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Epson PictureMate Experience


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I bought the Picture Mate just to crank out 4x6 family shots, and it works very well. I'm not sure what you mean by w/screen and w/o screen. Do the new models allow you to preview? The one I have has an LCD display on the top that allows you to select which and how many images you want, and allows for some cropping via a number of templates, but you can't preview images. Perhaps I can hook up my camera directly, but I just slip the CF card into it. In short, very impressive color quality and no operational problems so far (I've had it for about a year).
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I've got the old version without the preview screen, but I assume that the screen itself will not add too much over your on-camera screen when it comes to previewing your photos for printing, although obviously with the clear benefit of not having to think about that before plugging in your memory card.<p>

Added printer speed would also be worth a few bucks if speed is of the essence, since a top-quality printout does take a while to complete, and for prints to keep, you would not use any setting other than those for top printing quality. Depends, of course, on how much of a speed increase we're talking about.<p>

I assume that print quality out of both printers is the same, and rather excellent quality I feel too, with the added comfort of knowing the prints should last a lifetime, as well as no hidden or hard to calculate printing costs since both the paper and ink is all paid for together. To that, just add the divided cost of the printer itself with the number of prints you expect to make with it over a period of three to four years, and you've got as close to an exact cost per print as it is possible to get with any printer right now.<p> Since you can print whatever you want, exactly when and where you want it, and with the added print longevity, I feel that number is better than what my local photo shops can offer.<p>

Hakon Soreide<br>

Bergen, Norway<br>

<a href="http://www.hakonsoreide.com">www.hakonsoreide.com</a>

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I too considered a Picturemate. For the $US 200 bucks it costs to purchase the printer I can get over a thousand 4X6 prints done at my local photo store. I'm not even factoring in the cost of the paper/ink cartridge. For 4x6's I basically I dump jpgs to a CD or upload to there site. Turn around is usually less than a day and I end up with great prints that I spent a very minimal time preparing/choosing.

 

One really must consider the value of on location/demand printing and the time involved. It's a great little printer but for 4x6 prints I personally cannot justify the cost.

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The older printer discounts down to around $100 and the cost of shipping out hundreds of prints to individuals makes the cost far higher if I go to the lab. Obviously there was a reason for going to on-location printing.

 

What I can't find enough information about is printing from a CF card - if I have RAW photos (for final usage) and JPG (for on-site printing), can I just find the JPG images easily? Or is it easier to plug in the camera and just do it from there?

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Jeff:

 

When I borrowed one for weekend trial I found that printing from the camera was definitely easier than directly from the memory card. The contact sheet IMHO was somewhat combersome. Printing directly from the memory card it would ignore any file formats it didn't recognize and just recoginize the jpgs on the card (I believe it supports TIFF as well).

 

IF you are printing from the directly from the card, I think the extra money for the new model with the display may be definitely worth it over the lifetime of the printer.

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Jeff,

 

I'm trying to decide on a dedicated 4x6 printer myself. I'm thinking for your intended usage the extra speed, print durability (handling by others), lack of plugged ink cartridges, etc. one of the HiTi dye-sub printers might be more suitable for your needs. They've got some very affordable models and the 730 line will even do 4x6, 5x7 and 6x8 prints. I've requested some print samples from them and am curious to see how they turn out.

 

I know I didn't answer your question, but dye-subs rarely seem to get talked about on this forum, so I wasn't sure if you knew that ones comparable in price to the PictureMate existed - I know I didn't until about a week ago. The nay-sayers mostly bash the dye-subs on print longevity. HiTi claims 50 years which would be similar to a traditional print, but one must be wary of a potential bias in their claim!

 

Here's their website:

 

http://www.hitouchimaging.com/

 

... and a couple of reviews to get you started if you are interested:

 

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/hiti_730ps_pg2.html

 

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRINT/HT730PS/HT7.HTM

 

Somewhere out there I read a review of one of HiTi's printers which reviewed printing direct from the card in pretty good detail, but I'll be darned if I can't remember where it was. Bottomline was that it was quite good, but a little image editing in a computer first is always better (duh!).

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