The new wide-format Artisan 1430 inkjet printer from Epson gives you prints up to 13″ X 19″.  This printer has  advanced color and lighting correction for amazing photos, and it includes Adobe® Photoshop® Elements for more editing features.  You can print Ultra Hi-Definition prints (5760 x 1440 optimized dpi) on paper or photo paper, and you can print on CDs and DVDs.  Photos are smudge, scratch, water and fade resistant thanks to Claria® Hi-Definition Ink, and they’ll last up to four times longer than photo lab prints.  The Artisan 1430 is wireless, so you can share it with everyone on your network.  The MSRP is $299.99, but there’s currently an $80 mail-in rebate.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, Laptops and Gear, News

Tagged: Printer, Wireless

Epson’s New Wide-Format Artisan 1430 Printer originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 18, 2012 at 8:03 am.

3D printing is a form of manufacturing technology where three dimensional objects are created by laying down successive layers of material. Industrial 3D printers are available but aren’t the cheapest item around. The  Makerbot Thing-O-Matic is an an open source 3D printer for substantially less. Using a 3D CAD program and plastic filament you can create (or recreate) 3D objects.

Kinda reminds me of the Star Trek replicator ( though I wouldn’t be eating anything you create with it).  SCHWEET !!!  WANT……!!!!  

Check it out at Makerbot , starting from $1299 (some assembly required )

And make sure you check out some of the videos.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, News

Tagged: 3D, Printer

Makerbot Thing-O-Matic 3D Printer originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 27, 2011 at 11:00 am.

I think I’m psychic! I was just wishing that I had a tiny iPhone printer. Ok, that’s not EXACTLY what I was day dreaming about… I was really just thinking about a generic itty bitty photo printer. But wow, this is close enough. MobileFun is now carrying the Bolle BP-10. It’s a 4×6″ (A6)  printer with an iPhone dock built into it that even charges the phone. Using the Bolle app, you can print a single image or a collage of multiple images. The consumables are a bit pricey though. It can only print 36 pictures per cartridge; the cartridges come with paper included and are £15 each. The BP-10 is available for pre-order for £119.99.

Filed in categories: iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: iPhone, Printer, Spotlight Gadgets

Bolle BP-10 Photo Printer is a printer just for your iPhone originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 19, 2010 at 12:30 pm.

I was thinking about purchasing a label maker on and off for years.  This past winter I remodeled our TV space into a media room. This included laying many wires throughout that room and the house as a whole. The entire time I wished I had a label maker (instead of a fine tipped, permanent marker) to label those wires, keeping them all organized. I muddled through, but my AR side still occasionally longed for the ability to quickly and easily label something. So, when Julie asked if I would like to review the DYMO 360D Rechargeable Desktop Label Maker I jumped at the chance.

The LabelManager 360D is a rechargeable desktop label maker designed to (obviously) create labels of various sizes and styles. The feature that makes the 360D somewhat unique is its recharge-ability/lithium-ion battery. According to DYMO, the lithium-ion battery ‘eliminates the inconvenience of AA batteries’. I do not know if I buy that logic, when AA batteries allow you the option of using rechargeable AA’s or when in a pinch buy disposable ones from the store. That said, the 360D is ideal for around the office setting where you can charge it overnight or as needed. If you are taking it with you on the road for any length of time, you will need to bring the charging cable/brick with you. Although, the battery does last a remarkably long time.

The label maker is good-to-go out of the box. DYMO includes everything you need to hit the ground running. They include a black ink cartridge and a partially charged battery (at least mine was).

Package Contents:

• DYMO 360D Label maker
• Lithium-ion Battery
• Power Cable
• D1 Ink Cartridge (black)
• Instruction Manual

Features:

• Powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• 1.5″ x 2.75″ screen that displays two lines of text
• 3 fonts and 7 text styles
• 9-label memory and “save text” feature
• D1 labels in 1/4”, 3/8″, 1/2″ and 3/4″ widths
• familiar computer-style keyboard layout

The 360D has a large QWERTY keyboard for fast and easy text input. There are special function keys for quick access to punctuation marks, currency, special symbols, etc.

The screen enables you to see the text on screen before you print. According to DYMO, ‘This means no more guessing what the label will look like. What you see is what you get!’. For the most part I agree but the display does not show relative font sizing. Meaning the 8pt font appears the same on the screen as the 28 pt font.

The 360D allows you a good deal of variety when it comes to size and look of your label text. It has 3 font styles, 7 font sizes with bold, underlining, outlining, and left/right/center alignment. The label maker uses DYMO D1 labels in 6, 9, 12 and 19mm widths. A very nice feature of the LabelManager is the ability to select printing up to 9 copies of the same label. It is a shame the 360D does not have the ability to download additional fonts and symbols from your computer like other label makers can.

The DYMO 360D is definitely not a Blackberry in size, shape or weight. But overall, functionally text input is very similar. Being the Crackberry addict I am, it took me a little while to get use to the spacing and form-factor of the keys but inputting is easy enough.

I like the DYMO LabelManager 360D as a well made, easy to use, relatively basic label maker for around the office, in-the-field day efforts, or house. However, due to the fact of it being powered by a lithium-ion battery and its eventual need for its power cable, it is not ideal for travel. It’s MSRP is nearly $100 and pricey when compared to other label makers available on the internet. It is not yet available on Amazon.com or Buy.com but will hopefully be sold at a discount.

Filed in categories: Miscellaneous, Reviews

Tagged: label, Printer

DYMO 360D – Rechargeable Desktop Label Maker Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 26, 2010 at 10:00 am.

The Possio GRETA 6-in-1 lets you turn any location into your mobile office. This device is a portable GSM phone, fax, scanner and copier. The thermal printer can print incoming SMS messages. There are two versions with a triband GSM radio. The European version uses 900/1800/1900Mhz, while the US version uses 850/1800/1900. It looks like the Possio GRETA is only available right now for our UK friends from Xomobo for £628.63 Incl. VAT or £535.00 Excl. VAT.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, News

Tagged: Fax, GSM, Printer, Spotlight Gadgets

Fax anywhere with the Possio GRETA 6-in-1 portable GSM device originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 19, 2010 at 3:32 pm.

I’ve never been a fan of the All-in-One concept, believing that it was at best a compromise between flexibility and footprint. I’ve also been increasingly frustrated with the money I’ve spent on ink cartridges for my Canon printer. The Kodak ESP3250 printer is advertised to address my concerns, and with this review we’ll find out if that’s true…

The ESP3250 can be used as a standalone copier and photo printer as well as a connected unit.  The specs from Kodak are:

Print speed

• borderless KODAK Lab Quality 4 × 6 in. photos in as little as 29 seconds;
• documents up to 30 pages per minute in black and 29 pages per minute in color

Print sizes

• standard-size borderless photos up to 8.5 × 11 in. (US letter size), 210 × 297 mm (A4 size);
• standard-size documents up to 8.5 × 14 in. (legal size)
• Supported Memory Card Formats print without a computer using memory card slot—Secure Digital (SD)/Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC), MINI SD, Multimedia Card (MMC), MEMORY STICK (MS)/MEMORY STICK PRO (PRO)
• Paper capacity holds a maximum of 100 sheets (20 lbs) or 20 sheets photo paper (minimum paper size 4 x 6 in. to a maximum paper size 8.5 x 14 in.
• Display 1.5 in. LCD (color)
• Ink cartridge compatibility KODAK Black Ink Cartridge (10 Series), KODAK Color Ink Cartridge (10 Series)

Scan and copy specifications

Scanning

• CIS optical scanner, 1200 DPI at 24 bit;
• scan multiple pictures simultaneously and software will create separate image files automatically;
• scan documents and photos up to 8.5 × 11.7 in.;
• scan and edit your documents with optical character recognition;

Copying

• copy speed 30/29 cpm (black-color)
• one-touch color copy without a computer;
• copy documents or photos with one button;
• 20–400% scaling or fit to page and make up to 99 copies at a time

A frontal shot shows the paper tray, scanner glass, card reader and the control panel.

Around back are the connections for the power brick and USB cable.

A closer look at the control panel.

The unit comes with one B&W and one color ink tank.

Printer maintenance is accomplished by lifting the scanner top which allows access to the ink tanks and print head.

Because the ESP3250 can be used without a computer I did my testing in stand-a-lone mode first.  To be truthful, all 3 of my home systems decided to fail at the same time and I didn’t have anything to use for the tests, so while waiting for the delivery of a new laptop I played offline.

Setup is simple.  I consists of taking off ALL the packing material and installing the print head and ink tanks.  This is the first printer I’ve used that has a separate print head.  There is no mention in the literature of the life-cycle of this piece, only that it needs no regular maintenance unless the user is informed by Kodak to replace it.

The first thing I did was make a copy of  a color document.  The process was simple and intuitive.

The 1.5″ LCD provides the menu and options for performing several tasks.  To copy, select the number of copies, color or B&W and zoom factor.  The default is to copy 1:1 in full color.  Press the start button and you have a faithful reproduction of the original.  The ability to make an offline one button copy is better than the way I have done it.  I no longer have to have the PC on with a scan utility running and then have to print the result.  I’m starting to like this All-in-One concept.

You can also print photos from memory cards offline.  I took an SD card from my Canon SD400 and plugged it in to the printer.  A thumbnail of each photo is automatically available on the color LCD and from here you can select those which you wish to print.  Setup options include paper size, color or B&W print and number of copies.  The resultant prints were very acceptable to my eyes and again the convenience factor of working offline is the selling point for me.  If you have the 3250 connected to a computer, you can transfer the photos to it, although I would think it would be easier to use a card reader or do as I do and have it done automatically with an Eye-Fi card.

