Epson Picture Mate Photolab and Printer

Epson PictureMate Dash PM260 Compact Photo Inkjet Printer (C11C694201)

Our Rating: 5 out of 5 

Did you know that the typical photo printed in a print lab only lasts around 50 years? According the Epson, photos printed with the Epson Picture Mate Photolab & Printer last much longer – 4 times longer to be exact.

I think what they mean is that photos won't begin to fade for 200 years (4 times longer) than photos created in a print lab. I don't know that much about printing, but I don't believe that photos created in a print lab will fall apart the second they hit 50 years old.

I do believe that photos printed with the Epson Picture Mate Photolab & Printer last longer. It uses advanced MicroPiezo technology developed by Epson to help your photos last longer and look their best. This technology also improves the quality of the photos printed.

With the Epson Picture Mate you can print from digital camera, USB flash drive, memory card, or by bluetooth for mobile phones and other devices. Other than the whole last 200 years thing, another cool feature of the Picture Mate is it's large easy to see LCD screen measuring a generous 3.6 inches.

Being able to see exactly what you’re printing before you hit print is a great benefit to avoid wasting photo paper. You can also easily  navigate around using that same screen, so it should be suitable for anyone ranging from a beginner to an expert.

The printer can run as a standalone machine or with your computer. It includes software for Windows (many versions, including Windows XP and Windows Vista) and Mac OS X. Linux users could also probably find a way to run the software (maybe with WINE) or find an alternative.

It was difficult to find things about this photo printer that I didn’t like. However, it only prints 4x6 photos. If this is all that you are looking for, this printer is pretty much perfect, but if you’d like to print something larger than you may need to go for a full size all in one style printer.

The Photo Mate prints at a high quality (5760x1440 dpi). Epson guarantees that you get at least 150 photos from every cartridge, making it a little more budget friendly than one might expect. If you don't, they will pro-rate the price of the cartridge and refund you a fraction of the price. I don't know anyone who has taken them up on this deal, but it seems that this will protect you from purchasing a bad cartridge and losing money.

You probably won't end up asking for a refund if you print 148 photos, but if it's down around 100 it would be worth your time.

Epson PictureMate Dash PM260 Compact Photo Inkjet Printer (C11C694201)