Brother PocketJet 6 Plus

Brother PocketJet 6 Plus

On paper (pardon the pun), the Brother PocketJet 6 Plus PJ663-K ($529 direct) is almost identical to the Brother PocketJet 6 PJ662-K ($449 direct, 3.5 stars) with one critically important difference. The Plus refers to a higher resolution, at 300 dots per inch (dpi) instead of 203 by 200 dpi. That's enough of a difference to make small text more readable and give graphics and photos a significant boost in quality. It's also enough to earn the PocketJet 6 Plus a higher rating, and to make it Editors' Choice for its category. Both PocketJets are thermal printers. Brother says it sells both largely for in-vehicle use, printing from a delivery truck or a police car for example, but both are also useful for more office-centric road warriors. As I've pointed out in other thermal printer reviews, for many people thermal printing brings up an image of a low-end fax machine with thermal paper rolls that tend to turn pages into scrolls with an unpleasant chemical odor. But that's not an absolute requirement for the technology, and it's not true of either PocketJet. The Editors' Choice Brother MW-260 ($549.95 direct, 4 stars), for example, a small format printer for A6-size paper (4.1 by 5.8 inches), uses thermal paper with no smell at all, and with much the same look, feel, and thickness as standard plain paper.