Would you like your printer in a box or in a bucket?

Last month we reviewed the Canon Selphy CP760, a cute little dye-sublimation printer that won us over with its simple menu, quick prints, and most importantly, its small-ish price tag; $100 is a fairly easy price to swallow for a single function printer, especially when we've got so many inkjet printers that can not only print out similar quality photos, but can also print out text on standard 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch paper! In either case, we were impressed by this little guy's ability to churn out excellent quality prints in a short amount of time.

The Canon Selphy CP770 was released at the same time as the 760 and features the exact same printer and all the same specs: same 2.5 inch TFT screen, same print speed and quality, etc. It's literally the exact same printer, only the CP770 is $50 more. Why? Because of the bucket that it comes with.

I've heard of some pretty ridiculous accessories in my time here at CNET, but a $50 plastic bucket really takes the prize. Granted, it's convenient to be able to carry the power adapter and a few extra sets of paper and ink, but $50? For that money, I'd rather just carry all the junk around in a plastic grocery bag. Do I really need an overly glorified container?

Another complaint that we have with the CP770 is that although the printer may look travel-friendly (mainly because of that bucket and handle), in order to make the package completely wireless, you have to buy two not-so-cheap accessories: a $50 Bluetooth adapter and an $80 external rechargeable battery pack! $130 bucks total. Say I don't buy those accessories, now I'm just stuck with a bucket? What's the use of having a bucket if you can't print, say, outside in a park or at a baseball game? The option to print in nature is a very cool idea; paying $130 to get there is not.

Don't get my words twisted; we still like the printer itself, and there's certainly a reason why we gave the Selphy CP760 a "very good" rating, but the Selphy CP770 just doesn't bring anything worthwhile to the table. We recommend picking up the Selphy CP760 if you're shopping around for a portable printer. We also just received a shipment of HP printers that includes a few mobiles, so check back soon for full reviews.

In the meantime, check out the reviews for the Selphy CP760 and the Selphy CP770.

[Zen-Masta]

Why would you want to print outside in a park or at a baseball game in the first place. I don't see any value in "portable printing". I can see circumstances where you might wish you had a printer but those scenarios are so rare it doesn't warrent lugging around 7 pound printer plus bucket with another pound or so of paper/ink.

[ender21]

Methinks the writer's tongue was in cheek for those "print in a park or baseball game" comments.

However, I could see parents or avid photographers seeing the practicality of being able to print pictures for their kids or friends on-the-spot if they took pictures of Johnny's first home run, or some woodpecker pecking wood in a park.

[Anthony, from Rivernet Communi]

Mobile printing is a great idea. Moreso for those of us that use our truck/car as an extended office. The CP770 might be an option for that route.