canon ivy or hp sprocket?

I think it was Layle who did a comparison recently of the small printers she owns. I think it *might* have been in one of her long live sessions so it might take me a while to track it down for you. But I will try! 

The one I had, which I believe I passed on to oaksong (am I remembering correctly?) was a different brand of zink printer, the Polaroid zip? (sorry, memory problems today). I couldn't ever get the colors to print the way that made me happy - bright and light - they were always muddy and dark, even black and white photos. I noticed that a couple of Layle's printers had similar issues, although not so bad as mine. 

I think the big downsides for me would be the very strict limits to size - they can only print teeny tiny photos - and the cost of the zink paper. I also had some zink paper that wouldn't work, may have been old/expired, but there was nothing I could do by the time I tried to use it. It may have been user error, but I could never figure it out so that was $10 into the trash.

I would probably be more inclined to recommend the Selphy or similar. With not much trouble you can print 2 small photos or 4-6 teeny photos on an almost4x6 sheet which would work well in a TN, and I think the consumable supplies are more available and cheaper. It's not a true pocket sized printer, but I think for at-home use it would offer more flexibility and better results.

I have both a Zip and an Epson PM400, and I use both for different reasons. My scrapbooking is nearly all travelers notebooks these days, and it’s nice to be able to print photos at home and on the road.

I love my little Zip printer (thanks joblackford!) for traveling. I have learned to edit the photos to get a decent print, but the main thing I like is having it right there with me to add photos to my travel journal as I go. For me, photos are an essential prompt in my creative process, and if I don’t have them, everything comes to a standstill. I can use this printer in the hotel and on the plane. Not the best if you want good picture quality, though.

The Epson print quality is beautiful. I use PS Express to create photo collages with anywhere from 2 to 8 photos on a 4x6 print. My 2020 journals are 3x5, so being able to print small pictures is helpful. Many of my photos for daily journaling these days are twitter and news screenshots, funny memes, in addition to family photos.

I have three mini printers - the Ivy, the Sprocket, and the Kodak Mini 2. The Ivy and the Sprocket are, in my opinion, essentially the same. They use the same paper, and the same technology, and so the results are just about the same. I didn't use the Sprocket, and then buy the Ivy and go oooooh so much better, like I thought would happen. I was ultimately disappointed that I bought both and that I believed any YouTube video that said there was a difference. I do some memory planning, and the Ivy & Sprocket prints fit the Happy Planner Big boxes a little better, so I have been using up my stash of Zink paper for that.

The mini printer that I use regularly and love, which uses an entirely different technology is the kodak Mini 2. It takes a little longer to print a single photo, and the photos are a little bit bigger than the ivy and sprocket, but the photo quality is much more like actual photos than the ones that use the Zink paper. The paper I use is sticker backed, just like the Zink paper, but a little more expensive. I bought it from Amazon on prime day last year for $78. My only complaint is that the battery only lasts for maybe 6-8 prints, and I tend to print a bunch, then scrap a bunch, so I end up leaving it plugged in while I'm using it. It's a great size for a TN, if you're doing a lot of decorating or journaling on the pages.

For larger photos, I have an HP Envy 7800, which is a printer/scanner but prints absolutely lovely photos. I got it from Costco, and the last time I was there (February!) they still had them. I use a glossy high quality HP paper, but not a photo paper, for photos, and their ink subscription service, so my photos end up being about the same price per photo as doing Shutterfly with a really good coupon. I wanted the larger printer for making photos the same size as a TN page - love love love that look. It's really nice to have a cheaper on-demand photo printing option that can do any size, so unless you want a small printer for portability or novelty (clearly, I did lol), I would recommend a printer that prints larger/standard photos. They can always print a 2x3" photo, but those mini printers can't print anything larger than the size of their special (and expensive) paper.

I really, really like the idea of one of these mini printers but they all print on sticker paper, don't they?

I have an instax printer and I am drawn to the idea of these zink printers but I don't want to have to print on sticker paper. Is it possible to purchase non-sticker paper for the printers?

OK, I found the video! sorry for the delay azcrafty 
It's this video, and if I did it right it should start about 1 hr 20 mins in where she's talking about using the PictureMate. After that she goes through the small mini printers she has and shows examples of the photos they print. You might have to rewind and fast forward a bit but hopefully this helps! 

I have both sizes of the HP sprocket and I love love them