Upon receiving my new laptop, the first thing I did was to install the Kodak printer software which includes the drivers and the Home Center Application.  Again, this was a simple task and it installed with no problem on Windows 7.

Using the Home Center affords you more flexibility in dealing with your documents and photos and of course enables their use with other applications.

The scan function can be initiated from either the Home Center or from 3250.  The output can be in several formats including PDF and JPG.  One interesting feature of this device is that you can put multiple photos/documents on the scanner and it will differentiate between them and provide individual outputs.  The scanner was recognized by other software on my system, such as PaperPort, so it is not necessary to use the Home Center for the scanning function.

With the edit utility, simple edits can be made on photos before printing, but I would guess most people would use a more advanced application.  The only 2 options available are red eye reduction and something called Kodak Perfect Touch.

The Print Pictures screen provides more options to edit the output including tone changes.  From this utility you can email a photo, link to another photo editor, save it to a file and preview the output before committing it to print on paper.  Speaking of printing, if you use Kodak photo paper the printer recognizes this and sets the print quality accordingly.

Kodak promotes their line of ink jet printers as money savers because of the price of their ink.  I usually don’t buy into marketing hype, having been in the field for a good part of my career, but I can say that a pair of ink tanks for the ESP3250 cost about half what it costs for my Canon.  Of course this assumes the tanks are of the same size and you can print the same number of pages per tank.  I have no scientific results to show, but it appears to me that I am getting the same number of pages per tank on the Kodak vs my Canon iP1800.

The wildcard for the cost of consumables  is how long the print head lasts and its cost.  It does have a one year warranty, but after that you’re on your own to buy a new one.  I’ve checked their web site and can’t find a part number or price for a replacement print head.

I must admit that I have not been a fan of Kodak in the past.  I’ve never seen them as a high-tech outfit, but they may be on to something with this All-in-One.  By using it I’ve freed up real estate on the desktop and now use one less USB port.  My only complaint is that it’s noisier than the Canon when printing.  Looks like I have an excess  printer and scanner.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Printer

KODAK ESP3250 All in One Printer Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 3, 2010 at 11:39 am.

HP’s A826 Compact Photo Printer is designed as an easy and fun-to-use, space-saving photo printer. Featuring a nice color touch screen and a housing that looks like something from Wall-E, it at least accomplishes that goal. How is it otherwise?

The basic specs are:

• 7 Inch Touchscreen
• Prints up to 5×7″
• 100 Sheet Internal Paper Tray
• Lab Quality Photos that are Fade and Smudge Resistant
• 8.46 Lbs (WxLxH) 10.4″ x 14.65″ x 15.12″

The box includes the printer, AC power cord, a stylus, CD, quick-start guide, basic users manual and a handful of other documents.

The unit and everything in the box (but the power cord)

The A826 is a ‘stand alone’ printer designed to replace the ‘kiosk experience’. It is primarily designed to print from memory cards (it takes all of the common formats) and USB drives, but can be connected to a computer as well. It finds images quickly on all of the cards and thumb drives I’ve tried it with so far- but not on portable hard drive (probably because it did not recognize the folder structure). When it finds images, it presents them as thumbnails for you to select with a touch.

Once an image is selected, you can print it as is with a touch of the print icon on the screen, edit the image, or ‘get creative’ with it. When you are done, you hit the print icon and the image will print in 30 to 90 seconds, depending on size. You can also make the image into a slideshow, album, or index sheet.

So much for the basics. Let’s look at details.

The A826 is styled in an almost toy-ish way that does not seem to blend in with most other computer gear. It does have a small footprint and is easily moved, almost deserving of the occasional ‘portable’ label it gets. (Let’s clear that up right now. The A826 is tethered to an AC outlet, does not have an easy carry handle, and the stylus tends to drop out when it is moved- so it is ‘compact’ but not really ‘portable’.)

Starting at the top, the paper loader is hidden beneath the top cover. It holds up to 100 sheets of 4×6 or 5×7 sheets and the top covers keeps them clean and safe. Once you figure out the loading, it is quite easy but somehow the graphics provided don’t quite explain it well.

The upper front of the unit is dominated by a big, bright full-color 7″ touch screen. The screen is bright, colorful, and fun. The interface is icon-based and easy to figure out. Below the screen is the stylus ‘shelf” with the stick stylus. You can just touch the screen, but the stylus makes everything more accurate.

Screen, stylus, card slots, and cartridge door to the right

Below the stylus, the unit features several slots and jacks for cards (CF, XD, SD, MS/Duo) and USB. Below this panel is the paper slot and folding tray. Beside the slot is the door to access the #110 three-color cartridge.

The power button is located low on the back of the left side. When turned on, the unit sings a cheerful little tune and flashes a short show.  The power cord plugs in the back, near a USB-B (square) connector for the computer- and that is about it for the layout.

The software in the unit is very user-friendly. Once you select an image, you can edit it (crop, remove red-eye, or adjust brightness) or ‘get creative’ with it. Under this option you can add frames, captions, and clip art, and/or text or captions. You can also change it to sepia-tone, ‘make slender’, etc. or make it into an album (photo/scrapbook). You can keep adding effects as long as you want.

Because the clip-art, frames, etc. are pre-loaded, you are pretty much stuck with the options included. While the quality of the clip-art, etc. is good, I felt that many of the choices were better suited to a pre-teen girl than general purpose (even the sound effects, etc.- I really sometimes feel like this is poised to be sold as a Barbie(R) toy by replacing the pale turquoise front panel with a pink one!)

Some of the clip art choices. Lots of 'cuteness'

Using the software is very intuitive and kinda fun with the biggest catch I saw being trying to remove effects- you remove an effect by selecting it again and looking for the ‘remove last’ option.

The print quality is great- it looks like a drug store print. Good colors, quick drying, whats not to love? Overall, this printer is indeed a lot of fun to use- easy, pretty fast, and lots of useful options (especially for young girls). It is also well-designed, compact, and seems well-made and reasonably sturdy.

Original sample image, not printed out

Actual prints- clockwise from upper left- original, clip art, drawing, and sepia tone

There is a downside. The printer is rather expensive- Amazon.com is selling them at this time for $220. A print cartridge costs about $20 and does about 55 prints per HP’s calculations. A pack of 100 sheets of photo paper runs about $10. The average price per print, just paper and ink is 30-40 cents, not including any part of the printer’s purchase price. A local chain drug store offers great digital prints with a few more editing options for less than 1/2 that cost. I can even email them in and pick them up in an hour.

You can knock the per print price down with smart shopping and there are definitely reasons you would pay the price for the convenience of quick sharp prints right here and now. One idea I’ve seen is setting up your own ‘print kiosk’ at parties and gatherings. I think the oddest thing about this printer is that so much of it, from the start-up sounds to the clip art, reminds me of a toy for pre-teen girls. I can easily imagine it coming with a sticker pack of unicorns and rainbows to decorate the printer with- but at $200+, I cannot imagine giving it to that age group.

Bottom line- other than the costs, this is a great machine!

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Printer

HP A826 Photosmart Compact Photo Printer originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 4, 2010 at 9:21 pm.

When I was a little kid, the most technological thing I ever got for Christmas was a Blip game. These days almost every toy is techie in some way. Mattel has even taken the completely non-techie activity of nail painting and turned it into a geek toy for girls. The Barbie Doll’d Up Nails Digital Nail Printer interfaces with a PC to let your 8yr or older little girl create her own custom nail decals that paint right on her fingers. She can even import her own images. You can one for $149.99 from Toys “R” Us.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: Kids, Printer, Spotlight Gadgets

Barbie Doll’d Up Nails Digital Nail Printer originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 6, 2009 at 12:50 pm.

If either the Epson Artisan 800 printer or the Epson WorkForce 610 printer, both recently reviewed here on The Gadgeteer, is on your gift list, you’re in luck.  Epson is offering both printers at greatly reduced prices and with free shipping if you order by December 5.  The Artisan 800 is $129.99 directly from Epson, after a $170 instant rebate.  The WorkForce 610 is also available from Epson for $129.99, after a $70 instant rebate.  Both printers are all-in-one devices with Wi-Fi connectivity.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, News

Tagged: Printer, Sale

Sale on Epson printers (ends 12/5/09) originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 4, 2009 at 1:04 pm.

We’re a three laptop/one printer household.  Our printer/scanner/copier is several years old now, and it still works well – except for one thing.  It’s not wireless, and it’s stored in a cabinet with no desk space around it.  Printing requires connecting the laptop to the usb cable, balancing the laptop in one arm while getting the print job started, and then hoping your print job isn’t a long one.  I had given up on scanning – who wants to hold a laptop long enough to scan an image, much less a document?  I had been thinking about replacing the printer with one with WiFi capabilities, and  I had decided I wanted to get a different brand than the one I’ve used for years.  I just wasn’t satisfied with the depth and richness of colors that I got from my current brand of printer.  But what to choose?

I had read Julie’s review of the Epson Artisan 800 earlier this year.  It sounded like a great printer, but it was a bit more than I wanted to spend at $300.  I was happy when Julie chose me to review the Epson WorkForce 610 printer.  At $199.99, it was more in my price range, and it had all the features I wanted.  So how does it work?

