There are many 4×6 photo printers on the market, but there are four that are more popular than the rest. Being that popularity often means happy customers, I’ll stick to focusing on those four machines. These machines range greatly in price, stats, and features. If you’re looking for a 4×6 photo printer, then there’s a good chance you’ll find what you need right here.
I have no vested interest in what machine you choose, so there will be no favoritism. If you do find a machine you like, it’s recommended you use Amazon for your purchase. This is simply because it has a stellar reputation for service, shipping, and will often offer the best prices.
The four printers that I’ll be briefly reviewing today are the Epson PictureMate Deluxe Viewer Edition, the Kodak Photo Printer 500, the Canon Selphy DS810, and the Samsung SPP-2040.
Epson PictureMate Deluxe Viewer Edition
The Epson PictureMate Deluxe Viewer Edition currently sells for $320 on Amazon. The biggest selling point about this machine is that it’s a 6-ink system, making it the only 4×6 photo printer with such a feature. The colors are black, cyan, magenta, yellow, light cyan, and light magenta.
The PictureMate has a 2.5-inch LCD display, which is average for these types of machines. It uses USB 2.0 connectivity, but nothing past that. It’s PictBridge-compatible, so prints directly from digital cameras are a possibility. Resolution of prints can reach as high as 5760 x 1440 dots per inch. The Epson PictureMate Deluxe Viewer Edition measures 10 x 12 x 6.6 inches and weighs only 6.2 lbs without the photo cartridge or battery.
The PictureMate Deluxe uses these accessories:
- PictureMate Print Pack that includes 100 Sheets of PictureMate Photo Paper and a PictureMate Photo Cartridge.
- PictureMate Deluxe Viewer Edition Rechargeable Battery that allows you to print outdoors or at places where there is no convenient electric outlets.
- Bluetooth Photo Print Adapter that allows you to print directly to PictureMate wirelessly from any Bluetooth-enabled device such as a PC notebooks, cellphone, PDA, or camera.
Many customers are satisfied with the PictureMate Deluxe but like most devices, there are negatives. One major negative is that although it makes great looking prints, when left for even just a few weeks of no printing, the inks would dry or the nozzles may get clogged, which could result to buying a new ink cartridge. And since you can’t buy one without buying the paper, you end up spending more than you expected. Another customer has reported that the printer will only allow so many nozzle cleanings until it refuses to do another clean without changing the cartridge.
The PictureMate Deluxe Viewer Edition is available at Amazon new for around $320, and used from $80.
Kodak Photo Printer 500
The Kodak Photo Printer 500 is a model that’s of great importance to Kodak. It’s a model that signifies their return to the mainstream, not just the Kodak clan. This machine uses dye-sublimation technology. It’s PictBridge and Bluetooth-compatible. WiFi is also optional. There’s a 3.5-inch LCD display that is capable of tilting. This is a very neat feature, one that makes previewing, adjusting, and browsing settings and menus, more enjoyable.
The Kodak Photo Printer 500 will automatically reduce red eye, and it’s also capable of cropping. This machine uses 3-ink technology, which is one of the few negatives. As far as speed goes, a 4×6 photo will take 58 seconds. They advertise this as fast, but it’s not. The Kodak Photo Printer 500 is 13.1 x 3.1 x 7.3 inches. Weighs 2.78 lbs.
Customers who have reviewed the product has reported great looking pics and were quite impressed with the Bluetooth feature as they could directly send data to the printer from their Bluetooth-enable camera or cellphone. However, many have reported dissatisfaction over the paper feed; many mentioning that the auto-feed feature do not work and that they had to manual feed when they have to use the printer.
The Kodak Photo Printer 500 is no longer available on the Kodak site, but one may still be able to purchase it new from Amazon but at a very high $500, but likewise available used from around $79.
Canon Selphy DS810
The Canon Selphy DS810 currently sells for $179. It offers USB 2.0 connectivity, but nothing more. Like the Kodak printer, it only uses three different inks. That said, resolution of prints can reach as high as 4800 x 1200 dots per inch, which is pretty solid. This machine is also PictBridge-compatible. It has a 2.5-inch LCD display. It weighs only 4.2 lbs, and measures 8.7″ (W) x 3.9″(H) x 8.7″ (D).
You can print directly without having it connected to a PC. It has a built-in card slot that lets you print with compatible memory cards; or you can print from a PictBridge compatible digital camera or camcorder; and lastly but not the least, the Selphy DS810 is Bluetooth compatible with the optional Bluetooth adapter, the Canon Bluetooth Unit BU-20.
It produces quite good output but the consumables, i.e. ink and paper could deplete rapidly. However you may purchase value packs of ink: Canon BCI-15 Black Ink Cartridge (Twin Pack) at around $13; and the Canon BCI-16 Twin pack Color Ink Cartridges at around $17 only. The Selphy DS810 is available on Amazon new at $179, and used from $39.
Samsung SPP-2040
The Samsung SPP-2040 sells currently used for only $59. If you’re willing to deal with its constant noise, then it’s worth the investment. It’s an ideal machine for someone who’s on a tight budget and already has a lot of noise around them. This SPP-2040 offers USB connectivity. It’s also Bluetooth-compatible. Its LCD display is only 2 inches, but it’s easy to use. This machine will not work on a Mac, only a PC. It does use 4 inks, but resolution will only reach as high as 300 dots per inch. Its dimensions are 7.1 x 5.4 x 2.4 inches; weighs only 2.4 lbs.
One negative this printer has is that it uses special expensive paper that when it runs out, it’s not very easy to get. It is advisable though to get the value-pack of 120 sheets at one time so you won’t have to keep on getting them each time you run out. It turns out cheaper if you do get the Samsung A6 Photo Printer Pack 120 Sheets. However, many others report that they get pretty outstanding photos out of it as if done in a photo lab.
In a Nutshell
If we’re going on value alone, these four machines would be ranked in the following order: Epson PictureMate, Kodak 500, Canon Selphy DS810, and Samsung SPP-2040. That said, the Kodak and Canon are very close to even.
loading...
About James Wikkee