Photo printers have become a nearly essential part of today's household, enabling photographers, either amateur or pro, to print out (and even edit) quality photos themselves. Prices vary: You can get a merely good photo printer for under $100, or a professional-level device for over $400. If you only print the occasional photo, it may be more cost-efficient to take it to the local photo store, and if you plan to use it for plain documents, get one that can produce good-quality type as well.
Most desktop printers won't take paper any wider than 11 inches -- which can be frustrating for photographers, who often work with wider media. As a result, the Epson Stylus Pro 4000 proved highly popular, especially among reviewers from photography sites. They praised it for its ease-of-use, high-quality color and grayscale printing, and its ability to use rolls of paper, which is less expensive than using sheets. Even PC Magazine was enthusiastic -- it gave the printer a rating of 5 out of 5.
Canon's latest photo printer gets high marks for speed, color, and print quality; all the reviewers thought that its eight color cartridges did a great job on photos (although one reviewer thought the colors were too vivid, whatever that means). A built-in duplexer plus good text printing makes this also work for general and business use. The only complaint was that the printer doesn't come with media-card slots, which is unusual for a higher-end photo printer.
This portable photo printer differs from many of its peers in that, instead of having a small LCD for viewing photos, it plugs directly into your TV. This lets you examine your photos in detail before printing without having to deal with a PC. Reviewers thought the Canon Slephy DS700 produced good quality prints at fine speeds; one pointed out, however, that the print costs can run high.
The Epson PictureMate Deluxe is the next version of the well-received Epson PictureMate. Reviewers praised the fact that it has more features and higher speeds; however, they noted that its cost-per-print is no longer as good a deal as it was previously.
The Sony PictureStation DPP-FP30 is a fine photo printer if you want them easy and good. Reviewers really liked the quality of the photos and said that installation and use is as simple as it gets. The only problem: Running costs may be a bit high.
