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The PrePeat reusable printer

Published on 9th February 2010 by Gareth Halfacree

The PrePeat printer allows images to be printed up to 1,000 on each sheet of PET-based 'paper.'

If you have a tendency to print out a lot of information which you only need temporarily, the PrePeat printer might be just what you need.

As reported over on Engadget, the PrePeat from Sanwa Newtec uses PET plastic sheets rather than traditional paper, on to which a temporary image can be transferred by the application of heat - in black only for now. Once you're done with your printout, simply feed it back into the printer and it'll erase the image and replace it with a new one.

Unlike a traditional printer, the PrePeat doesn't require toner or ink, and the individual sheets are reusable up to 1,000 times before they refuse to take an image. While still in the early stages, the technology holds promise for offices where lots of printouts are required for meetings only for the paper to end up in the shredder in short order.

This isn't the first time somebody has thought of the idea of reusable paper: Harry Harrison and Marvin Minsky came up with the idea of an Eternitree printer which worked along the same principles back in 1992 in their collaborative speculative fiction work The Turing Option. However, the PrePeat is the first commercially available printer to work along the principle of reusable 'paper.'

Interestingly, the plastic nature of the sheets used in the PrePeat printer mean they are naturally waterproof - meaning that the issue of safely reading e-books in the bath might have finally been resolved.

Sadly for anyone hoping to get their hands on a PrePeat, the early models aren't exactly cheap: the printer itself will set you back around ¥500,000 (£3,584) and each sheet will cost ¥300 (£2.15) in units of 1,000 - meaning an initial outlay of ¥800,000 (£5,734) to get you started. Despite this, the low cost-per-page and high durability of the printouts - so long as you keep them away from sources of heat - may make the PrePeat a winner with corporate customers.

A video of the unit in action, made by DigInfo.tv, can be found on YouTube.

Can you see a use for temporary printouts, or does the cost need to come down before you'd be interested? Share your thoughts over in the forums.

11 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

proxess 9th February 2010, 10:26

OMG reading in the bath! Win win!!

alpaca 9th February 2010, 10:30

i stopped printing stuff when ii stopped living with my parents. i never bought myself a printer and i'm perfectly fine with that. as tough this is a very interesting technology, i don't expect to have a specimen on my desk for some time.

Krikkit 9th February 2010, 10:31

Sounds pretty good to me - I'll bet a lot of corporate customers will queue up for this if it can lower their carbon footprints.

Xir 9th February 2010, 11:26

Hmmm, is one sheet of PET more ecological than 1000 sheets of (by nature biodegradable) paper?

Burdman27911 9th February 2010, 12:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xir
Hmmm, is one sheet of PET more ecological than 1000 sheets of (by nature biodegradable) paper?

We use so much PET in plastic bottles (which can later be recycled), so I assume that reusable paper made from PET is practically a non-issue.

I wonder how thick each sheet of this "paper" will be? I think that the thickness (and the weight) will affect the use of this by corporations in the future. Color would be a nice step in the future as well, but I don't see how they will manage to do anything other than black and white (with maybe some shades between).

Also, I hope you don't take baths that are too hot, otherwise you might be erasing your pages while you soak in the tub.

Veles 9th February 2010, 12:28

Quote:

Interestingly, the plastic nature of the sheets used in the PrePeat printer mean they are naturally waterproof - meaning that the issue of safely reading e-books in the bath might have finally been resolved.

Not if the bath is really hot though :p

tank_rider 9th February 2010, 13:47

The problem is the first thing people do on printouts in meetings is either doodle or write notes on it! Both of which render the £2.15 sheet useless. Unless of course you can use special pens to do that with, which will no doubt cost money too.

Tyr 9th February 2010, 17:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veles;2222030/
Not if the bath is really hot though :p

What if the reader is hot?

I mean if you are HOT with clothes on then this will just get erased as soon as it sees you in the nude!!!

Erm... I'll get my coat...

friskies 9th February 2010, 19:23

The "sign out" button is over there seinfeld

Faulk_Wulf 9th February 2010, 19:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by tank_rider
The problem is the first thing people do on printouts in meetings is either doodle or write notes on it! Both of which render the £2.15 sheet useless. Unless of course you can use special pens to do that with, which will no doubt cost money too.

If its plastic, just use Dry Erase markers. Besides don't most people in corporate environments note-take on Netbooks/Notebooks/PDA's/insert-gadget-here ?

Xir 10th February 2010, 08:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faulk_Wulf
If its plastic, just use Dry Erase markers. Besides don't most people in corporate environments note-take on Netbooks/Notebooks/PDA's/insert-gadget-here ?

You'd be amazed at the amount of paper still used.

Ask a beancounter to provide engineering staff with 300$ netbook/100$ PDA each or with a 5ct pencil and let them type it out afterwards?
Typing out costs time, an engineer costs 100$ an hour so it'll repay for itself in...hmmm...we...let's go with the pencils!:D