First of all, the WorkForce is big and heavy.   It’s bigger than my current printer.  It’s very black with a shiny black top and a silver band.  The printer looks great, but that glossy black makes it a bit hard to photograph.  It has a card reader for xD, SD, MMC, Memory Stick, and about 10 more, and a Pict-bridge input on the front.  It has a large control panel that tilts through a full 90-degree range for comfortable viewing.

Hardware Specifications

Printing Technology – 4-color CMYK drop-on-demand MicroPiezo® ink jet technology
Ink Palette – 4 individual ink cartridges with Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black inks
Ink Type – DURABrite® Ultra pigment ink (smudge, fade, water resistant, and highlighter friendly)
Light Resistance / Print Longevity – DURABrite® Ultra pigment ink (smudge, fade, water resistant, and highlighter friendly)
Minimum Ink Droplet Size – 3 droplet sizes, as small as 2 picoliters
Maximum Resolution – 5760 x 1440 optimized dpi
Black Text – Black text up to 38 ppm;  laser quality up to 15 ppm
Color Text – Color text up to 38 ppm;   laser quality up to 9.3 ppm
Scanner Resolution – 2400 dpi (9600 x 9600 dpi interpolated)
Standalone Color Copier – Color: Black/White, Draft: Normal
Maximum Copy Size – 8.5″ x 11″ (pc free)
Compatible Memory Cards – SD(various types), xD (various types), Memory Stick (various types), CF, MultiMediaCard
Fax Speed – Modem: 33.6 Kbps – as fast as 3 seconds per page
Fax Memory (pages) – Up to 180 pages
Weight and Dimensions – 18.3 lb, 18.1″ x 22.1″ x 12″ (open for printing)
Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, compatible with 802.11 n, Ethernet – 10/100, Hi-Speed USB 2.0, PictBridge, Bluetooth with optional Photo Print Adaptor from Epson
Eco Features  -  Uses up to 70% less power than a laser printer, ENERGY STAR®  qualified , RoHS compliant ,designed to be recycled

Included in the Box

Printer
Phone cable
Power cable
High-capacity cyan, magenta, and yellow print cartridges
Ultra high-capacity black cartridge
Installation / software cd
Start Here guide, Network Installation Guide, and Quick Guide

First step is to power up the printer and make setup selections.  Next, install the ink cartridges, open up the paper holder and catcher, and add paper.  After the cartridges are installed, there is an “ink charging” step.  Documentation says charging takes about three minutes and it does consume some ink.  “Your product ships with full cartridges and part of the ink from the first cartridges is used for priming the product.”  The Start Here guide walked me easily through these steps.  Now we’re ready for setting the connectivity.  The WorkForce 610 can be connected with a usb cable, or with wired or wireless networking.  I’ll be using WiFi connectivity.

There is a setup wizard that helps you quickly establish your wireless connection if your router broadcasts its name.  Because our router doesn’t broadcast its name, I had to use the advanced setup option in the Network Installation guide.  The printer setup option walks you through the connection.  Basically it entailed entering the SSID (the router name), choosing the security type, and entering the security key.  All this is entered using the  numeric keypad, much like texting on an old cell phone.  The WorkForce connected to our router almost instantaneously on the first attempt.

Now that the WorkForce 610 is connected to our network, I installed the drivers to our laptops.  Drivers are included for Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Mac OS X.  I successfully installed the drivers to two pcs running Windows Vista Home Premium (one 32-bit and one 64-bit) and one running Windows XP.  Each connected with no problems.  I’m liking this printer already!

Printing works effortlessly.  After submitting the job, there is a brief delay while the job is transmitted to the WorkForce.  Pages print FAST!  I tried various papers and modes for printing a text document.  I used some of the premium bright white paper included with the printer with both draft and “text” mode.  With draft mode, the printout was very light. Close inspection of the printout shows that the text is very “stripe-y”, with bars of black, gray, and white.  This paper/mode combination is unacceptable in my opinion for anything other than editing for grammar, spelling, or layout.  I wouldn’t use draft at all on premium paper.  Trying the text setting with the premium paper gave me a beautiful printout.  The text is sharp and clear and it looks great on the heavy, white, thick paper.  Close inspection of this document shows a solid heavy ink line.  There’s no ink savings in this mode, but it’s worth it for the quality of the printing.  This mode/paper combination is perfect for submitting even the most important report.

Next, I tried printing on cheap copier paper from my local office supply store.  With the draft mode, the printout was still very light with the stripe-y appearance.  Again, I wouldn’t use this mode for anything other than editing.  I tried the higher-quality text mode with the cheap copier paper, and I got a beautiful document with sharp, clean printing.  I don’t think draft mode is even suitable for my daughter’s homework printouts.  But that’s no problem, because even the higher-quality mode prints the pages much faster than my old printer.  I’m not worried about the higher ink-consumption with the higher print quality.  I’ve done quite a bit of printing for this review and Rachel has printed out homework several times, and I still can’t see a drop in the ink levels when I check the status of the WorkForce.

Printed on premium bright white paper

Then I tried some color printing using a photograph.  I printed the same picture, uncorrected, on the premium paper and on a piece of Epson premium glossy photo paper.  With the premium bright white paper, the photo prints clearly and sharply enough, but the colors are muted and drab.  Printing on the photo paper is a different story.  The photo prints sharp and clear, and the colors are bright and rich.

Printed on premium photo paper

I printed photos from my computer, but you can also print pictures from memory cards in the card readers or from a camera connected directly to the printer with a Pict-Bridge connection.  Use the controller panel to select the pictures you want to print.  You can even choose to correct your picture or allow the printer to do automatic corrections as it prints.  You can fix red-eye or filter your pictures to print in black-and-white or sepia.

The WorkForce 610 can also be used as a stand-alone copier.  I tried copying a color image (the back of an SD card package).  Again, it’s sharp and clear with good color and readability.  I also photocopied text and got a copy that’s almost identical to the original.

Color copy

One nice feature that I’ve never had on a printer at home is an automatic document feeder.  The feeder can hold up to 30 letter-sized pages and up to 10 legal-sized pages.   It can be used with the copier, scanner, and fax modes.  I tried it with the scanner mode so I could get images of all the print outs for this review.  The feeder worked easily and quietly.  I gave it a randomly arranged stack of copier and premium pages, and it had no problems feeding them in.

Automatic document feeder

Speaking of quiet paper feeding…  I found that the WorkForce is not quiet when it is pulling in the paper it’s going to print on.  The printer clanks and clicks as it pulls in the paper, and I even noticed the paper bounces around a bit in the input support.  Despite the noise, it’s never had a mis-feed using either premium paper or cheap copier paper.  It’s not so noisy that it’s a deal-breaker for me, but it is quite startling if you are near the printer and someone starts a print job from another room.  Epson says the noise level from the printer is 40 dB.  The printer seems noiseless while not printing.  I haven’t noticed any fan noise at all.

As I said earlier, I scanned in several documents to include in this review.  I used 300 dpi for these documents because I was going to put them on the internet.  Despite using the lower scan resolution, the images are still sharp and clear when I examine them with a photo viewer and zoom in close for inspection.  I used the Epson Scan program that was installed at the same time as the printer driver.  It worked effortlessly with the WorkForce to get my documents scanned in and saved on my computer.  The Scan program works in three modes – home, office, and professional.  The “home” mode makes a lot of decisions for you about setup, but it will not work with the document feeder for some reason.  I don’t understand this.  Sometimes I may want a basic scan of a stack of papers, and I don’t want to stand there and feed them in by hand.  The “office” mode leaves more of the setup options to you, and you can use the document feeder.  The “professional” opens up all setup options to you, and you can use the document feeder.  If you select the Epson WorkForce 610 as your source, you can use other programs to acquire images.  You can also start a scan from the control panel and store the image to a memory card you have inserted in the card readers.

The printer has a feature I’ve never seen before, but I do remember Julie mentioned in her review of the Epson Artisan 800.  You can print special papers directly from the controller panel.  Choose from wide-ruled or college-ruled notebook paper, graph paper (quad-ruled), and stationery with a background photo (selected from a memory card).  I tried printing out the quad paper, and it’s a really nice piece of graph paper.  No more mad dashes to the store late at night when my daughter realizes she’s out of graph paper and needs some for homework.

I didn’t try out the fax for this review.  I don’t have a landline at home.

Something of great discussion in the comments for Julie’s Artisan review was the huge amounts of ink the 800 used.  It turns out that the printer setup defaulted to doing a head cleaning each time you did a print.  Epson apparently heard and listened to the complaints about this ink-wasting step.  There is still a head-cleaning process, but you have to choose to run it when you notice your print quality is degrading.

I think the Epson WorkForce 610 is a great printer.  It produces great printouts, copies, scans, and photos.  It prints quickly, and is very quiet except for that moment when it starts to feed the paper in.  It’s also eco-friendly.  It’s Energy Star rated, and it helps you save money on ink if you choose to use the draft mode.  You can save paper by using the manual double-sized printing option.  The individual color cartridges saves money and waste because you can replace only the color you need.  I’m very happy with this printer, and I think Epson is going to be my printer of choice for the future.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear

Tagged: Copier, Fax, Printer, Scanner

Epson WorkForce 610 Printer Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 27, 2009 at 9:02 am.

