Polaroid PoGo portable photo printer hands-on, Engadget reader style

Hold up! Polaroid may not be dead just yet! A trusty reader was nice enough to give us some hands-on time with his new Polaroid Pogo Zink-based printer. The diminutive device is clearly meant to give us that old-school insta-print social feeling with its 2 x 3-inch photos, but results were less than a barrel o' monkeys. Engadget reader David says that while the unit is "cute," there's nothing very instant about it as prints take at least 60 seconds -- not including connection in or Bluetooth pairing time. On the plus side, prints are sturdy and don't tear easily, but David couldn't resist burning one of them just to see how the thermal paper reacted. In the end, he says this is a decent gadget for those in the know, but you're not going to put this at the center of a party like you would an old-school Instamatic. Peep the gallery for David's hands-on goodness.

[Thanks, David]

Gallery: Polaroid PoGo

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[A.C.E.R. @ Jul 2nd 2008 3:33PM]

Don't the old skool Polaroids take at least 60 seconds to develop, too?

[adrian @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:35PM]

I don't think 60 seconds for such a device is that bad, Some people expect too much in life.

[Wwhat @ Jul 2nd 2008 8:06PM]

Old polaroids slowly faded in and you could have several fading in at the same time, and the picture started to become visible quite quick I think, plus you could run around flapping them in the air for effect.

[j_g_puff @ Jul 2nd 2008 3:39PM]

Is there really a market for mobile printing? I know I've got the patience to leave my god-awful photos on my phone until I've hauled my intoxicated body home, conversed with the toilet bowl and made a plate of supernoodles. Even if I didn't, I've only got two pockets and both are occupied.

[Chad @ Jul 2nd 2008 3:39PM]

But will it print Crysis?

[j_g_puff @ Jul 2nd 2008 3:52PM]

I checked your comment history and, surprisingly, most of them were sensible. As far as I could see, this is your first 'Crysis' infraction. Why would you start now?

[DefPo3t @ Jul 2nd 2008 3:58PM]

the same reason that I went on a vista rant today. ......... we're PMS'ing .. In a mans way :P

[Chad @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:01PM]

It wasn't a matter of IF Crysis would be mentioned but when so I decided to get it out of the way early.

That, and the fact that I was bored.

My next post will probably contain random misspellings to get a rise out of the grammar spelling Nazis.

[Reader @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:16PM]

Men don't PMS, that just makes you a woman...

[DefPo3t @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:29PM]

actually the male gender does have a time every month that thier hormones change. Its minute but it does happen p.s. school teaches people a bunch of useless crap

[Vink @ Jul 2nd 2008 3:42PM]

Paper pictures? I think it would be cool if Polaroid came out with a camera just like the old school Polaroids we all had that popped out a little e-ink picture that you could pass around to you friends then pop back into the camera when you're ready for the next picture. Much better than handing your camera around just to see a what your drunk friend looked like 10 seconds ago.

[Ayman @ Jul 2nd 2008 3:47PM]

you're forgetting facebook

[thedesolate1 @ Jul 2nd 2008 3:44PM]

Now paparazzi can instantly print pics of Britney's cooch every time she walks out of a car and share it.

[Ayman @ Jul 2nd 2008 3:45PM]

PoGo (thats the best name they came up with)
"hey is that PoGo in your pants or are you happy to see me"

I like it
can you pogo it for me, i wanna show the guys at work
is it pogoing, takes to dam long try blowing on it

[Cody Peterson @ Jul 2nd 2008 3:49PM]

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=fuji+instant+film&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=9167081314122621162&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&resnum=1&ct=result

Fuji sells film compatible with polaroid cameras.... I would rather pay 80¢ - $1.00 ea shot for that as thats probably what that instant printer costs per shot when you factor in ink, paper, etc.

[Fusion Fuzo @ Jul 2nd 2008 3:50PM]

NICE

[yode @ Jul 2nd 2008 3:57PM]

But does it print doom?

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:11PM]

Why the hell would it. If you want to make meaningless questions, use one that makes sense like "will it blend?"

[konshuss @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:20PM]

will it blend doom?

[Vink @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:20PM]

konshuss. That was so funny, I actually hurt myself. I said that same thing in my head as I read your comment. Can I call jinx for that?

[mrpoo @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:35PM]

You can call jinx any time you want, as long as you are 12... and a girl... and gay.

