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I'm looking for a "rugged" mobile printer that should be able to withstand prolong use in outdoor environments. The two that I know of are:

I've had experiences using the QL 320 and I think its a fine printer, although my users tell me that it malfunctions in the rain. Additionally, my users have somehow managed to break off a lot of the buttons on the printer, which are just fragile plastic.

I'd ideally like to find a mobile printer that meets the MIL-STD-810G military spec, similar to Panasonic Toughbook computers.

Fully-rugged Panasonic laptops and Toughbook U1 are the first computers to be MIL-STD-810G certified for a range of extreme conditions including 72" drops1, shocks, vibration, humidity, altitude, rain-, dust- and sand-resistance, temperature extremes and thermal shock. Each of the twenty MIL-STD-810G tests conducted have been certified by independent lab testing. MIL-STD-810G, which was created in October 2008, supersedes MIL-STD-810F.

EDIT 1: To clarify: I'm talking about thermal printers, which are far less delicate than ink/laser printers.

EDIT 2: Anyway, I don't think such a printer (military spec certified) exists. Does anyone have any good recommendations / any prior experience using a good mobile, rugged printer?

UPDATE: If anyone is curious, I had the opportunity to work with a demo O'Neil microFlash 4te printer and thought it was fantastic. I didn't dare drop the thing since it was a demo unit, but it appeared to be very rugged. Unfortunately, our users couldn't stand how heavy it was compared to our 3-inch Zebra QL320, and gave us extremely negative feedback, so ultimately we had to stick with our Zebra units.

(To be fair, the Zebra units are exceptional printers as well, but not as rugged as I'd like them to be. They should take a tip from O'Neil and try a buttonless/springless model.)

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"Rugged" and "mobile" and "printer" aren't words I would ever use in a sentence together. Printers are inherently delicate. Lots of complex moving parts, spraying ink on a page, proper alignment, etc. What conditions do you need to print in? You're still printing on standard paper unless you also need mil-spec paper to go with your mil-spec printer... – Josh K Feb 22 '10 at 15:43
@Idigas -- Ever gotten a parking ticket? :-P @Josh K -- I forgot to mention that these are thermal printers. Relatively few moving parts. We use a sort of typical thermal printer paper with glossy finish. Anyway, its not the paper being printed that's the issue, its our users mishandling the printers (dropping them, banging them against things since they hang on their shoulders, etc). The QL-320 printers are almost $1000 and they're more delicate than I'd like. Plus, repair is costly. – Pandincus Feb 22 '10 at 16:45
uhmm, yes. Why ? What have they got to do with it ? (thinking to myself: I'm probably missing some hidden meaning here) – ldigas Feb 23 '10 at 2:45
@Idigas - you asked where printers like that are used :-) OK, maybe not military spec, but that's why I was asking. Rugged mobile thermal printers are pretty common in any outdoor ticketing/receipt environment, I would think. – Pandincus Feb 23 '10 at 16:30
?? It must be a country-by-country thing, but we get them by mail here, just like any other bill (phone, water ...). They don't print them on the street. But ok, I understand your point. – ldigas Feb 23 '10 at 16:45
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Here's the thing with meeting MIL-STD-810 (I have personal experience as I have ran vibration and shock tests for the Navy, qualifying different pieces of equipment for aircraft/helos), just saying that it passes spec doesn't really tell you anything. The intensity, variety, and over all robustness of a test ENTIRELY depends on what they say the piece of equipment will be on...

Meaning, they could have passed mil std 810G tests for riding in a car only... Not necessarily running in a humvee going down the road or even an off-roading terrain situation. Or more specifically... drop testing (drop testing is part of shock testing... but only if its needed!!!)

Checkout the STD yourself you'll see what I mean (its huge... so pick 1 part that you're interested in)...

That being said... I'd pick ANY of them that you haven't heard reports of issues with. More than likely, they're all tested using sub-standard tests for 810 and you'd be spending a lot of money for something that really doesn't meet up to what they say it does.

btw... most COTS equipment (Commercial Off the Shelf) fails vibration, shock and thermal testing...atleast in my personal experience

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Also... regarding drop testing... In the Gov't, we make sure we test everything to the letter of what it needs to be tested. Just because they say they do a 72" drop test, doesn't mean it is done correctly... for example... you usually have to drop it 72" ON TO concrete, ON an edge... i seriously doubt ANY rugged printer can stand up to that... esp the 3 -10 times you're suppose to do it... most "independent labs" don't properly test to 810 requirements... one reason I had the position I did! – g19fanatic Nov 4 '10 at 21:09
Super-informative answer. I've always assumed that "meeting MIL-STD-810 specifications" was more standard than the way you describe. – Pandincus Nov 22 '10 at 22:09
Thats just the thing, most companies believe it is too... but IRL at respectable labs (Naval Power and Propulsion located in Patuxent River, MD) vibration and shock testing is anything but standard :) – g19fanatic Nov 22 '10 at 23:41
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There are some printers made for military application. Check out this site...
RITEC cockpit and airborne printers

Depends on how portable you really need it. The full page cockpit thermal printer might suffice.

The RDJ6940 lightweight color printer may also work, and is MIL-STD-810E rain resistant.

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