The printer market is relatively odd, especially when you pay a lot of attention to It. At firs the standalone printer was the only type of printer you could find anywhere. Then all-in-one printers were introduced to the public but the main target for them was the small business and home office user. This was about the same time when the only models of standalone printers that still sold well were photo-centered ones.

Nowadays it seems like most of the multifunction printers recently released on the market are aimed at the photo enthusiast. Most likely manufacturers were bored of perfecting office features for multifunctions and as soon as they achieved that they asked themselves whether also including good photo capabilities in the same devices is possible.

A good example for this is the Epson Stylus Photo PX710W printer. Epson photo printers have always been remarkable and good value for money. But in the case of this multifuncton printer you get much more than you've ever dreamed of. The design of the printer is the first thing you notice.

The whole printer is black. The top half of the printer features a glossy black finish while the lower part as well as the top side (also housing an inset scanner) comes in a matte finish. The control panel is easy to spot and features a bright color LCD screen that serves well for navigation and previewing photographs. On the right side you can find a square of nine buttons that are also used for navigation while on the left there's a more specialized selection of buttons. Moving on to the lower part you'll discover the memory card slots, a USB port that also offers PictBridge capabilities and the paper tray with a 100 sheet capacity.


Since these Epson photo printers were mainly designed for photo enthusiasts, as mentioned before, under the hood they house six inks including magenta, light magenta, cyan, light cyan, yellow and black. All six cartridges are placed in the same holder. The printing quality for both photography and text is great. However the six-ink printing may translate into higher maintenance costs on the long run.

The only thing that's a bit odd is the printing speed the manufacturer claims. While Epson states that this printer can do about 40 pages per minute (which would be more than impressive if possible for an inkjet), reality begs to differ and claims a more realistic 7 pages per minute.

This still isn't bad but far from what you're told it's meant to do by the people producing it. On a final note, several features on this printer definitely make it worth a buy. It's got WiFi, which is always appreciated, six-ink printing which offers good quality and a CD and DVD printing function. On top of all that it isn't slow either so if you're out there scouting for a multifunction printer that can offer good photo printing then there's no reason why you wouldn't stop to give the Epson Stylus Photo PX710W a look.

Epson's line of PictureMate photo printers is currently competing with Canon's Slephy line of portable photo printer. Both companies have a lot to offer in terms of both quality and portability. Except Epson seems to be a small bit ahead in popularity. Their Epson portable photo printers, four at number currently on the market, going under the name of PictureMate, seem to sell a lot, and on top of that even receive only possitive feedback. This is a rare achievement in a world of instant gratification and numerous options everywhere you look.

The extremely-portable Epson Picturemate Show, also known as the PM 300 comes with an eye-catching 7 inch color LCD. The design of the printer is extremely friendly and perhaps could be called family oriented (well, maybe not as much as the Canon Selphy line, but its a good thing because some people might find the blue and pink colors used on the Selphies a bit too childish). The fact that it features a handle implies portability from the first moment you set your eyes on the PM300. The only thing that tends to spoil this portability a bit is the lack of an included battery. But you may purchase a separate car adapter to charge it.

While it will work just fine with a PC it was mainly designed to be used out of the house. This means it offers variety of possible connections to digital cameras and other types of photo storage solutions. The PM 300 supports nearly all types of memory cards known to man including CompactFlash, Memory Stick, xD, and SD cards. As soon as the card is inserted you can preview the images on it and decide which you'd like to print. With the help of a PictBridge port the same can be done with a compatible digital camera. If you own a camera mobile phone and you'd like to print from that as well, you can with the help of an optional Bluetooth adapter (that you'll have to purchase separately from the manufacturer).

The main idea to the large display is to let you preview images you'd like to print from memory cards. It comes in handy with digital cameras as well but it's not vital since digi cams already have a preview LCD screen of their own. But the really nice part about it is that it lets you edit your photos and add effects to them before printing. For those special moments when you're in the house and planning to print with the help of a computer, you'll find that the software that comes bundled is pretty nice to have and great help.

When considering to purchase these Epson portable photo printers you must take into account both good parts and bad parts. On the bright side, the PM300 offers great photo quality, portability and decent speeds for an inkjet portable device. What you won’t find so great is that it limits you to 4 by 6 inch prints. Ink prices may seem a bit high for some also. Epson sells paper and ink as a kit, 100 sheets and the ink for $29.

Last time anyone checked it was laser printers that were on the bulky side, offering a million features in just one device and breaking down your desk. Inkjet printers came in smaller sizes and didn’t create such a problem as space. I can think of quite a few all-in-one inkjets that still manage to offer a relatively small form factor. Well, it’s clearly not the case with the Epson B-500DN color business ink jet printer that competes with color laser printers both in functionality and size.



This particular Epson printer is advertised by the company as being affordable to maintain. On top of that, it’s said to offer print speeds that are as good as in the case of lasers and much better color printing quality.



This is one printer where you could say that design clearly doesn’t matter. Being kind you could say that it looks rather odd. Leaving kindness aside the general impression it gives you is that of a big black plastic brick. The prominent area on the left houses the four ink cartridges this printer uses to work. The ink cartridges are Epson’s own Durabrite pigmented inks and offer good quality for an inkjet printer. But whatever the manufacturer may claim, they don’t measure up to laser quality, at least for text and graphics. When talking about photo printing however, the tables are turned and you’ll get great quality and vivid photographs. Also, as Epson claims, the maintenance costs are really low. You can find black cartridges in three different capacities on the market that last for 3000, 4000 or 8000 pages. The color ones are available in 3500 or 7000 sheet varieties. Using the high capacity ones you’ll get to save a lot of money. Paper capacity on this printer is more than reasonable. You’ll find a paper cassette on the front that can hold up to 500 sheets of regular paper. Under that there’s another feed tray (you’ll find it hidden under a cover) which will allow another 100 sheets.