DYMO has updated their LabelWriter line (The Gadgeteer reviewed the LabelWriter Twin Turbo back in 2006) with the release of their 450 series. The line includes:

• LabelWriter 450
• LabelWriter 450 Turbo
• LabelWriter 450 Twin Turbo
• LabelWriter 450 Duo (not available until Nov. 2009)

All four are dedicated thermal label printers that connect via USB. The Duo and two Turbo models provide faster printing than the base model. The twin model allows you to keep two labels loaded (for example, you can keep stamps loaded in one of the slots). The yet unreleased Duo model allows you to print plastic labels in addition to the regular labels.

I received the LabelWriter 450 Twin Turbo for review.

Included in the Box:

• The Label Printer
• Power adapter and cord
• USB Cable
• DYMO Software (for Mac and Windows)
• Starter roll of 130 1 1/8″ by 3 1/2″ labels
• Starter roll of 50 DYMO Stamps Postage Labels

The Printer

The printer has a small footprint and nice cord management underneath. The power cord plugs into the left plug, while the USB cord fits in the right:

The inside of the printer contains a very nicely designed sticker explaining how to load your labels. Considering the quantity of manuals I have scattered about my house, I really like this feature.

They even include a a reminder to move the guide against the label on the slot.

I like the general simplicity of the design, and the thoughtfulness of providing some cord management in the back of the device, but I frankly miss a power switch. Unless you unplug the adaptor, you will get a nice steady glow for the two blue LEDs in the front.

Printing Labels

The printer provides two (hence “twin”) spools to print labels on. There a number of different kinds of labels you can print with this printer. They even have some special use options like business cards, name tags and specialty labels available on their website.

The primary tool for printing labels is the included application Dymo Label (Version 8). It is available for both Windows and Mac OSX. I installed both applications on my MacBook Pro (I run XP in VMWare Fusion).

Both applications look identical (save for the look and feel of their respective interfaces). The application opens in the Label tab allowing you to select the label you are printing to:

Notice the image of the attached printer that clearly displays which roll you are printing from. You can even select that it prints from both rolls.

The designer tab provides many options to add features like the date and time, barcodes, counters or graphics. The Address Book allows you to store addresses in the application, and provides read-only access to  the Mac Address Book or Outlook:

You can even select multiple addresses to print out on separate labels. An Address Fixer can verify the address as listed in the DYMO Label Address Book. It does not work addresses in the Mac Address Book or Outlook, since these are not editable in the application.

Printing from Other Applications

I installed the DYMO application on Windows to primarily test the ability to print from within Word. My first install failed to display the icon in Word, so I checked the site for information. There is a known issue with Office 2003 if you do not have the latest updates. I did, so that did not solve my problem. I did notice a later version of the application (version 8.1) and when I downloaded and installed it, I was warned that Word was running in the background. Once I closed it and continued the install the icon appeared in my main toolbar of Word:

You can select any address in the document and click the Print Label button to print the label. You can even click the button without first selecting the address and it will find the address for you:

You can quickly select the layout, printer, and the roll to print from. This dialog box also contains the Address Fixer button that verifies the address before printing. In this case it indicates that the address is invalid.

This is a very convenient LabelWriter. Especially when you need to print out a few labels, no more struggling with the full sheet of 30 labels. The cost is very competitive. A quick search of similar labels shows a sheet of labels slightly smaller labels (1 x 2-5/8-inch) comes to $.013 per label, while I found the DYMO labels for $.023 a label on Amazon, though that was at a substantial discount over the retail price. Regardless, even at a premium, the ease at which you can print one or two labels is worth it to me over trying to feed the same sheet in multiple times. Yes, I have done that, I am cheap.

Printing Postage

A big deal with this printer is also the ability to print Postage. DYMO partners with Endicia to print postage.

The application allows you to select the type of mailpiece, the weight, and service you request. You are limited to First Class or Priority (if applicable). You can also see the balance of your account. You have to create an account at Endicia, and can load additional funds to it as needed. The minimum you can add to your account is $10.

You also must print on approved labels from Endicia. The cost is $20 for a roll of 200 (which includes the cost of shipping). So essentially it will cost you a $.10 premium for each stamp you print. I go back and forth on the value of this, but even a cheapskate like me thinks a dime is fair exchange every once in a while to avoid having to go to the Post Office.

Filed in categories: Home Tech

Tagged: label, Printer

DYMO LabelWriter 450 Twin Turbo Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 4, 2009 at 9:11 am.

I’ve been using a Canon Pixma IP6000D color ink jet printer for quite a few years now. I haven’t had any real complaints about it except for the fact that I’ve not been able to find ink locally for the past year or so. That’s why I was happy to say yes when Epson asked if I would like to test drive their All-in-One Artisan 800 printer. It’s a printer, a copier, a scanner and a fax machine all in one package. This printer even includes some fun little bonus features that I’ve not seen on other printers.

Hardware Specifications

Printing Technology – Ultra Hi-Definition Printing Advanced MicroPiezo® 6-color ink jet printing with DX5™ technology
Ink Palette – 6 individual ink cartridges (Black, Cyan, Light Cyan, Magenta, Light Magenta and Yellow)
Ink Type – Claria Hi-Definition Ink (smudge, scratch, water and fade resistant photos)
Light Resistance / Print Longevity – Up to 200-year album storage. Lasts up to 4x longer than photo lab prints
Minimum Ink Droplet Size – 5 ink droplet sizes, as small as 1.5 picoliters
Maximum Resolution – 5760 x 1440 dpi
Black Text – Black text up to 38 ppm
Color Text – Color text up to 38 ppm
Scanner Resolution – 4800 dpi (9600 x 9600 dpi interpolated)
Standalone Color Copier – Copy Modes Color, Black/White, Text, Graphics, Photo
Maximum Copy Size – 8.5″ x 14″ (Legal) with Auto Document Feeder
Compatible Memory Cards – SD, xD, Memory Stick, CF
Fax Speed – Modem: 33.6 Kbps
Fax Memory (pages) – Up to 180 pages
Weight and Dimensions (W x D x H) 23.8 lb, 18.4″ x 23.0″ x 7.8″
Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, compatible with 802.11 n, Ethernet – 10/100, Hi-Speed USB 2.0, PictBridge, Bluetooth (optional)

Package Contents

Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One printer
Ethernet cable
Phone cord
Power cord
6 ink cartridges
Driver / software CD
Start guide
Basics guide
Network install guide

The Artisan 800 is not a small printer. It’s pretty heavy and has a larger foot print than the Canon printer that I’ve been using for years.

It’s made of Black plastic (both shiny and matte), with a Silver band running around the center.

The front of the printer has all the user controls.

There is a power button, CD tray extender button, an adjustable touch screen display, unlock button for the touch screen, the paper tray and the media / USB slots.

The touch screen display can rotate upward in order to adjust the view.

You can rotate it 90 degrees so that you can easily interact with the menus when you’re standing in front of the printer.

The color touch menus are bright and easy to understand.

The buttons are large and finger friendly.

It’s easy to do a quick ink level check.

Insert a memory card or USB flash stick in one of the slots on the front, to print images saved on them.

The touch screen menu will automatically bring up the photo menu, so that you can cycle through the images on the inserted media to print. You will have the ability to crop, rotate and enlarge the photos right from the touch screen display – no computer or photo editing software is needed.

The bottom edge has a fold down door that will expose the paper tray and CD tray. The CD tray is normally hidden, until you press the CD Tray button. It then extends slightly from the slot, so that you can place a blank writable CD in the tray.

Using the included Print CD software, you can print images on your blank CDs.

Printing is quick and the results are pretty cool.

The Artisan has a pull out paper tray that can hold up to 120 sheets of letter-size or A4 plain paper or when extended, the tray can hold up to 50 legal-size sheets. This tray can also hold up to 20 sheets of 4×6 or 5×7 photo paper at the same time that you have the letter-size paper loaded. The photo paper goes in the top tray (not shown in the image above – but you can see the grey guides where the 4×6 paper would sit).

The tray itself feels somewhat flimsy, but I’ve not had any issues with anything jamming or breaking.

An output tray can be extended to catch newly printed documents. Like the paper tray, the output tray also feels kind of flimsy. I do wish that the plastic was thicker. I haven’t had anything break, but it just doesn’t feel like it’s built to last.

To load the ink cartridges, you lift up the top half of the printer.

The six color coded ink slots are located in the right corner.

Unlike a lot of printers that I’ve purchased in the past, the Artisan ships with full cartridges. A full set of ink cartridges from Epson will run about $53.

The cartridges are easy to install, but according to one article that I read on Gizmodo, you have to be careful NOT to remove a cartridge before it’s empty. Apparently, doing so may cause the printer to reject the cartridge and you won’t be able to use the rest of the ink in it. Yikes! So far, I’ve not had this happen during my testing…

The connection points for this printer are located on the back. There is an Ethernet port, USB port, phone jacks and the power port. Since the Artisan 800 has WiFi built in, I opted to go the wireless route. Setup does require you to use Ethernet, but once it’s complete, you can disconnect the cable and you’re good to go.

The lid of the printer has a 30 page document feeder that can be used for faxing, scanning or copying.

Just flip the feeder door open, load your paper and off you go.

Individual scans, copies and faxes can be placed directly on the scanner glass by lifting the document cover.

Before you can use this printer with your PC or Mac, you have to set it up using the included CD. The CD includes the required drivers, along with extra software for CD printing.

The first printing test that I tried with the printer, was to print some 4×6 images on photo paper using Photoshop.

Click thumbnail to see full-size image

Depending on the color correction method chosen, the resulting images come out noticeably brighter or darker. In the image above, I’ve used the scanner to scan printed 4×6 images with different color correction settings. The top left is Epson Vivid, top right is Epson Standard, bottom left is Fix Photo and the bottom right is no correction.

