If you've been shopping for a portable photo printer lately you're probably very familiar with Epson's PictureMate line or the Canon Selphy printers simply because they are the best known options for mobile printing. Lexmark, also based in the USA like many other technology companies specializes in providing more affordable alternatives to products from consecrated brands.

They develop and manufacture printing as well as imaging products. While the many Lexmark photo printers on the market do offer good quality, you'll be pleased to know that they also joined the portable printer race with their P350. The Lexmark P350 comes with a white and silver case and a handle that folds up and it's meant to inspire portability.

It measures 9.2 x 5.8 x 5 inches and weighs 4.1 pounds and can in fact be carried around with no problem. Sadly the printer ceases to appear such a great travel buddy the moment you find out that there is no optional battery pack available on the market. It is true that similar products released in the same period of time don't have battery options either, but it would have been nice to be able to purchase one nonetheless. As technology, the Lexmark P350 is a thermal inkjet printer.

Right on top of the printer you'll discover a 2.4 inch LCD screen that swivels allowing for multiple viewing angles depending on what's more comfortable for its user. For control you'll be getting four directional (arrow) keys, an OK button and a back button. Aside from the aforementioned ones you'll also be getting print and one-touch red-eye-removal buttons.

The input tray is situated on the back of the printer and can handle as many as 25 sheets of photo paper whereas the output tray is right in the front. Also on the front you will find a USB port and the memory card slots. There is a very high number of memory cards the printer supports including Compact Flash, Memory Stick, SD, MMC, xD and variations.

The printer uses a single cartridge (tri-color) with pigment ink and can handle quite a few sizes of paper of up to 4 by 8 inch (which is a somewhat atypical format). Upon it's release on the market this printer also introduced two new technologies to the public, Lexmark's Evercolor II ink technology and Perfect Finish Photo paper. The Evercolor ink is, as mentioned before, a pigment based ink that promises a quicker dry time as well as prints that are waterproof.

P350 is pretty versatile as printing and can offer direct prints from a memory card, compatible digital camera, PC or even Bluetooth devices (provided you buy a Bluetooth adapter separately). At the moment of release P350 was one of the most affordable Lexmark photo printers around. While this doesn't make it the highest quality printer and it's printing speed is rather on the slow side compared to competition it remains a satisfying choice. Only clear inconvenience is the lack of a battery pack (optional or included) because it makes the device feel less portable.