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.

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