[rodmeister]

The newly announced $99 Dell Wasabi Printer looks good. It would make a good travel printer if 2"x3" prints are adequate for your needs. I wonder if you can print text, for printing lists from my Mini 9.

One very suspicious missing detail: I can't find a picture of the battery charger anywhere on the internet including Dell's site. They might be hiding it, because the charger could be a brick almost the size of the printer itself.

[holmes4]

Is it green and spicy? No, just blue, gray and pink. Seems to be pretty much the Polaroid PoGo. It is only a photo printer as far as I can tell. You probably can print text, but very expensive to do so.

[junesix]

I'm going to pick one up with a 48-pack of paper to check out the quality. It seems like a fun combo to have with the Mini 9, especially since they both have bluetooth. The 2x3 photo size appears to be roughly the same as an iPhone screen which is a nice reference point. I think this could be a hit at a wedding I'm shooting in a month.

The Wasabi doesn't seem to be exactly the same as the Polaroid Pogo printer. For one, Dell added a reprint photo button which isn't on the Pogo. Pogo's specs say it's a 7.2 volt Li-Ion so I can't tell if Dell's 450 mAh Lithium battery is the same, better, or worse. At least Dell is offering spare batteries, something you can't currently get with the Pogo.

Maximum PC said the Pogo's adaptor brick was almost as big as the printer itself. You can see a photo here. I'm also hoping Dell has improved on that.

[WolfKeeper]

How do you call it Wasabi and NOT offer it in green? :?

I almost ordered one yesterday, then after looking at a ruler and seeing what 2x3" gets me decided against it.

[holmes4]

I think I am going to get one and take it with me on vacation in April. May not get any use - we shall see.

[rodmeister]

I've decided to get one for my cruise in May. For my shore excursions I may need to pre-print directions, addresses and tourist info. 2"x3" prints are small, but should be usable and better than writing info from the Mini onto paper by hand. For $99, what the heck. I have a bad feeling about the charger; that Dell is deliberately hiding it from their web site and press releases since it detracts from the compactness of the package. And yeah, what's with the lack of a green wasabi?

[rodmeister]

I just finished chatting with Dell. The charger is one half the size of the Wasabi printer...not good, but I can live with it. They also said it will make 15 prints per charge. I think I will still get one. If I hate it, I can give it to my nephew or sell it to someone on the forum :lol:

[holmes4]

Ordered mine last night. I get a 7% employee purchase discount, but had to call to get it as Dell's web site gave me a "page not found" when I tried to order with the discount. The printer itself is pretty small. Not clear to me if it charges from the USB jack or has a dedicated power jack.

[holmes4]

The Wasabi arrived today. The power supply is indeed enormous - not only is it a sizable brick (3-3/8x2-3/4x1-1/4) but it has a large strain relief out one end for the cord that connects to the printer and a large AC cord that plugs in to the other end. I have to think this is overkill just to charge the battery. The power supply is rated at 9V 3A.

The printer comes with a 12-pack of the special paper, and you're warned that it's not compatible with anyone else's Zink paper. Each pack has a special bottom sheet which serves as identification and also cleans the print path. I also bought a 48-pack, as well as the carrying case, which will hold the printer, some paper and maybe a small cable, but certainly not the honkin' power supply.

To print, you connect a USB cable (not supplied) to your Pictbridge-capable camera or use Bluetooth to "send" a photo. I used the USB method with a Canon PowerShot 860. The jack on the Wasabi side is a regular USB "B" jack (like on the side of the Mini - usually the other end needs to be a MiniUSB.) I connected the printer and the camera came up into print mode, with some options. I just pressed the button to print, and a few seconds later the print started to emerge from the slot on the Wasabi. It took maybe 30 seconds to finish.

The print quality isn't bad at all. The photo I used was darker around the corners and the quality falls off there. It's sort of like an inkjet photo printer of 3-4 years ago. As an instant-gratification, fun thing it's fine.

As for printing text. Forget it. Not only are the prints small, but it accepts JPG photos only. (I'm curious to see if it works with my Canon 40D in RAW mode, There is an embedded, low-quality JPG that it might use.)

There is a user manual on CD and a quick-start guide, which is really all you need. There's a loop for a lanyard but no lanyard.

At least the box is (mostly) green...

[rodmeister]

Canon just announced the SELPHY CP780, a $99 compact printer for 4"x6" photos. Initially I had a moment of buyer's remorse for buying the Wasabi. Then I did the numbers in cubic inches, my favorite method of comparing size: Wasabi is 12.528 cubic inches, and the SEPHY CP780 is 107.64 cubic inches which is 8 1/2 times the volume of the Wasabi. Since I wanted the Wasabi for travel, it wins hands down despite the tiny print size.