Photos are sharp and clear. I used to drag out my little Epson PictureMate Dash whenever I would want to print a 4×6 snapshot. Now, I’ll just use the Artisan.

Next, I tested the printer by printing various press release PDF files that I have received. I tested on both cheap OfficeMax copy paper and samples of Epson Premium Bright White paper.

Here’s a sample of a document that I printed on OfficeMax paper and then scanned. You can click the image to see the full-size version.

Here’s a sample of the same document that I printed on Epson’s Bright White paper and then scanned. You can click the image to see the full-size version.

I found that the cheap OfficeMax paper actually makes a better print. If you look closely at the Epson paper, you can see that there are some ink bleed issues. Nothing that you would probably notice to the naked eye, but it’s nice to know that this printer works just fine with just about any paper.

Regardless of paper type, printing is very fast with the Artisan. I have no complaints with speed at all.

Using this printer to make copies, scans and faxes is very easy due to the friendly touch screen menus and controls. It’s so much  faster and quieter than my older than dirt CanoScan LiDE 500F USB scanner.

This printer as a few really interesting extras that I’ve not seen with other printers. From the touch screen menu, you can print Blue lined graph paper, and lined paper. You can also print coloring book type images and photo greeting cards.  The photo greeting card feature is really pretty cool. You put an image on a media card or USB stick and select a desired image. Then the printer will create a template for you like you see above. Your mark different choices like you would on a scantron sheet, add your handwritten note on the template, put that template on the scanner glass and then choose print. A new image will print out with your handwritten greeting updated in the style you chose. It’s really very cool.

I am really liking the Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One printer very much. It may require a bit more room than my previous printer, but It’s amazingly fast and I really appreciate that I no longer need to dig out my flatbed scanner when I need to copy something, or setup my 4×6 PictureMate printer when I want to print a snapshot. Now I can even print on blank CDs with the same printer. This one’s a keeper for sure.

Update 5/26/09 – A couple users noticed that they were unable to scan to PC or PDF using the touchscreen. I sent a note to Epson and received this response:

It sounds as if your reader is using the Artisan through a wireless connection, and the all-in-one is actually not capable of wireless push-scanning (i.e., from the unit to the computer).  It is only able to pull-scan through the driver when set up wirelessly (i.e., through the Epson Scan software on the computer).  This means your reader must use his computer to initiate the scan.  However, this is a feature that Epson is working on changing in future Artisan models for added convenience.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear

Tagged: Fax, Printer, Scanner

Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One Printer Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 16, 2009 at 6:01 am.

Dell’s little Bluetooth PZ310 Wasabi printer is shipping. They’ve lowered the price from $149 to $99 and it’s available in Pink, Blue and Grey. I really like that this printer doesn’t use ink. But the special Zink (Zero Ink) paper is pretty spendy at 24 sheets for $12 or 48 sheets for $20. Would you buy one?

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Bluetooth Gear, Printer, Spotlight Gadgets

Spotlight Gadget – Wasabi Printer originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 10, 2009 at 4:39 pm.

A typical gear list for a road warrior might include a laptop, mobile phone, digital camera, GPS, along with other bits and pieces. But one gadget that you don’t usually think of when it comes to everyday gear is a printer. That’s not surprising since printers tend to be way too bulky to carry around. Although I recently reviewed a portable photo printer, the Epson PictureMate Dash (PM 260), it seems that portable non-photo printers are a bit of a rarity. That’s why I was interested to try the Bluetooth enabled PrintStik from PlanOn with Bluetooth computers and smartphones.

PlanOn is the same company that brought us the tiny DocuPen RC800 color scanner. So, they know their stuff when it comes to portable electronics for the mobile professional.

Hardware Specifications

Printer Size: 1″ x 10.75″ x 1.5″
Weight: 1.5 lb. (.7K g) including paper cartridge
Print Resolution: Approx 200x100dpi, 200x200dpi, 200x400dpi
Print Speed: Up to 3 PPM
Print Method: Direct Thermal
Batterry Type: Lithium Polymer
Pages per Battery Charge: 30- wireless USB- 30>
Charge Time: 180 minutes to full charge
Pages per Paper Cartridge: 20
Connectivity: Bluetooth and USB 2.0

Package Contents

PrintStik
AC adapter/charger
Power cable
1 Cartridge of Paper
Driver CD
User Guide
Carrying Case,Battery

The PrintStik is very compact due to the fact that it is a thermal printer. Thermal printers do not use ink cartridges like ink jet printers. Instead, they use heat to print on special paper.

The body of the printer is made of Silver plastic and rubberized charcoal colored plastic.

On the Left side is a USB port for connecting to your computer for battery charging and printing, if you don’t have a Bluetooth enabled PC.

The only buttons on the PrintStik are a power button and paper feed button.

Next to the power and feed buttons are three LEDs for connection, printing activity and battery life.

To use the PrintStik, you first have to charge its internal batteries by connecting the included USB adapter or cable to a computer or wall outlet. You also have to install the printer drivers. Now here’s where I come to my biggest complaint about this product. Right now it will only work with a Windows PC or a Blackberry smartphone. This makes this printer pretty limited as far as I’m concerned. Mostly, it’s just a bit annoying that the PlanOn website and even the packaging for this printer say that it will work with PDAs, smartphones and laptops. It’s not until you take a closer look that you learn it will only work with Windows and Blackberries. PlanOn is supposed to be working on drivers for other devices, but it’s not clear when they will be available.

Click thumbnail to see full size image

I don’t have a Blackberry device, so I was only able to test with a Windows laptop. I had no issues getting the PrintStik to print via Bluetooth or USB. You can see a sample of the print quality above. You have to remember, this is not an ink jet printer, it’s a thermal printer. That said, the print quality seems fine for quick and dirty prints of text files and even simple graphics. Also remember, that thermal paper is thinner than regular paper, so it’s easier to rumple and crease.

Printing isn’t very speedy with this printer and the noise it produces while it is printing is noticeable enough that you’d not want to use it in a quiet location like a library.

Paper for this printer comes in packages of three cartridges for $24.99. Each cartridge gives you 20 full pages. So, that’s 60 pages for $25. I guess that’s not totally out of line. Ink for other printers is crazy expensive… But can usually print more than 60 pages per cartridge.

Switching out the cartridges and re-feeding the paper isn’t difficult.

The PlanOn PrintStik is very easy to use and I like the portability. I can understand its usefulness for a business person, but for an average Joe, I’m not sure it would see that much use. I can’t think of any time in the past that I’ve needed a printer while I was traveling. Of course, if I had this printer with me, I’d probably find uses for it to justify carrying it around with me. The $300 price tag and the fact that it won’t work with Macs and non Blackberry PDAs and smartphones keeps me from recommending this printer at this time. That said, if you are a Windows or Blackberry user, don’t mind the price tag and need a very compact printer for your gear bag, this one won’t take up much space )

Filed in categories: Wireless

Tagged: Printer

PlanOn Printstik PS910 Mobile Printer Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 15, 2008 at 9:40 pm.

Do you save a lot of data to CDs and DVDs? Maybe you like to burn CDs with your own collection of favorite MP3′s for your car,
or archive your vacation pictures for safe keeping. Instead of using stick on labels or a sharpie marker to scribble information on the discs,
how would you like to customize your discs and jewel cases with your own graphics? You can do that with special CDs/DVDs and
the DiscPainter from DYMO. I’ve been a fan of DYMO printing products since my review of their
LabelWriter Twin Turbo stamp and label printer, so
I was very interested to see how well this product would perform. Let’s take a look…

Hardware Specs

600 – 1200 dpi
Printer Weight: 2.65 lbs (1.2 kg)
Printer Dimensions: 4.33″ H x 10.62″ L x 5.71″ W (110 mm x 270 mm x 145 mm)
Connectivity: USB 2.0
Power: 100-240V 50/60 Hz external power adapter
Power Consumption: Approximately 36 watts

Package Contents

DYMO DiscPainter printer
3 blank inkjet-printable discs
Software CD
Power adapter
Power cable
USB cable
Inkjet cartridge
Quick start guide

First off all, I have to admit that I don’t copy / save a lot of data to CDs or DVDs very often. And because of that fact, I’ve not had any experience with printers of this type. I think I may have used a Lightscribe printer once before, but that’s about the extent of it. That said, let’s get on with the review…

The DiscPainter is definitely a cool looking little printer. It has a unique shape and a small footprint. It’s interesting to note that there are no buttons or switches on this device.

The front lid lifts up to reveal the tray where you place the CDs or DVDs.

On the back you will find the connectors for the included power and USB cables. No power switch though… hmmmm…

Access to the ink cartridge holder is accomplished by lifting up the back lid. Loading and unloading ink cartridges is similar to the same operation on other ink jet printers. You’ll notice though that the DiscPainter only uses one cartridge. Unfortunately, there are not separate reservoirs for color and Black ink. According to the DYMO website, each cartridge should print up to 100 CDs / DVDs. Of course, that number will vary though depending on exactly what you’re printing.

Once you have loaded the included ink cartridge and plugged in the power cord, you’ll see two status LEDs on the top surface of the printer. One is for power and one is for ink.

The next step is to install the included Discus software. Thumbs up to DYMO for including applications for both Windows and OSX. )

Click thumbnails to see full size image

The software is pretty easy to use. It allows you to import images, paint and add text to the designs that you’ll be printing on to the discs.

