Posted to Photo Printers 2009-02-01
The Epson PictureMate Express Edition C11C623001F is a dedicated, personal 4" x 6" photo printer. Most dedicated photo printers use a dye-sublimation technique, but the PictureMate is an inkjet printer, using Epson's unique six-color ink system. Maximum resolution is 5760x1440, for bright, sharp prints. The unit does not include an LCD preview screen, instead you print by picture number using the menus on a text LCD display. Connectivity options include USB 1.1, direct-USB (you print photos directly from a USB thumb-drive), and PictBridge and DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compatible cameras. There is also an optional Bluetooth adapter available. Multimedia card support includes Compact Flash, Memory Stick, SD Card, SmartMedia, and xD-Picture Card. The input tray holds up to 20 sheets of 4" x 6" photo paper (this is the only size supported, although you can choose to print 2 wallet-sized photos on one 4" x 6" sheet). The unit does not operate on batteries, but there is an optional car adapter available.
ValueThe PictureMate gets 5 stars here not for the price of the printer, but for the price per print that you produce with it. Epson quotes the cost as .29 per print. Epson makes Picture Packs, which contain 100 sheets of photo paper and enough ink to print 100 prints, but people using this printer report as many as 150 prints per ink cartridge. The paper can be bought separately in 100 sheet packs, so this makes the cost of printing actually less than the quoted spec. The quality of the prints is easily better than .29 prints from drug and department stores, and rivals that of commercial labs. PerformanceThe PictueMate does well in this category not for speed, but for the quality of the output. As mentioned previously, the output matches that of many commercial labs. And the pictures come out dry, with good color tone and saturation, and are fingerprint-proof (when using Epson photo paper - your results may vary with third-party paper). Prints can be printed with borders or borderless, and the unit automatically crops and resizes pictures to the 4 x 6 inch format. Print speed is acceptable, with a typical print requiring about 80 seconds. SummaryThe PictureMate is hard to beat if you are in the market for a dedicated photo printer, You can buy a Kodak unit for less, but the results do not equal those of the PictureMate. The unit has all the connectivity options you might want (except Ethernet), and the price-per-print is better than some photo print shops. The only feature lacking in this product is a preview LCD screen - Epson has two newer models, which do have this feature. If you're in the market for a dedicated photo printer, take your photos to a computer or electronics store and ask them to print a few for you - you'll likely be surprised by the quality. Pros
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