[konshuss @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:10PM]

looks like a really dramatic business card printer. imagine how impressed a potential client would be when you pull this puppy out and have it poop a fresh and glossy card... while you talk about stuff for upwards of 60 seconds.
also, this thing could be really cool if you're halfway around the world, bump into people by chance and each want to take home copies of the moment's memories whereas stopping off to find a pc isn't realistic.
beyond either of these situations, i have no clue what you would want this for...

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:17PM]

The business card idea is pretty cool, actually.

[thedesolate1 @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:26PM]

Or just transmit it over bluetooth. It'll last longer.

[david.boxlightbox @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:39PM]

One other cool thing is that it auto-rotates.
As in, i can send it a portrait or a landscape image and it figures out which is the longest side and aligns it to the 3" side.
It also auto-crops though, which isn't always ok.
like if i send it a squarish shot,
then it flakes out and blows it up to fill the paper.

[Mark Kent @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:39PM]

How long does the battery last?

[raize221 @ Aug 12th 2008 6:17PM]

59 seconds

[hladd @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:44PM]

This could be great to use when traveling, particularly taking pictures of kids in places where they are unlikely to have any of themselves (like where I travel in Africa). Do you know what the price per picture is?

[david.boxlightbox @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:02PM]

@ hladd: it works out to about $0.30 per print.

@mark kent: battery life is around 15 prints.

[dak148 @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:07PM]

I bought one of these over the weekend and promptly returned it without ever printing anything. There is no way to connect this to a PC to print directly. You can only print by phone via bluetooth or connecting a camera straight to it. I shoot with a SLR and when i connect anything to it via usb it goes into PC mode, meaning i can't use the any of the camera's functions. I don't get why they would omit such a huge thing as printing via PC.

[Wwhat @ Jul 2nd 2008 8:08PM]

You can add BT to PC's though, won;t it work then?

[Tyler @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:20PM]

Where is this thing available? According to Target, it is only available online. Where can you buy them?

[小茶 @ Jul 2nd 2008 9:05PM]

Well, if you don't know what a Pola (or instant printing) can do (other than parties), see it here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/randomix/sets/72157600217469635/

I think it's priceless for the kids...

[syko21 @ Jul 2nd 2008 9:20PM]

what kind of cell phone is that next to the printer?

[derX @ Jul 3rd 2008 1:33AM]

When I saw it, immediately I thought it was a Nokia e65 then I googled the Nokia e65, and though remarkably similar in appearance, they are not the same device.

I'm pretty damn curious. What is that phone's model number?

[david.boxlightbox @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:29PM]

it's an e65 with a case on it.

[TIMMAH! @ Jul 3rd 2008 2:31AM]

Give it up Polaroid! That ship sailed and sank like 5 years ago already!

[jermaine @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:38AM]

yeaa Fujifilm has a device that has done this, film is pretty cheap too though it is only avaiable in japan, they have some pretty nice instant cameras as well, google "instax"

[T8trtot757 @ Jul 3rd 2008 2:04PM]

I JUST GOT THIS IN THE MAIL AS A GIFT! I IS A VERY NICE PRINTER BUT IM TAKING IT BACK AND GETTING SOMEHTING ELSE. I FOUND OUT ABOUT THIS PRINTER A LONG TIME AGO AND NOW FIGURED OUT ITS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH MY NEW CELL PHONE!!! YAY ITS REALLY DUMB. SO MY ADVICE IS GO TO THERE WEBSITE AND CHECK IF YOUR FONE WORKS WITH IT BEFORE YOU WASTE THE 150 DOLLARS!!!!

[CheckMyBadSelf @ Jul 4th 2008 2:53PM]

I guess it won't work with the iPhone though...

[R.J. @ Jul 15th 2008 1:44PM]

It works via bluetooth file exchange, so you can send it pictures from a pc or mac. I must stress that pictures will be cropped if they are not at the PoGo's standard of 2x3 resolution. Try a megapixel calculator when trying to edit photos for print on the PoGo:
http://web.forret.com/tools/megapixel.asp

I happen to like this little gadget. I've made a few really nice business cards out of it. I wish Polaroid was more forthcoming on the exact resolution the Pogo will use for perfect prints with no cropping and the MB size limit of a photo you can send the unit via bluetooth.

[exNewt @ Mar 14th 2009 2:52PM]

Works now with iBlueTooth on a Jailbroken iPhone 3G 2.2 OS

www.flickr.com/photos/opusmark/3353489591/