Click thumbnails to see full size image

There are three pages of ready made backgrounds (canvases) that you can choose from for your design. There is also a good selection of fonts.

For my first attempt, I imported an image from one of my vacations. After getting the design just the way I wanted, it was time to print it…

All this involves is opening the see thru lid, placing your CD or DVD in the tray and closing the lid. It’s as easy as easy can be. The DiscPainter can print on all inkjet-printable CDs, DVDs (full sized) and mini discs with four print settings: 120 mm hub printable, 120 mm non-hub printable, 80 mm (mini) hub printable, and 80 mm (mini) non hub-printable.

When you press print in the Discus software application on your computer, it will send the design to the printer and then the disc will slide into the back part of the DiscPainter and start spinning.

As the disc spins, it will slowly start moving back out of the printer and you’ll see the image growing on the surface. The DiscPainter uses RadialPrint technology. The image is printed directly onto the disc as it revolves. It can print at Fast 600 dpi (two nozzle passes), Normal 600 dpi (eight nozzle passes) and Best 1200 dpi (eight nozzle passes). It’s a lot of fun just to watch the progress. The operation of printing makes very little noise.

When it finishes (in 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on your quality settings and actual design), you can lift the lid and remove the disc. I didn’t have any problems with the ink smearing. It appeared to be dry almost immediately.

Here’s the first CD that I printed using one of the included glossy blank discs. After I printed it, I realized that I had missed checking the print options to make sure I was printing it at the highest quality setting. By default, the printing is set to Matte style discs and normal quality. I made a second copy of that original design and printed it on the Best quality setting and highest Glossy media setting. Comparing the two discs, I found that the one set to the highest quality and glossy setting had a little bit better color, but it also had noticeable banding of the ink.

Click thumbnails to see full size image

If you look at the image above, you can easily see the tree ring like banding problem that I just mentioned. This is significantly less noticeable when using the Matte setting.

I also created a photo collage CD and printed one of the included canvas designs of a watermelon. The watermelon was printed on a matte CD. I ended up purchasing a pack of 10 Verbatim discs so I would be able to do more tests for the review. Not that it’s all that important, but I prefer the feel of the glossy CDs that were included with the printer. They print slick and shiny, instead of matte and somewhat rough.

It comes down to the question of whether the DYMO DiscPainter is a good value for your money. $279 is expensive for a printer that can only do one thing and only do that one thing, one at a time. There’s also the matter of the one ink cartridge and the ability to find them at your local office stores. From what I’m reading, you’ll most likely have to order them online. But the biggest problem that I have with this product is with the ink banding. I could forgive the price if it printed truly spectacular images. But as is, I would have to say that the print quality is only good. It’s not $279 good, when you could buy a printer like the Epson RX595 that we reviewed previously. This printer is more than $100 cheaper than the DiscPainter, prints on CDs without banding and has many other features, making it a much smarter purchase.

I like the DYMO DiscPainter for its size and ease of use, but I think I’ll wait till the next version before I recommend it as a good buy. Hopefully we’ll see a lower price, at least two ink tanks (color and Black) and no ink banding issues.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, Home Tech

Tagged: Printer

DYMO DiscPainter Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 2, 2008 at 6:15 pm.

I’ve never quite seen the purpose behind owning a photo printer. These days, you can print 4×6 copies of your digital pictures for around twelve cents a picture, by way of online services like Snapfish and Wal-Mart Online. However, for some people, the immediate satisfaction of printing photos at home is entirely worth the added expense of ink cartridges and high-quality photo printer paper. One of Epson’s latest all-in-one photo printer offerings, the RX595, should satisfy even the most particular of these print-at-home types.

This printer is advanced and full-featured, so I’ve split this review into sections covering each of the RX595′s major functions. Below is a table of contents, so you can jump to whatever interests you most about this model.

• The tech specs
• Getting setup
• Printing
• Scanning
• Copying
• Special Functions
• Conclusion

What’s in the box

Epson sent us a retail box containing the RX595 and all its accoutrements, as well as an extra set of high-capacity ink cartridges (a whopping $90 value) and some various Epson-branded photo and document paper types for sampling. They also sent…printable CD-Rs. One of the coolest things about this printer is its ability to print directly on compatible CDs and DVDs. More on that in a bit.

The retail package itself contains:

• The printer itself
• Standard power cable (the kind that comes with a TiVo, VCR, DVD player, etc.)
• CD/DVD print tray
• Six standard-capacity ink cartridges (black, magenta, light magenta, cyan, light cyan, and yellow)
• Printed materials (user manual, warnings, warranty card, etc.)
• Drivers CD-ROM
• Sample print materials – 8.5×11″ glossy photo paper and one Memorex printable CD-R
• Coupons for rebates on Epson printer papers and optical discs

There are a few things worth noting here about the box contents. First off, Epson actually included a drivers CD! This is rare these days – peripheral manufacturers tend to just require users to download updated drivers off the Internet. It’s nice to be immediately ready to go, right out of the box, with no Internet connection necessary. This printer, like every other printer on the market today, does not include a USB cable. This drives me crazy. It costs pennies to manufacture a standard A-B USB cable. Why in the world has it become the de facto standard to not include basic connectivity in the box? I mean, at least a DVD player comes with cheap a cheap composite A/V cable. Would it have killed Epson to include a USB cable in the box? Not only that, but USB cables at retail stores are unbelievably expensive – a coworker was lamenting to me the other day about discovering that Circuit City’s USB cables started at thirty dollars for a 3′ cable.

I also mentioned that this printer comes with some coupons. This seems great at first – lots of $4.00 rebates on Epson photo paper, document paper, and printable CD-Rs and DVD-Rs. Reading the fine print, however, reveals that the user is entitled to use one coupon. Submitting a coupon requires the original box UPC, a copy of the purchase receipt, and the coupon form. This is unfortunate – I’d be far more apt to buy expensive Epson paper for my new Epson printer if I could use all the coupons, rather than being forced to choose one.

The inclusion of some photo paper and the CD-R is nice – this way, I can at least try printing some photos before heading out to buy more paper.

The tech specs

Without even opening the box, the specs show that this thing really packs a punch. It’s an all-in-one inkjet system, which means that on top of printing photos, it can also scan and copy documents, as well as print and copy photos directly from memory cards (with MMC/SD, MemoryStick, xD, and CompactFlash support) and PictBridge-compatible digital cameras.

The physical printer isn’t as big as I expected it to be. It’s definitely bigger than your run-of-the-mill inkjet printer,
but it’s not overbearing in its size. The buttons are well laid out and require no manual to get the gist of the interface. Everything closes up nice and tidy when the printer isn’t in use – the paper entry point has a lid that flips shut, and the space under the scanner bed where your photos and documents appear closes up as well. The scanner lid is highly-polished piano black. While this looks nice and all, it’s a magnet for three things – fingerprints, dust, and scratches. The bookshelf on which the RX595 now resides is directly beneath a window in my apartment, so my cat uses the printer as a launchpad to get up into that window. I’ve already found a few hairline scratches on the lid of the scanner bed, and now keep a dish towel over the thing when I’m not using it. The cat doesn’t seem to mind. She’s now claimed the RX595 as her resting place while watching me work on my home computer.

The printer feature itself is quite high-tech. It uses a “high-definition” ink cartridge system with six cartridges. Rather than stop with your typical black, cyan, magenta, and yellow inks, the RX595 adds light magenta and light cyan into the mix. I don’t know enough about printing and imaging to know why exactly this is so great, so I’ll just have to take Epson’s word for it. It does, however, mean that ink is expensive. A pack of standard-capacity cartridges will set you back $65, while a pack of the high-capacity cartridges brings that price up to $90. I’ve already found generic cartridges online for a fraction of this price, which is good news for those of you who print photos frequently.

The scanner is pretty standard – it’s capable of up to 1200dpi native, and 9600dpi interpolated. I don’t really pay attention to anything that involves interpolation with images – this means that the hardware or software tries to intelligently upscale an image, and it never looks as good as the original. Although my old Visioneer OneTouch 8900 is capable of 2400×4800 scans, I generally scan stuff in at around 300dpi, which the RX595 does quite easily.

Along with scanning images directly to your computer (into photo editing software, for example), the RX595 also has a photocopying feature. This allows you to print up to 100 copies of a scanned document without a computer. This could be handy for someone needing to quickly make a hardcopy duplicate of something, without having to deal with scanning in an image and saving it to PDF or an image format. You can also copy images directly onto printable CDs and DVDs.

The RX595 also has some basic onboard photo editing features, including cropping, color correction, and red-eye reduction. This is great if you just want to toss in a memory card and print off a photo with minimal fuss.

Getting setup

Getting the printer up and running is a fairly painless task – install the software, connect a USB cable between the printer and your computer, turn the printer on, and let Windows do its automatic hardware detection and installation dog and pony show. The “turn the printer on” part has a tiny caveat – this thing takes a few minutes to power on. It has to turn on and charge the ink before it’s ready to print, which is kind of annoying. I tend to turn off all my computer stuff when I’m not using it, in order to conserve electricity. My HP LaserJet 2100tn is considerably faster from hitting the power button to being ready to print, so the delay is taking some getting used to.

The printer’s physical layout is actually pretty handy – the power cable actually connects inside a cavity at the rear of the printer, so it doesn’t stick out at all from the back of the printer. The USB cable plugs in underneath the scanner bed – again, this prevents any wasted space behind the printer due to cables sticking out.

