The very high quality of Epson photo printers has taken some consumers by surprise. Most reviews of the Epson PictureMate printers are positive ones and the devices seem to offer a lethal combination of great features, print quality and reasonably low printing and acquiring costs. PictureMates are photo dedicated printers, as the name suggests, that target the owner of a digital camera that still enjoys printing out his works of art. One such model is the PhotoMate Zoom (PM 290). The printer has been launched in September 2007 and still manages to compete on the market.



The Zoom is in many ways similar to its brother, the PM 260 (Epson Dash). Similarities include design, most features and even price tag.  But the Zoom is slightly more filled with features. It also includes a CD burner (and DVD reader) that will allow the transfer of photos from memory cards or USB sticks straight onto a CD. This means you won’t really need a computer to move all the pictures from your digi cam onto a CD to make room for more pictures. Epson also made burning CD’s a very easy task.

You’ll just have to insert your memory card then press the ‘save to CD’ button. All instructions are displayed on the LCD, and if should be able to follow them with no problem. Another very nice option you have is to print an index sheet of the photos you want to burn on the CD. This way you’ll have thumbnails of the pictures as well, and know what is where.

The design of the printer is very similar to other portable ones you’ve seen on the market. It somewhat resembles a lunchbox and has a handle that makes it easier to carry the device around. Epson also provides an optional battery so that you can print from anywhere without having to rely on a power source to plug the Zoom in. On a fully charged battery, you’ll be able to print around 140 photos.

The top cover of the printer, once you open it, works as a paper tray. On the top you’ll also find the 3.5 inch LCD (that’s great for previewing photos) and the control buttons. Aside from using your PC, with the Zoom you may print from a digi cam through PictBridge, memory card, USB stick or CD/DVD.

Both the speed and photo quality are great on the Epson PM 290 Zoom. It will take somewhere in between 40 and 50 seconds to print out a 4 by 6 inch photo, depending on what device you are printing from. This makes it one of the fastest photo printers on the market. The quality of the Zoom is actually outstanding for a small photo printer. It isn’t quite professional photo printer quality but it won’t disappoint either.

Epson also claims that it takes 200 years before they start to deteriorate if kept in an album (dark storage) or 96 years if you keep them framed up on the wall. Photos produced by the Zoom are also water and scratch resistant. As a conclusions, if you want to print some high quality 4 by 6 inch photos on the go and aren’t very tight with money, this is one of the Epson photo printers that can do that. Retailing for a bit under $200, it is a very satisfying choice.

The small office life is tough at times and pleasant at times. Because small businesses are so small, that means few people have to handle several responsabilities. It also means that you'll equip the office with most likely only one printer that will work for the whole group of people. This is why it's so important to chose a reliable printer that can offer every single thing you need.



There won't be any 'hey Bob, use the printer in the next office because this one is broken down'. Because there won't be any printer in the other office. Ricoh specializes in exactly this type of device. While Ricoh printers aren't the top of the line when it comes to design or size, they generally are robust, reliable and capable.



A good choice for equipping your small office is the Ricoh AC205 printer. Right out of the box you'll be getting digital copying, printing, scanning, faxing as well as networking capabilities. The AC205 uses an all-in-one toner cartridge design. The black and white printing is supposed to be 22 pages per minute and the digital copying is done at the same speed. Since it offers a duplex, you'll also be able to save on paper by printing on both sides of the sheet while copying.

What seems to be a major inconvenient most of the time is how slow the printer switches from standby and warms up. Although the actual printing speed is indeed fast, it proves to be more than annoying to wait for the device to warm up before it starts printing, if you're not having a very busy day and it does end up entering standby constantly. In fact, the warm up time is actually much higher than the actual printing time.

The Ricoh AC205 printer supports a wide variety of media including labels, envelopes, transparencies or card stock. Copying quality is ok, but printing quality is not so great. Think of this as the fast printing and copying machine that can handle large amounts of paper in a short period of time, but won't exactly throw out state of the art presentation documents.



For the money you're paying, you'll get several advanced features. These features include printing documents straight from an USB flash drive, scan directly to USB flash or scan to e-mail. You won't need to use these on a daily basis but it's sometimes really handy to have them. After setting it up to work for all computers in your office, it should handle the printing needs of all the users with no problems at all. The maximum 550 sheet capacity means you'll have to remember to change the paper in it decently often if your printing needs are high. The printer settings utility software that it comes with will allow the user to program fax features (like phone book entries) straight from the PC. Super G3 33.6kb faxing works at a 3 second per page transmission speed and should be satisfying for most users.

Canon's Selphy line was designed to be fun, colorful, easy to use and fit for a family. It sits quietly on the shell waiting to be bought by the user that wants an easy photo printer, without all the headache involved in setting up a complex device, installing drivers, setting up a workgroup and so on. That same user will have lots of benefits when purchasing a Selphy. One of them is mobility. It's made for the family that wants to go out on a picnic on a Saturday and take along the digital camera and the printer, for some quick photo fun.



To make this even easier, the Selphy CP790 comes with an unique storage basket that can conveniently hold the paper, the ink and the printer itself. You could also fit in there the AC adapter, cable or optional battery pack (if you've purchased one). But more importantly, it's easy to carry around since it features a handle. A special locking mechanism guarantees that everything is in place in the basket.



Due to the dye sublimation technology, the printer might end up eating a lot of ink. But Cannon also claims that prints produced by the Selphy CP790 are water resistant and will last for 100 years before starting to deteriorate. And the quality the printer provides, combined with it's portability, might make it worth spending all that money on ink. The printer comes with two paper casettes. One is business card sized while the other one is for 4 by 6 inch postcard paper. Other sizes of cassettes and paper are also available for purchase, including 4 by 8 inches and 3.5 by 4.5 inches.

