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Best Prices
Epson Picturemate 280 InkJet Printer
Epson PictureMate 280 |
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Despite the switch to digital most people still want prints of their snaps. Which printer should you choose? Ursula Seymour, who writes for PC Advisor, Mac World, Computer Buyer and The Sunday Times among others, picks the very best Click to view Top 5 Photo Printers.
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Best for simplicity (Epson PictureMate PM 280) |
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 Forget about learning to use a computer in order to print out your digital shots. With Epson's PictureMate PM 280 you can browse, edit, enhance, print and store your photos without going near a PC or Mac. (Compare Prices) |
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Film cameras are on their way to being consigned to history, ousted by the instant gratification and ease of use provided by their digital rivals. But while even the most Luddite amongst us seem to be able to get to grips with taking digital pictures, printing them out can still be too complex a process to take on at home.
Well no more with the new breed of photo printer that removes the need to familiarise yourself with the mysteries of computers. Instead you can just plug in your camera via a USB or put your memory card into one of the slots on the front and browse your shots on the printer's built-in screen.
Such printers have been around for a while, but the latest addition is a CD writer, which means you can not only browse and print your pictures on your printer, but also burn them onto a CD for storage, thus rendering your computer completely unnecessary.
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 The first printer maker to come up with this bright idea was Lexmark with its P450, but sadly the innovation was not matched by impressive photo quality. Now Epson, which has a reputation for top quality output (see our recommendation for Best Portable Printer), has brought out the PictureMate PM 280, this is a portable printer like the PictureMate 500, but there are a few key differences that make it perfect for the technophobe.
These include the CD writer, which means you can burn your photos onto a disc, giving a computer-free way of storing all your precious pictures. The 2.5in colour LCD screen not only lets you view images but also do simple editing tasks like red eye removal and cropping and even add effects such as changing from colour to black-and-white or sepia, adding frames and text.
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Automatic Picture Improvement |
It will even automatically help you to improve quality of dodgy shots with what Epson calls PhotoEnhance technology, which recognises what your shot is of, for example a person or a landscape, and optimises the quality for this type of subject. This technology certainly seems to work as it outputs top-notch images, despite using just four inks (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) rather than the six used by the PictureMate 500.
Because of it's target market Epson has made this printer really simple to use The technology website TrustedReviews says: "This is a very convenient, portable photo printer and Epson has worked hard to make it supremely easy to use."
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 Like the PictureMate 500, the PM 280 only outputs 6x4in photos and each one takes under a minute to print out and costs 20p. Perhaps not the cheapest way to print out your photos -online photo labs can offer cheaper rates - but this is by far the simplest and most convenient way to go. And best of all you won't have to go near a computer.
The PM 280 hasn't been out long enough to win many awards, but it's certainly won its fair share of praise. TrustedReviews gave it a rating of 9 out of 10 and summed it up by saying "print speed is good and print quality is excellent, so there's little to fault. CD backup is the icing on the cake". US PC Magazine gave it an Editor's Choice award stating: "The Epson PictureMate Flash is in a class by itself." (Compare Prices) |
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Pros -
Ideal for technophobes, it's truly simple to use
No need for a computer
Can burn photos onto CDs for storage
It's portable
Cons -
Limited to 6x4in prints |
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