Installing the printer cartridges is also relatively painless. You have to go through the menus on the RX595′s 2″ LCD, and tell it that you want to change the cartridges.

It takes a few seconds for the cartridge bay to slide out, ready to be opened up for installation. It’s difficult to mess up the cartridge installation – the bays are color-coded, and you can feel and hear each cartridge snap securely into its bay.

Once you’ve installed the replacement cartridges, the printer has to charge the new cartriges, which takes a few moments. The RX595′s display keeps you posted on what’s going on, so you know when it’s ready for printing again.

Personally, I’m rather partial to the display on this printer. The RX595 is complex enough that it’s really helpful to know what it’s doing, and switching modes to copy or scan is a lot easier with a display, rather than just pressing buttons and hoping for the best.

Printing

Your main reason for buying something like this is probably for printing photos. The RX595 performs beautifully in this area. I’ve had experience with my ex’s Epson photo printer and, while the quality was quite good, it was s-l-o-w. Printing high-resolution digital pictures as 4×6 standard quality borderless prints is unbelievably fast – in a matter of seconds, you have in your hands a great-looking picture, ready for framing or sharing. The prints themselves look beautiful and dry instantly – no smudging here! I can definitely attest that Epson’s photo papers are worth the premium price. I’ve used photo papers from other manufacturers, including Staples and Kodak, and Epson’s premium glossy photo paper trumps everything else I’ve tried. Borderless prints are truly borderless and look completely professional.

So far, I’ve done my photo printing from Google’s digital picture application, Picasa. I’m a huge fan of the application, and only deal with pictures in Photoshop if I need to actually edit them or otherwise manipulate them. Printing in Picasa is very easy. After clicking the “Print Photos” button in the application, you’re able to select what size photos you want to print.

If you’re printing a 4×6 photo on 4×6 borderless paper, selecting the options to do so is a simple task. Epson even includes the ability to select which Epson-brand photo paper you’re using, so it can adjust itself accordingly for glossy vs. matte, etc.

You can also configure advanced settings directly from the Epson software, including automatic color correction. There’s also a very handy print preview option so you can see the color correction before actually printing a photo. In this particular case, I’m printing a photo on one of the sample Epson Glossy Photo 8.5×11″ sheets that were included with the printer.

I really like the preview option for printing photos. Both ink and paper for this printer add up fast, so it’s really nice to be able to make explicitly certain I’m ready to print before I waste any materials on mistakes. Overall, printing photos is fast, easy, and a completely painless experience.

In addition to its superb printing abilities, the RX595 is also handy for printing documents. I wouldn’t personally use it for such a purpose, since I have the aforementioned LaserJet 2100tn, which is much faster (and considerably cheaper!) for printing black and white documents. However, for testing purposes, I checked out three different papers – the Epson Premium Bright White sample that was sent with the RX595, a sheet of standard Boise X-9 multipurpose copier paper ganked from my office, and a sheet of Office Depot multipurpose copier/laser printer paper.

The Epson Premium paper doesn’t seem to be worth the extra cost. In fact, careful examination of the printouts and the high-res scans of the samples showed that text on the Epson paper feathered a bit. Overall, the RX595′s document printing abilities are perfectly fine, but I’m rather spoiled from my LaserJet. There is just no denying that text looks better from a laser printer. Fortunately, the RX595 is first and foremost a photo printer – and it accomplishes that purpose beautifully.

For your perusal, I’ve scanned in some sample text from all three paper samples, as well as a scan from the LaserJet for comparison. Click the image to see a high-resolution version of the sample.

Epson also included samples of its Premium Matte Presentation paper, which is apparently good for “non-glare photos, craft projects, and signage” – at least, that’s what Epson’s product page says. So, I fired up Microsoft Publisher 2003 and threw together a quad-fold greeting card with a photo, some text, and a logo-type image I found via Google Images. Printed with the “text and images” preset in the Epson software, the result was mediocre. Text looked good, but the photo I used didn’t look too swell. There was no feathering around the text that I saw with printing a plain document, but I doubt you’ll be buying this specialty paper unless you have a real need for it.

Now we get to the fun part – printing CDs and DVDs. The RX595 includes a nifty little tray that slides into the paper output area below the scanner bed. Pop in a printable CD or DVD, slide the tray in, and go to town. I found it best to create my labels in Photoshop (I scanned in a CD and used that as my template) and print them using the included software. The end result looks fantastic – extremely crisp, clear, and professional. The Memorex printable CD-Rs that Epson sent have a nice, finished feel to the label surface – smooth and matte (not glossy), and not at all like paper.

I’m a bit of a Harry Potter fan, and recently got the soundtracks to the five movies that have already been released. My car has an MP3-CD player, so I made a nice MP3 CD of the soundtracks and created a label in Photoshop. It’s not my best graphic design work…I just made it to print a test CD for this review.

This is by far the coolest feature of this printer. When I was in high school, I used to make CD mixes for my friends as gifts, with songs that had some significance to our friendship. I always drew pictures on my CD-Rs with Sharpies,
but this is a much more high-tech way of making a custom, personal gift for someone. Epson recommends burning data before printing the label, but I had no issues printing the CD before putting any data on it.

Epson continues to achieve high marks in their inkjet photo printing technology. They provide high quality inks and
papers for maximum print quality. If you’re looking for a full-size home photo printer, Epson is definitely the way to go. I know that Canon and HP have some good offerings, but I’ve had great success with Epson’s printers, inks, and papers in the past, and the RX595 is proving to follow that reputation quite nicely. This isn’t the best printer for plain text documents, but I’ve yet to see an inkjet printer that performs as well at document printing as laser technology.

Scanning

I found a Visioneer OneTouch 8900USB scanner at Big Lots for $50 in 2003, and have been using it since. I find scanners to be pretty handy at home. My main bank doesn’t have any physical branch locations, so I like being able to scan and archive checks before mailing them. I’m a big fan of mail-in rebates, and it’s great to be able to keep copies of receipts, rebate forms, and UPCs in case my rebates get lost in the mail. I was interested to see how the RX595′s scanner would compare to my 8900, which I have found to be very high quality.

Epson certainly didn’t let me down. The scanner has a 1200dpi optical resolution with the ability to scan at 48-bit color depth. If those terms mean nothing to you, it translates into this: this thing will suit nicely for scanning photos, documents, your kid’s drawings on the back of paper restaurant placemats, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Compared to my Visioneer 8900, the RX595 is fantastic to use. The motor that moves the scanner lamp is very quiet, and there is no delay for the bulb to warm up or the scanner to “stabilize” before actually scanning an image or object.

I do all my scanning directly into Photoshop – I like having control over my scans once they’re on my computer. The Epson scan software can be accessed externally (via the Start Menu or a desktop shortcut), or it can be launched from within a photo application with the installed TWAIN driver, which will allow you to scan directly into your chosen application as a new image.

Epson’s software provides three modes of operation – Full Auto, Home, and Professional. Full Auto allows for worry-free, idiot-proof scanning. Just drop your document on the scanner bed, close the lid, and click the Scan button. The RX595 can intelligently determine what you’re scanning and automatically adjust its settings accordingly. I found this to work pretty well. Even in the Full Auto mode, you can specify a few things about how it saves images to your computer – file names, locations, and image formats. You can even save directly to PDF without needing to have Adobe Acrobat installed.

The Home software mode provides some more options for more adventurous users. You can select a document type, change the DPI of the scan, and enable a few automatic photo adjustments (color balance, dust removal, etc.) This mode also allows you to preview your scan before you actually scan your document or image, so you can make sure it’s exactly what you want. The Professional mode has yet more options, but overall I don’t think they’re particularly useful in most cases – I’d rather do all my color and image manipulation within an application, rather than on the image itself as it’s being scanned in.

Overall, I’m pretty impressed with the RX595′s scanning capabilities. It’s easily replaced my old 8900. There aren’t any features of my old scanner that are missing on the RX595, so it’s a win in my book.

Copying

Along with scanning, the RX595 can make up to 100 copies of an image or document without any computer intervention. The printer powers on directly to Copy mode, so copying is as easy as a real commercial photocopier – put a document on the scanner bed, close the lid, and press the big green Start button. If you want to get fancy, you can specify what kind of document you’re copying (document, graphic, or photo), how many copies you want, and whether you want black-and-white or color copies.

In fact, copying a photo provides many of the same options as printing a photo in Windows. You can select paper size, border and copy options (e.g. if you want to print a page of wallet-size copies of a photo), and what type of Epson photo paper you’re printing on.

I can actually see where this might be handy. It’s a bit of a waste of the expensive ink to make hard copies of documents frequently, but I’ve found myself in a few situations where it would have been nice to be near a photocopier. Not only that, but the ability to copy without a computer makes this feature that much faster and convenient.

Special Functions

Amazingly enough, printing, scanning and copying aren’t the only things the RX595 can do. It’s got a few more tricks up its sleeves, by way of the integrated memory card reader. When you insert a memory card, the printer automatically switches into Memory Card mode, which provides some handy on-screen functions for working with photos on a camera’s card. You can print all the photos on the card right to 4×6 prints, print photos from a certian date…you can even have the RX595 print an index sheet of the photos on a memory card, so you know which ones you want to print.

Not only that, but you scan images directly to a memory card! This is another feature that can be handy when you have someone over and need to copy something on-the-fly. Just stick a memory card in the RX595′s reader, and scan away. It can save scans as PDFs or JPGs, and automatically alter the compression based on the document type.

