Portable Photo Printers - Kodak/Epson/??

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bob Hayden
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Bob Hayden

I need to get a new camera and portable photo printer for use in school to
take pictures of students art projects and then print them for use in their
notebooks. I know Kodak makes some printer docks specifically for their
cameras and Epson makes a nice standalone printer. ANy thoughts on these and
what to look for or what you might recommend? One concern is that the Kodak
seems to have a pretty high per print cost...would like to keep it as
efficient cost-wise as possible.
 
Bob Hayden said:
I need to get a new camera and portable photo printer for use in school to
take pictures of students art projects and then print them for use in
their
notebooks. I know Kodak makes some printer docks specifically for their
cameras and Epson makes a nice standalone printer. ANy thoughts on these
and
what to look for or what you might recommend? One concern is that the
Kodak
seems to have a pretty high per print cost...would like to keep it as
efficient cost-wise as possible.
Click to expand...


I use my Canon CP-330 dye-sub printer for portable uses. Actually I use it
for all of my smaller (4x6 and under) photo printing, hooked up to my PC.

It is completely self-contained (has a replaceable and removable rechargable
Litium Ion battery) and can print from any camera that is Pictbridge
compatible. I've printed to it from my Digital Rebel, A70, and Sony digital8
camcorder with excellent results.

One of the nice things about the Canon dye-sub printers is that you can use
4x6 paper and ribbon, or a smaller credit card size paper and ribbon (very
nice pocketable size), or 4x8 paper and ribbon for quasi-panoramic uses. The
supplied Canon software makes it very easy to add fancy captions and borders
also (when used via the USB interface with a PC). Of course you can also use
what they call 'sticker' papers and ribbons to make multiple (but small)
images on one sheet, that have a self-adhesive back.. I paid $220 for mine a
few months ago and it is quieter, smaller, and faster than my former HiTi
PS-630..



God Bless America!

And HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Bob the Printer


Our web pages are located at:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bdolson/
 
Bob said:
I need to get a new camera and portable photo printer for use in school to
take pictures of students art projects and then print them for use in their
notebooks. I know Kodak makes some printer docks specifically for their
cameras and Epson makes a nice standalone printer. ANy thoughts on these and
what to look for or what you might recommend? One concern is that the Kodak
seems to have a pretty high per print cost...would like to keep it as
efficient cost-wise as possible.
Click to expand...
Try the new HP PhotoSmart 375. It will connect to any PictBridge camera
and has bluetooth built in too. Fantastic machine.
 
Mushroom said:
Try the new HP PhotoSmart 375. It will connect to any PictBridge camera and
has bluetooth built in too. Fantastic machine.
Click to expand...

I have the HP 375B (with the battery). I believe bluetooth is an extra cost
option, and not part of the standard package. One thing I just discovered
yesterday is the HP can read from portable hard drives like my CompactDrive
that I use to offload from my memory cards.

Note, however HP is generally not the cheapest printer in terms of consumable
costs.
 
Michael Meissner said:
I have the HP 375B (with the battery). I believe bluetooth is an extra cost
option, and not part of the standard package. One thing I just discovered
yesterday is the HP can read from portable hard drives like my CompactDrive
that I use to offload from my memory cards.

Note, however HP is generally not the cheapest printer in terms of consumable
costs.
Click to expand...

For the Photosmart 375 or 325 printers see the HP 700 Photo Value pack, which
provides an ink cartridge and 125 sheets of premium glossy photo paper:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/cgi-bin/...e_type=product_detail&script_name=product.cgi

The Photosmart 375 is more compact than the Epson Picturemate and has the added
advantage of battery operation (on the Photosmart 375B model).

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP
 
<< From: "Bob Hayden" (e-mail address removed)
Date: Thu, Dec 2, 2004 6:40 PM
Message-id: <[email protected]>

I need to get a new camera and portable photo printer for use in school to
take pictures of students art projects and then print them for use in their
notebooks. I know Kodak makes some printer docks specifically for their
cameras and Epson makes a nice standalone printer. ANy thoughts on these and
what to look for or what you might recommend? One concern is that the Kodak
seems to have a pretty high per print cost...would like to keep it as
efficient cost-wise as possible.The Epson PictureMate prints great pictures and very water resistant. BUT, why
don't you just get a regular Canon printer which is much faster, prints great
photos and can print 4X6 pictures full bleed with no problem. Do you need to
print them "on the spot?"
 
I need to get a new camera and portable photo printer for use in
school to take pictures of students art projects and then print them
for use in their notebooks. I know Kodak makes some printer docks
specifically for their cameras and Epson makes a nice standalone
printer. ANy thoughts on these and what to look for or what you might
recommend? One concern is that the Kodak seems to have a pretty high
per print cost...would like to keep it as efficient cost-wise as
possible.
Click to expand...

Price Per Print is Misleading (Read the Fine print in the volume purchase
of ink and paper).. Fact is that Kodak will work easily, no color
management issues, no other "Test" prints required...
 
Bob said:
I need to get a new camera and portable photo printer for use in school to
take pictures of students art projects and then print them for use in their
notebooks. I know Kodak makes some printer docks specifically for their
cameras and Epson makes a nice standalone printer. ANy thoughts on these and
what to look for or what you might recommend? One concern is that the Kodak
seems to have a pretty high per print cost...would like to keep it as
efficient cost-wise as possible.
Click to expand...

Hi Bob...

Using one of the walmart or equivalent stores will be
far far cheaper than printing themself on site - and if
the quantity is great enough, likely even faster.

