The Panasonic KX-FLB851E is a laser-based multi-function machine, offering mono printing, copying and faxing and colour scanning. Panasonic claims it's particularly easy to use and also points to its three output bins, which help separate out its key office functions.

This is a substantial machine, looking more like a traditional office photocopier than a multifunction device. The well-designed control panel lies along its long side and its 250-sheet paper tray also opens from the side, so you stack paper into it landscape fashion, rather than portrait. An optional second tray can be fitted underneath, to increase the machine's overall capacity to 750 sheets.

Under test we produced 10ppm when printing from a PC, through the machine's single USB 2 connection. While not as fast as claimed, this speed is still fine for the kind of small workgroup into which the device is likely to be put.

Print costs, at around 2.8p per page, are on the high side for a laser device, but in the end actual costs will depend on the price you can find for the toner and drum consumables.

The verdict is that while there is little doubt that this is a robust and serviceable office multifunction machine, the asking price is considerably higher than for equivalents from rival manufacturers. For this reason, we suggest you examine machines with a similar spec from a variety of suppliers, before deciding which to go for.

Via itreviews.

You might be forgiven for thinking that Epson's Stylus Photo R265 is an all-in-one machine, it's that bulky. Quite why it has to be as high off the desk or as deep in its body is hard to fathom, but as long as space isn't a problem, at first sight it has a lot to offer.

Epson claims a lot for its Claria, dye-based inks, including that they’re very smudge and water-resistant. This is true of most dyes when used with absorbent paper, of course, but you shouldn’t have any trouble with smudging here, even if you stack prints straight from the printer.

The company also claims fade resistance of 200 years, but in an album. This means the test prints were covered and kept mostly in the dark when tested; you would expect long life under these conditions.

The conclusion is that while the Stylus Photo R265 reproduces photos well for robust finished prints, plain text printing is not nearly as good, running costs are higher than average and print speeds are not impressive. Although the price of the machine is low and you have the convenience of CD printing, there’s better value to be had, even at this comparatively low price point.

Via trustedreviews.

When Lexmark introduced its first small-format dedicated photo printer, the P315, last year, my reaction was unenthusiastic. But its replacement, the P350 ($129.99 direct) makes it clear that the P315 was the hardware equivalent of a 1.0 software release. This year's model is fully ready for prime time.

The P350 is faster than the P315, has the ability to print from a computer, and prints photos that are essentially waterproof. The P315's photos were so lacking in water resistance that even after ample drying time, they would still smudge when touched with moist hands. But I held a freshly printed photo from the P350 under running water and rubbed it, with no visible effect.

Output quality is certainly good enough for snapshots to hand out to family and friends. Every photo I printed displayed true photo quality, with subjects ranging from landscapes to snowscapes to portraits. That said, a few flaws prevent it from being ideal. In our test photos that include people, for example, skin tones looked a touch yellow. In most cases, the color shift simply made people look tanned, but in one case, the face looked jaundiced.

A more global issue, though, is that most of the P350's photos show a slight case of differential gloss, with some areas reflecting light better than others. You can see this effect only from some angles, but at those angles it gives the photos an odd look. You also have to be careful about how you handle photos you care about, because they're relatively easy to scratch. After I finished evaluating photo quality, I noticed several subtle scratches that were caused just by shuffling through the stack and sliding the back of one photo over the front of another.

Print speed is a little on the slow side, but well within the typical range for small-format photo printers. The P350 was slightly faster than the A516 when printing from a computer, at 1 minute 30 seconds per photo (the A516 took 1:47), and just a bit slower when printing from a Canon PowerShot S60 camera or CompactFlash card, ranging from 2:04 to 2:38 compared with 1:43 to 2:06 for the A516.

Lexmark claims photos will cost 29 cents each, based on a $29 (street) print pack with enough ink and paper for 100 photos. Ink cartridges and paper are also available separately, but if you buy them that way, you'll wind up with a higher cost per photo.

The P350's one serious disadvantage over the A516 is its higher price, which leaves the A516 safely in place as the Editors' Choice for low-cost dedicated photo printers. But if you do spend the extra cash on the P350, you'll get a larger LCD screen for better previewing, editing features that the A516 lacks, and a reasonably good value for the price.

Read full review on pcmag.

The Epson PictureMate Pal ($150 street) is the least expensive model in Epson's second-generation PictureMate line, but it's by no means a low-end printer. Granted, it cuts a few corners, leaving out things such as photo cropping tools. But when it comes to the two core issues for any dedicated photo printer—output quality and speed—it's among the best I've seen. That makes it less of a low-end printer than a tremendous bargain for the price.

Photo quality is among the best available from current printers, which isn't a surprise, given that earlier models also offered true photo quality. One minor issue is that colors are a little on the punchy side in some of my test photos. Professional photographers or serious amateurs may find this bothersome, but many, if not most, people actually prefer slightly punchy colors.

The new generation of PictureMate printers also uses a new generation of ink. The cost per photo works out to 27 cents, based on $40 (street) for packs with enough ink and paper for 150 photos. Epson says the new inks yield photos that are more resistant to scratches and offer a wider color gamut (or range of colors) than the first-generation inks. Whatever the changes, the new ink is just as waterproof as that of the first-generation printers, which I proved by holding a freshly printed photo under water and rubbing it with no harm done.

Priced at 50 percent more than the A516, the Pal doesn't deliver quite enough more to take over the slot as low-end Editors' Choice for dedicated photo printers. But it comes close. And if your budget is $150, the Pal should be high on your short list.

Via pcmag.

Dell announced that they were releasing two new all-in-one printers: the Dell Photo All-In-One Printer 926 and the Dell Photo All-In-One Printer 966. These two are both upgrades of existing models. The 926 replaces the 924 and the 966 replaces the 964.

Dell rates the 926 at 20 ppm for black and 15 ppm for color. The max resolution is 4800 x 1200 dpi and you have have the choice of printing in four colors or using a photo cartridge for six colors. It is PictBridge enabled and also has memory card slots. It will retail at $100, so it is intended as an entry level model for people who don’t rely on their multifunction for business use.

The 966 is a little more fancy and is rated at 32 ppm for black prints and 23 ppm for color. It has a built-in fax machine and an automatic document feeder, two features that the Dell 926 lacks. It has the same resolution and connectivity options as the 926, but it features a 2.4″ LCD not found on that model. It will retail for $200.

Via PacificInk.