Epson PictureMate 500 review

This Epson replaces the existing PictureMate, which is our favourite compact photo printer.

The 500 is a little larger than competing products that use dye-sublimation technology, but it's remarkably small for a six-colour inkjet. It weighs less than 3kg, and its integrated handle makes it easy to carry around.

This printer's most obvious improvement is its 6.1cm colour display, which offers previews of images from inserted memory cards. The screen isn't the sharpest we've seen, but its 320x240 resolution shows quite a bit of detail.

The direct printing menu is mostly easy to use, but the OK button often doesn't do what we'd expect; it kept returning us to the top menu instead of selecting the sub-level we intended. The PictureMate has a PictBridge port and slots for most common card formats, but the hinged cover that keeps them free of dust seems a little flimsy.

A new option for this model is a Lithium-ion battery, which allows it to be used away from a power socket. This slots neatly into the printer, which recharges it when plugged into the mains, but at around £50 it isn't cheap.

Epson says that the print speed of the new model has been improved, and it's quick enough at its default quality. Printing from a PC, we timed each borderless 6x4" photo at less than one minute and 40 seconds, and our standard six-print test took nine and a quarter minutes. Prints had accurate colours and looked better than those from most of its competitors, but suffered from a little grain.

As with the previous model, the PictureMate is much slower when printing at its best quality. Repeating our test using the driver's Enhance Fine Detail option produced excellent prints with virtually no grain. However, at this quality our six test prints took 26 minutes and 41 seconds.

The PictureMate 500 uses the same 100-photo consumable pack as the previous model. This is available for as little as £22, so at around 22p per print, the Epson still has the best running costs for its class. Its print quality remains ahead of the pack, too, but it's a shame that Epson has discontinued the old model, which would have been better value for those not needing a screen.

Author: Simon Handby