Then again, considering that they're for notebooks, archival
quality shouldn't be of concern, maybe even bubble jet is
adequate. Does your school have a computer club or class?

Just thinking...

Ken
 
<< From: Ben (e-mail address removed)
Date: Sat, Dec 4, 2004 4:18 PM
Message-id: <[email protected]>

I need to get a new camera and portable photo printer for use in
school to take pictures of students art projects and then print them
for use in their notebooks. I know Kodak makes some printer docks
specifically for their cameras and Epson makes a nice standalone
printer. ANy thoughts on these and what to look for or what you might
recommend? One concern is that the Kodak seems to have a pretty high
per print cost...would like to keep it as efficient cost-wise as
possible.
Click to expand...

Price Per Print is Misleading (Read the Fine print in the volume purchase
of ink and paper).. Fact is that Kodak will work easily, no color
management issues, no other "Test" prints required...For the Kodak printer docks a package to print 40 sheets costs $24.95. For the
Epson, a package to print 100 sheets costs $29.95. You have to waste a LOT of
Epson paper to make up the difference of slightly over TWICE the cost for the
Kodak prints.
 
I need to get a new camera and portable photo printer for use in school to
take pictures of students art projects and then print them for use in their
notebooks. I know Kodak makes some printer docks specifically for their
Click to expand...

Here, the Kodak itself, while more expensive, may be the better buy
for the long term for the art projects if longevity is desired.

The Kodak dock printers use dye-sub technology, which will be
basically waterproof (uses solid inks) vs. the inkjet prints from the HP
portables. Thus, if you're gluing, decorating, and planning on these
prints to last a bit of time, then the Kodak dye-sub prints are the
better choice, depsite the extra cost. HP prints simply get ruined the
moment any wet fingertip or project glue gets on them.

Some of the portable Canon prints are also dye-sub printers (check,
they've got one brand-new one out that uses inks instead) and would also
be a good choice if you hvae a Canon camera.

---

The Epson PhotoMate printer may be a good in-between choice. They
toot the inks as being waterproof and lasting longer than regular
inkjets (we'll see...).

Here, take a sample print from the store, dunk it into water at home,
and see what it does to the print -- if that's acceptable, then there
you go.

The Epson is partcularly cheap right now due to a $50 rebate (see
www.epson.com for the rebate: here,
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/Landing/OnlyEpson.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&ref=hen),
and the printer itself is going for as low as ~$176 before rebate
(www.mwave.com or www.dell.com; else search www.shopper.com).

and that brings it in line with the Kodak printer docks (as low as
~$150 at officemax.com and elsewhere).
---

Any of these consumables can be bought cheaper online. Simply
search for the part # at www.shopper.com (or usually www.amazon.com or
www.buy.com has them pretty cheap).

eg. Kodak paper pack retails $25, but as low as $17:
http://shopper.cnet.com/Color_Cartr...9-30563628.html?tag=ob_50&orderby=50&sort=asc

----------------


anyways, I'll let you do the cost per 4x6" print (inks + paper)
yourself on all of these printers.

eg. At least the Epson Picturemate calculation is easy -- 100pk
refill that contains paper + ink sells for $21.10 at Dell.com today
(http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A0428016&cs=19&c=us&l=en),
so that equals a $0.21 per print cost.

The lowest that you can usually get a 4x6" print in retail stores is
at Costco for $0.19 per print, so you know right away that the Epson is
doing very good in comparison, and probably the cheapest portable
printer to operate today.
 
What is the approximate print quantity (average snap shots at best
quality) from the Photosmart 375 on Premium Glossy paper with the
included #95 cartridge (7 ml)? And will the #97 cartridge (14 ml)
print about twice as many?

(I have asked HP via email on their web site and so far I've received
8 idiot responses quoting cartridge page capacity for Officejet and
Deskjet printers doing 15% coverage on mixed text and graphics
documents. They just can't seem to understand that a photo printer
uses ink quite differently.)

What is different about the 700 package (other than the included
paper)? Is the cartridge different from the 95 and 97 cartridges which
are the specified cartridges for this printer?

Dick Ballard
(e-mail address removed)
 
What is different about the 700 package (other than the included
paper)? Is the cartridge different from the 95 and 97 cartridges which
are the specified cartridges for this printer?
Click to expand...

The 700 cartridge has a different ID, and works only in the Photosmart 370 and
320 series printers. It is otherwise the same as the 97 cartridge. On average
I would expect about 150 4"x6" full bleed prints from the 97 or 700 cartridge,
but of course it will depend on what you are printing. Snow scenes will get
much more, Fourth of July fireworks less.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP
 
Hi Bob,

Sorry to be coming in late on this issue, was off on vacation.

Actually, the value of the dye sublimation printers have been reviewed by
others, so it should be apparent that this technology, in relation to
yielding better and prints that will be more protective of sticky fingers -
can be washed off. Inkjet cannot be made wet without trouble. But, on the
other hand, you can make prints cheaper with Inkjet than with dye
sublimation.

An alternative to both of these is having prints made at a printer for
around .25 cents or so. You can get all the pictures together and send them
on to Ofoto who will return them to you in a matter of a couple of days or
so. You can then review and distribute to your class. Lots of fun and a
project the kids may look forward to. Either way, Dye Sub, Inkjet, or
photofinisher, your project sounds like fun. If you need the prints right
away, then I would limit the number of pictures that can be made and go with
the Dye Sub, even though the cost may be more. Pictures posted on a fridge
may want to be shielded from splashes etc.

Talk to you soon, Bob, let me know if you need any help with these
technologies in the future.

Ron Baird
Eastman Kodak Company
 
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