As design, the printer comes in a bright green color, and features a set of conveniently placed buttons. Controls include an on/off button, menu, a directional control key, edit and back buttons. Right in the center of the directional 'wheel' you'll find an ok button as well. Right above the buttons you'll find a 3 inch LCD that will display useful information like what memory card slot is currently in use, how many images are ready to be printer, the size of the images and so on.

Canon's Selphy CP790 is very versatile when it comes to devices it can print from. It works as a stand alone unit, and will print from memory cards or digital cameras. It can also be connected to a PC via USB. If the user is interested in printing straight from a mobile phone, there's also an optional Bluetooth module offered by Canon. When it comes to speed, the CP790 does a little better than previous model CP780. It will produce a 4 by 6 inch photo in 55 seconds. Not so fast yet not too bad either, for a portable dye-sub printer.



The only inconvenient to the Selphy CP790 is how fast it runs trhough ink and paper. On the bright side, paper and ink are sold as a kit. A 36 sheet set will cost $15 . If you print a lot and want to save a few bucks, the 108 kit goes for $35. All in all Canon's Selphy CP790 is one of those easy photo printers that offers great quality as well.

The Selphy CP780 could easily qualify as a photolab in the user's pocket. Selphy photo printers are generally small, portable and offer great photo quality for photography enthusiasts. If you're used to carrying your digital camera around all the time, it's not hard to simply pack the Selphy CP780 too, specially since it also offers an optional battery pack. The design of the Selphy is straight forward and friendly.



The interface is easy to use, there are several large buttons and a 2.5 inch TFT LCD color screen that will offer previews of what you are printing. Navigation is easy and it has menu support for 7 languages. Canon designed this one for functionality as well as fun. It was meant to be a family printer, so, to blend in better it's being offered in a variety of colors including pink, blue, silver and white.



First special quality of the printer is versatility. It provides three memory card slots that allow the user to print without the help of a PC straight from their memory card. Without an adapter you'll be able to use Compact Flash, Microdrive, miniSD, SD, SDHC, MMC, Memory Stick (+ Pro) and Memory Stick Duo (+Pro) cards. Due to the PictBridge technology you'll also be able to print straight from your compatible digital camera.

Moreover, if an optional Bluetooth adaptor is acquired, a user can also print from any mobile phone or wireless device. For short, you'll be able to print off just about any device that can store photos, with no problems at all. The Selphy CP780 is obviously not a printer without flaws. The main flaws of the device are two : the speed of printing and rather large consumption and cost of consumables.

Now, since it's meant to be a family printer and photography doesn't usually mean you're rushing, speed shouldn't be an issue for most users. Consumables, however, is another matter. Due to the fact that the printer uses dye sublimation technology it tends to be rather wasteful and bleed ink cartridges dry. As usual, you either end up paying more upfront then make up for it with cheap, cost effective printing, or you pay less and end up buying expensive consumables as you go.

For Selphy photo printers it's generally the second version. And it's initial price tag really is low. It will cost you just around $100 to buy. Also due to the technology it uses, you'll have to purchase Canon media (a pack of photo paper usually comes bundled with a cartridge).



Another thing you might need to know is that you'll have to have some space behind the printer when you're using it. This is because the paper needs to pass in and then out the back of the printer. The Selphy CP780 will work right out of the box. Its user will just have to plug it in or attach the optional battery (if they've decided to purchase one) then insert the ribbon cartridge on the side.

Japanese company Ricoh specializes in manufacturing office equipment. One of their products, the CL3500N Ricoh printer, was designed to suit the needs of small offices that need to print a large amount of documents at very fast speeds. The appearance (design) of the printer is standard, as in, it looks just like you'd expect it to, it's simple, it's bulky and it blends in with all the other office equipment.



It weighs 'just' 72.6 pounds which means holding it on a desk is simply out of a question and you'll need several people pushing and pulling if you decide you want to move it to some other location. At the center of the printer you can find a two-line backlit screen that provides you with a simple and intuitive control menu, for when you need to navigate directly through the printer and not from your PC.



Just to the left of the output bin you'll find a panel. Lifting the panel will uncover the toner cartridges. As you receive the Aficio CL3500N it will already contain a black and a color cartridge that will last for about 2500 pages. When the ink runs out you'll replace them with high capacity cartridges that can work for printing around 6000-7000 pages.

The CL3500N Ricoh printer is one of the fastest in its range. This makes it an ideal candidate for people who get annoyed while waiting what seems to be ages for a page to print out, or for offices that have higher printing needs. If more users are connected to the same printer, that will obviously amount to a lot of documents that have to be processed on the same device. This is where speed is so important. A slow device might mean you'll have to buy at least 2 for a busy office, or considerably slow down your operations.

Restocking your Aficio CL3500N with paper won't slow you down either. The sheet capacity is satisfactory. The printer has a standard capacity of 630 sheets of paper and a maximum of 1690. Moreover, if you want, you can acquire a duplexer for it, which will make printing even faster and more convenient. As an average, the printer can work with about 16000 pages a month, but the manufacturer claims that you can even print up to 50000 pages in some month without risking damage or repair costs.



Now, one of the primary reasons for buying a color laser printer is print quality. The Ricoh Aficio CL3500N doesn't do so well in this department. The quality is ok for what most businesses need (if you're printing letters, documents, reports it's not so important how sharp and crisp the font looks) but compared to other color laser printers it can be considered low. This is where the compromise was made. For printing large amounts of paper at a very high speed, some of the quality of the prints was lost. When deciding whether to equip your office with a Ricoh Aficio CL3500N you'll have to straight up decide if it's fast speeds you are interested in or if you value print quality more.