REVIEW: Epson PictureMate 290

The PictureMate 290’s (£179/$249) improvements over its predecessor are subtle but significant – it’s faster, more affordable, and easier to use – and allows you to produce lush borderless lab-quality 4×6-inch photos in just 37 seconds.

Designed for people like me who can’t be bothered with the hassle of a computer, the car battery-shaped PictureMate 290 lets you view your snaps on its large 3.5-inch LCD colour screen before putting ink to paper. And a new zoom button means close-up sections of the image can be selected and printed. Direct printing from a digital camera and memory card is another bonus, as is the ability to burn all your photos onto CD-RW/DVD-ROM for safe keeping.

The LCD screen acts as much more than a photo viewer. Its user-friendly menu provides access to a range of editing and printing options such as crop and red-eye removal, and you can choose from colour, black-and-white or sepia prints. Different photo effects such as clip-art and text are also easily added. Flexible layout options let you choose to create an index card for quick identification of photos or to print photos with or without a border. An optional rechargeable battery is available for printing on the move, though the extra expense isn’t really worth it.

Keeping the printer in tip-top shape is a snap thanks to Epson’s PicturePack, a convenient solution that includes paper and ink cartridge, providing everything required to print premium quality photos. The PicturePacks are available in 50 or 150 sheet packs – resulting in a cost of around 20p per print. Though not cheap, this is still on par with printers from other manufacturers.

Just when I thought that home photo printing couldn’t get any easier or better than the PictureMate 280, Epson rolls out this amazing small-format photo printer. For those wanting optimum image quality without the need for manual photo manipulation, the PictureMate 290 is a stunner. I’ll definitely be upgrading … [9]