7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Great Photo Quality on your desktop in about a minute
Date of Review: Jan 10, 2005
The Bottom Line: An excellent choice for nonprofessional photographers who want 'instant' output at a reasonable price and/or some control over the printing process. Have not seen a better alternative for 4x6.
I understand what the prior reviewer was writing, but I honestly believe the expectations were unreasonably high for the average consumer. For a professional, there is no question I would want to use the highest quality across the board. You won't find it in an inexpensive (relatively) printer for a while in my opinion. This printer delivers excellent 4X6 quality when you need it that moment. However, the output has microfine edges on two sides where you break off the margin tabs. For a professional photographer, I would NOT want that type of setup. I would want crisp edges all around.
This is a dye sublimation printer which heat transfers the colors via multiple passes through the printer and then layers a protective coating over the photo. These prints are much more durable than inkjet prints and should not discolor at anywhere near the same rate as inkjet output. As a result, these prints are more costly, but to some extent that cost can be managed. You unfortunately do not get a choice of consumable manufacturers but that could change over time.
Due to it's format, the ink cannot be refilled. You must buy a new ribbon each time. However, the ribbons and paper are bundled together and can be bought in bulk to lower the cost. It is possible to lower your cost to 30c/print buying the 300 packs (6 ribbons and sets of paper) for color. There are no bulk black and white packs as of now and B&W kits run about 50c/print from what I found. You also need to add the cost of a cleaning kit (suggested at each 100 prints to maintain high quality but from a relative's experience you can do slightly less often). You do also have the ability to print different sticker sizes. For many this might not matter, but for a father of two young children, this can actually save you a little cash and give the kids exactly the images they want when they are not commercially available AND at a cheaper cost (about 50c/page). The formats for stickers are 4 x4 (16 small rectangular, 4x2x4 (8 of the small rectangles and 2 larger rectangles) or 4x6. In all cases the blank size is the same.
The output quality is 403x403 dpi which is as good as any printer at a reasonable price that I have seen and greater than most which are in the 300x300 range (as is the HiTi 730 which allows you to print some larger sizes too). I chose this solely because I print 4x6 most often and will use a service for larger prints. If the larger format resolution increases and offers larger sizes in the future, I may add another printer.
PhotoDesiree is easy to use, though it takes a few minutes to get the hang of it's format as it is not necessarily intuitive to use. You also have to remember to hit the button to fit to size if you want borderless prints. You can also integrate photoshop or an outside editor, but seeing the result is not easy let alone saving the result without restarting PhotoDesiree. The handheld editor for those not using a computer is small and cumbersome. As I have a computer, I have chosen not to use that method. It is much easier to use the computer. There is also an 8mp limitation when going from the memory cards directly. I am considering a camera (eos-20d) that would be over that limit and make it's use irrelevant anyway. Other than that, you can put msot of the most popular types of memory card directly in a built in set of reader slots. However, I recommend using a computer if at all possible.
Printer output is relatively quick. After initial processing by the computer, actual print time has ranged from just under a minute to about 80 seconds for me. That initial processing time can be 10-20 seconds.
The bottom line on this printer is that it is an excellent choice for someone who prints a lot of 4x6s for family albums and friends/family if you want control over the process. It is important to buy consumables in bulk to lower the cost and be careful of shipping charges that can drive up the cost quickly. [on a small order a place with free shipping can easily be cheaper than one with a much lower stated cost for the item]. The internet is definitely cheaper than any local store I found. Note that you can print true B&W at a higher cost, but you CANNOT print matte (which personally I prefer to be able to do). This is not a professional's option, but a great home unit.
