|
Configuration (7)
The Picture Mate Snap’s dye-based cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks come in one small, video cassette-shaped cartridge. It installs without fuss. Opening the cartridge door in the bottom rear of the unit provides access. A locking lever slides to release the cartridge; and the cartridge is easily slid out and a new one reinserted. The starter printer pack that Epson ships with this the PM240 supposedly can print twenty 4x6-inch pictures. Our unit only produced five prints before the inks ran out. It seems a staggering waste that most of these compact photo printing units, of any manufacturer, provide such a small introductory cartridge. It hardly seems worth the manufacturing investment.
Replacement print packs ($38 for glossy, $32 for matte) include a cartridge and enough paper to produce "about 150 prints," according to Epson’s PR. Basically, you get 150 sheets, and depending upon the type of prints you make, you may or may not be able to use all the paper.
Value (8)
Epson’s print estimates for their print packs volume comes out to 25 cents a print, slightly less than competitive compact dye sublimations printers such as the Canon Selphy line, and Sony’s new FP90, which claim print prices of 28 cents and 29 cents, respectively.
Ink Management Tools (7)
Inks levels can be monitored via the unit itself or within the printer driver. In the PM240’s on-unit menu, within the Maintenance submenu, there is a Check Print Pack Status, which brings up a very simple graphic indicating 0%, 50%, and 100% status levels. In the printer driver, the Maintenance tab displays a simple ungraduated bar that indicates ink level.
|
