I've been taking the HP Sprocket to a few social gatherings recently and the pocket-sized printer has been a hit. Mainly because I haven't told anyone I've got a portable printer on me, so I've been able to surprise friends and family by printing off little Polaroid style instant photographs of the images they've taken and shared on Facebook and Instagram.

The HP Sprocket is about the size of a deck of cards, and can print photographs that are 5cm by 7.6cm, using purpose-built "Zink" paper. The clever trick is there is no ink involved: the printer uses thermographic technology to create the images, making the unit clean and quiet to operate.

The accompanying app has a bunch of built in borders, stickers, and filters you can apply to the photo before you print, so you can write "happy birthday" and draw little party hats on everyone in the frame. The results are as ridiculous as that sounds, but therein lies the fun of this little printer. The final photos delighted everyone from my 22 month-old daughter to her grandma.

The unit costs $199, with a 10-pack of paper included. Extra paper is $20 per pack of 20. So while it's cheaper to order prints from an online service and have them mailed to you — we use the app Picture Postie for that — the HP Sprocket is a lot more fun.

And the experience is better than using one of those dedicated instant cameras. The camera in your phone is probably higher quality, and with the Sprocket, you only print the photos you want to keep.

Expect to see a few HP Sprockets at the next wedding you attend, or surprise the wedding party by bringing your own.