Again, the RX595 is nice enough to tell you what it’s doing, so you don’t accidentally interrupt it in the middle of something important, like contemplating the meaning of life or trying to translate Russian.

This printer also provides some other specialty features, like onboard photo color restoration and printing a photo directly onto a printable CD or DVD without computer intervention. However, these are the kinds of things I prefer to have granular control over in Photoshop.

Conclusion

All in all, the Epson RX595 Ultra High-Definition All-In-One Photo Printer (try saying that five times fast!) is an impressive piece of equipment. It makes a great all-purpose print center for crafts, photos, documents, and all things graphical. The ability to print on CDs and DVDs is ingenious and truly fantastic, if you ask me. The onboard LCD makes configuration a breeze, and the included software is intuitive and easy-to-use.

I do wish that the scanner lid wasn’t that trendy, ultra-glossy piano black. It picks up fingerprints and cat-scratches too easily, and it’s an unnecessary finishing touch on the printer – this thing isn’t an iPod or a cell phone! My only real complaint, though, is the obvious one – the ink cartridges are ridiculously expensive. You can buy each color individually, but you save money buy buying the entire six-pack at once. Even then, $65 just for ink is a little high. I’ve read in some online reviews that turning the printer on wastes a decent amount of ink, but there’s not really a way to measure or confirm that claim. Regardless, the high cost of ink makes this something that I’ll use for special occasions and times when I really want to print a CD or DVD, but I’ll still be doing all my document printing on my LaserJet 2100tn.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear

Tagged: Printer

Epson Stylus Photo RX595 Printer originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 3, 2008 at 9:23 am.

It’s strange, but in all the years that I’ve been using digital cameras, I find that I rarely print out my photos. I usually just copy them into a folder on my computer and look at them from time to time, or post some of them to my flickr account. Although I have a perfectly nice full-sized color printer (Canon Pixma iP6000D), I have always found it a pain to use for small 4×6 sized snapshot prints. That’s why I was curious when I was approached by Epson to review their PictureMate Dash PM 260 Personal Photo Lab photo printer. I wasn’t sure if this printer would make me excited to print photos, or if I would continue to snap and file as before.

Hardware Specifications

Printing Technology: Advanced MicroPiezo®, optimized for photo printing
Nozzle Configuration: 90 nozzles x 4
Ink Type: 4-color dye
Maximum Resolution (dots per inch): 5760 x 1440 dpi
Minimum Ink Droplet Size: 3 picoliters
Print Speed: 4″ x 6″ photo in as fast as 37 seconds
Built-in Memory Card Slots: CompactFlash® (Type I and II), Secure Digital (SD™), SDHC™, MMC, Memory Stick®, Microdrive® (Type M/H) and xD-Picture Card™
Layouts and Templates: True BorderFree®, classic borders, wallet size, mini-wallets, jumbo-wallets, U.S. passport size, 2″ x 2″ – 3″ x 3″ square photos, portrait packages (four per page and ten per page) and proof sheet
Interface and Connectivity: USB connection between printer and PC, USB connection for external CD-R/RW drives, zip drives, flash memory (thumb drives), Bluetooth (with optional Bluetooth Photo Print Adapter for Epson), PictBridgeâ„¢ and USB Direct Print-enabled digital cameras
Supported Digital Camera Technologies: P.I.F., Exif Print , reads Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) from digital camera memory cards
Paper Capacity: 20 sheets of PictureMate photo paper
Dimensions: 9.1″ x 6.5″ x 8.7″
Weight: 5.3 lb

Package Contents

PictureMate Dash Printer
Paper and ink cartridge for about 20 4″ x 6″ photos
Power supply
Quick Start guide
Printer Manual
CD-ROM containing printer drivers and ArcSoft® PhotoImpression® 5 (PC and Macintosh Compatible)

The PictureMate is a lunch boxed sized printer with a handle that you can use to tote it around. This little printer does not require a computer in order to print your photos. It reads your images from its built in card readers, or an attached USB storage device. If you want to connect it to a computer, you have that option too. Drivers are available for Windows and Mac OS X.

The front of the PictureMate closes up for transport. To open the paper tray, you just press the spring loaded latch in the upper right corner.

When the paper tray is opened, you’ll also see the built in card readers. The top reader slot can accommodate MemorySticks and SD cards. The bottom slot is for Compact Flash Type I and II cards. Other card formats such as MicroSD and miniSD can be used if you have the appropriate adapter.

If we look at the back of the printer, we will find a USB port for external storage devices, a USB port to use to connect to your computer, a power connector, a battery compartment and an ink cartridge compartment.

In addition to loading images from flash cards and USB devices, you can also send images wirelessly from a Bluetooth enabled phone, PDA or computer. To do this, you have to purchase the optional Bluetooth adapter available for $39.90.

The battery compartment is for the optional Lithium ion rechargeable battery which is available for $49.99. Using the battery would make this printer truly portable and a fun device to take with you to family events and functions.

One of the first things that you must do before using the PictureMate is to load the included ink cartridge. Unlike full-sized printers that might have several color ink tanks, this printer has one cartridge that contains four colors. To load it, you just open the compartment door…

Slide the cartridge into the slot, move the locking lever to the lock position and close the compartment door. Totally quick and easy, just the way I like things to be.

The user controls, paper slot and the 3.6” LCD color display are located under the top lid.

The display pivots up for easy viewing. Located behind it is the paper slot which can hold up to 20 sheets of photo paper.

The PictureMate comes with an ink cartridge and 20 sheets of glossy 4×6 inch photo paper. Additional print packs are available with either glossy or matte type paper. The glossy print pack comes with 150 sheets and an ink cartridge for $37.99. The matte print pack comes with 100 sheets and ink cartridge for $32.29. I’m a little confused why the matte print pack only has 100 sheets, but oh well. Regardless, it’s really convenient to buy the print packs as they contain everything you need to print your pictures.

When you power on the printer, it will check to see if you have a memory card in one of the card readers. I noticed that the PictureMate would not recognize my USB flash drive unless I plugged it in while the printer was powered on. It will load the images and display the first image on the LCD display. The user interface is very easy to use. Pressing the 4-way navigation button allows you to cycle through your images.

Pressing the Display button will allow you to change the way you view your images. The default is to view them one at a time, but you can also view them by thumbnail or in filmstrip mode.

When you see an image that you want to print, you can click the OK button to specify how many prints you would like to make of that image, or you can just press the Print button to preview the print.

The Menu button gives you quite a few options and tools to change and / or modify your prints.

Some of the things you can do include choosing the print style. Prints can be borderless, with borders, wallet (prints two images per 4×6 sheet), mini-wallet (4 images per sheet), passport photo, and quite a few other layouts.

Photo modifications include cropping, red eye removal, sharpening, color effects and even decoration. Decorations are little images that you can stamp over your photo. Things like speech bubbles and caption boxes. When you’re satisfied with your photo, press the Print button.

Less than 40 seconds later your color print is ready for viewing (B&W and Sepia pictures take a little longer. There’s a 10-15 second pause before the image starts to print). Photos from PictureMate are smudge, scratch, water and fade resistant. According to Epson:

“Using the PictureMate cartridge and PictureMate paper, prints can last over 200 years in archival sleeves in album storage and up to 96 years in a glass frame in indoor display conditions. See Wilhelm-research.com for test conditions. Actual print stability will vary according to image and storage or display conditions. Epson does not guarantee the longevity of prints.”

I’ll have to say that the prints from the PictureMate PM 260 look every bit as good as prints I’ve received from other photo print places. They are sharp, and have vibrant colors. I tested both the glossy and matte paper and was impressed with prints on both. The paper is thick and the print quality is top notch. I didn’t notice any banding or other defects in the prints.

Here’s an example of a cropped image. If you look at the top picture, you’ll notice the top of a water bottle in the lower right corner. Using the zoom buttons, it allows you to cut that part of the image out. The only problem is that it also cuts the top of my subject’s head off. I would rather see a true cropping tool that would let me do a rubber-band selection.

Here’s an example of two decorations that you can add to your pictures. In this one, I added a speech bubble and a caption box. I then added the text with a sharpie marker. It’s a cute feature that kids will enjoy )

And here’s an example of the same image printed in color, B&W and sepia. I snapped this shot while on vacation this summer. It’s an old gnarly tree at the top of a vortex in Sedona, Arizona.

This is one of those reviews that I write and have problems trying to find something to complain about. I guess if I had to find something to nitpick, I would say that I wished this printer came with a case so that it were truly portable. As is, it might be awkward to carry the printer, the AC adapter and extra ink and paper, without some type of case. (* see update below)

I’ve been very impressed by this portable photo lab. The Epson PictureMate PM 260 is dirt simple to use, prints excellent photos, prints them fast and costs less than $100. The ability to print photos without the need for a computer makes this a great gift for a friend or relative that either doesn’t have a computer, or isn’t very tech savvy. It’s even great for those of us that are tech savvy! I know that whenever I need to print a 4×6 inch shot, I’m going to do it with the PictureMate.

11/21/07 Update

The folks at Epson sent me their optional carrying bag that is available for this portable printer.

This bag is made specifically for any of the 200 series PicturMate Dash printers and is available directly from Epson for $34.99. It is made of nylon and comes with a shoulder strap.

What I like best about this case is that it is play-through. It also has zippered side pouches that are large enough for the AC adapter and a printer pack (paper and ink).

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, Gear

Tagged: Digital Camera, Printer

Epson PictureMate Dash (PM 260) Portable Photo Lab originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 8, 2007 at 10:00 pm.