive print speeds of HP's mobile line, with results that compare favorably with the older versions. It printed 5.9 pages of text per minute, 1.9 presentation slideshow pages per minute, and just under two full graphic sheets a minute as well for slightly faster metrics over the H470, and we're also impressed that the printer requires little to no warmup when you power it on; we imagine this asset will prove useful for print jobs where time is a factor.

The Officejet 100 is also deserving of praise for qualitative output improvements compared to the H570. Where we expressed disappointment with its predecessor's inability to produce clean character formations and jagged-free edges, this iteration exhibits near laserlike qualities in text, and graphic pages that expose accurate coloration and seamless shading transitions. Our only issue is that the snapshot photo prints we produced using HP's own photo paper lack the vibrancy that we're used to seeing in HP's desktop printers, but we wouldn't recommend this printer as a go-to accessory for hard-core digital SLR photographers anyway.

Service and support
HP supports the HP Officejet 100 with a one-year limited warranty. Troubleshooting is also available by phone 24-7 or by e-mail, and the HP Web site also offers a host of services, including documentation, drivers downloads and updates, and a list of frequently asked questions.

Conclusion
For its intended business purposes, the HP Officejet 100 Mobile delivers on its promise for a sleek design and improved output quality. The rechargeable battery and Bluetooth wireless give you the freedom to leave the wires at home, while rapid print speeds won't leave your clients tapping their feet for results. If you're a business professional shopping for a simple device to output your documents, presentations, and handouts, the HP Officejet 100 Mobile deserves your consideration.

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