For navigation you’ll get to use the simple control panel that features a very hard to read two-line display. The five control buttons are arranged in a diamond like shape, whereas right next to them you’ll find two additional buttons for on/off and paper feeding.  Connectivity is limited to USB and Ethernet which are both found on the back of the printer.

There’s not much to be said about the Epson B-500DN color business ink jet printer aside from this. It’s a business inkjet printer that does come pretty close as quality and speed to a laser. It comes with a similar price tag too. And if you seem to think that the price you pay initially is high, well, you end up saving a lot throughout using this printer. This was rarely the case with inkjets which generally cost a bucket full if you keep using them. The print quality is good and photo quality is great. This is the main reason why you’d want to settle for this instead of a laser. The only inconvenience to the B500DN is that it’s rather loud when printing and some users may grow to be annoyed with this.

The Epson Stylus Photo P50 is a standalone printer that excels in the only function it offers. It provides high quality photo printing and some versatile features. Much like all of Epson's new printer range, this model too shows off a gloss black finish with a dotted texture. The tray on the back folds up to become an input tray whereas the front panel will uncover an output tray that includes a two-level telescopic extension.



This High Definition color printer makes perfect use of Epson's Claria Photographic ink to produce photos that have better overall quality and last longer. Epson claims up to 98 years for prints assuming you hold them in a photo frame, or over 200 years if they are stored in an album. The ink layout is the usual one. You'll find a piezo-electric printhead inside and plug-in ink cartridges, six at number. Apart from the standard cyan, magenta, yellow and black you'll also find light cyan and magenta that are considered 'additional colors'. Six-ink printing means better photo quality since it provides a broader range of colors (which includes realistic skin tones). Moreover, smoother color transitions can be achieved as well. While the light versions are considered additional, be aware of the fact that they are heavily used for printing and might run out before your other ink does.

Since the P50's main talent is photo printing, you'll discover that its printing speed is not extraordinary, especially for plain text prints. Still, Epson claims speeds of 38 pages per minute in draft mode. But who cares about draft mode and the low quality involved with that? More realistically, printing in good quality mode, you'll achieve speeds of around 5 pages per minute for text. Photo print duration won't keep you waiting forever though. A 10 by 15 should come out in around 12 seconds (as tested by Epson) and a bit longer as tested by the regular user. More like around the 40-50 second area. But yes, the quality is worth the time spent.



No extra features were made available, like memory card slots, networking or a LCD screen. You'll end up connecting it to your PC through your usual USB port. At the end you'll notice that like most other printers, this color printer has good points and bad points. Six-color ink printing results in high quality photos that last throughout time and you'll be getting a nice feature to print on CD's or DVD's. Bad points include no card slot, no display, no multifunction features at all and reasonably high maintenance costs. The reason you'd buy this printer? Its high quality photo output. That means, if you're only looking for a printer that can offer exceptional photo quality (from your desk, exclusively connected to your PC) and aren't interested in other features at all, then the Epson Stylus Photo P50 with a relatively affordable initial price may be the device for you.

Epson's Stylus line was developed to deliver the best print quality possible. The company is well known on the market and perhaps provides some of the best printers for any type of user and environment, from office printers to compact photo printers that serve as great buddies for your digital camera and allow you to print wherever your feet manage to take you. An older Stylus model, the Epson 1290 also offered high quality printing. But it had several issues including ink leakage. Before moving up to a new model, Epson managed to improve the 1290 and solve most of its problems. It's follow up model, the Stylus Photo 1400 is a printer that has very little problems and provides high quality printing for a very affordable price.



Most printers in the 13 inch Stylus Photo series include pigment-based inks. These inks have the advantage of lasting longer than the dye-based type. This is why it appears somewhat odd that Epson decided to used dye-based Hi-Definition Claria inks in the case of the 1400. But the manufacturer also explains this decision and claims that the lifetime of prints produced with this ink is of up to 98 years (behind glass) and possibly even longer if kept in dark storage. The photos 1280 chugged out were guaranteed for much less. They would maintain their qualities for 26 years behind glass.

While you can't consider it slow, the Stylus Photo 1400 doesn't really compare to some of the inkjets offered by Canon or HP. It will take you about 2 minutes to print a high-quality letter-size page and a minute for a 4 by 6 photograph. The conclusion is that it's not the best choice for people who are impatient or constantly in a hurry. Other users will however be completely satisfied.



The sleek and shiny black design with silver accents of the Stylus Photo 1400 makes it blend well in modern homes. However it's not one of the small printers out there as it measures 24.2 x 12.4 x 8.8 inches and gets even bigger when you open it up for use. It's inks are loaded from the top and the 1400 includes six ink cartridges (magenta, light magenta, cyan, light cyan, yellow and black). The media you can use ranges from 4 by 6 to 13 by 44 inches and can be as thick as 0.11 mm. Your only printing options are somewhat limited in the case of these epson stylus photo printers. PictBridge is supported thanks to a USB port on the front of the printer and you'll be able to print directly from any compatible digital camera. There's no memory card slot however and the only other option for printing is through the old but reliable USB. Epson also includes the ability to print on CD's and DVD's and you'll find a slot for that right on the front of the printer.

As a conclusion these epson stylus photo printers are well built, well designed and provides good quality prints. As downside it's rather slow and lacks a memory card slot as well as any type of networking feature.