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. (more…)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

Inkjet all-in-one machines are definitely beginning to take over from inkjet printers as the main consumer printing device. For very little more money, you have all the extra functionality of scanning and copying. Lexmark has a range of all-in-ones to suit all prices and the Lexmark X5470 sits above its entry-level devices and offers faxing as well as photo printing.

Lexmark‘s text print is of reasonable quality, if a little heavy. There’s little spatter evident, but it still looks slightly overprinted. Colour graphics are not too hot, either, with obvious banding in areas of solid colour. This is particularly true of colour photocopies, where the main colours are also reproduced considerably paler than when printed direct.

Photo prints, as we’ve noted before on Lexmark machines, are considerably better than plain paper prints, relevant to their main rivals. Colours are a little over vivid, but nothing objectionable, and there’s some micro-banding noticeable, though prints are still OK for everyday use. (more…)