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Tour
The HiTi 731PS’s chassis is composed entirely of plastic with an overall blue metallic color. The orientation of this and other HiTi dye sub printers is unconventionally upright, with the paper passing the printer through in a S-shaped path.
Front
The ribbon door dominates the front of the printer, which is opened via the ribbon door button at the top. The door itself is louvered to allow for the escape of the heat from the heating element attached to the inside side of the door. Directly below the ribbon door sits the horizontal paper output slot, which ejects the paper between passes and when the print is complete.
Below this is the paper cassette door and slot. The door is opened via a small release latch at the top. Sturdily constructed and easily opened, this is a big improvement over other dye sub printers. To the left of the paper cassette slot sits the power and attention LEDs, green and orange lights, respectively.
Along the right side of the front are the two media card slots. The top slot is for Compact Flash cards, while the bottom slot is for SD, SM, and MS cards.
The LCD controller is mounted via a cylindrical pole which slides into a receiving slot on the upper left of the printer. The small, 1.5-inch LCD screen sits at the top, with the four main control buttons arranged around the central directional control. More info on the LCD Controller can be found in the Components section below and in the Controls / Buttons / Dials section of the Design / Interface page.
Back
The back of the 731PS features many vents for releasing the heat on this printer. The pass slot sits near the top and allows the paper to partially exit the printer as it prepares for the next pass. The PictBridge port sits inset at the bottom left, while the Power button and power socket sit at the bottom right.
Left Side
The darker, flat blue of the back with its heat vents contrasts with the metallic blue of the chassis front. The slot for the controller mounting pole sits at the top of this side, and the socket for the 9-pin controller plug lies near the bottom.
Right Side
Other than the vents molded into the back edge, the only features on the right side are the stickers indicating which memory card slots fit into which slots at the front of the printer.
Top
Yet more vents grace the top of the 731PS, and the large ribbon door button is positioned toward the front.
Interior
The large, bulky heating element takes up much of the interior of the 731PS. The ribbon itself slides easily into a slot at the bottom of the interior. Rollers attached to the motor engage the rollers of the cartridge, advancing the ribbon for each printing pass. The paper rollers draw the paper from the cassette into the printer, past the ribbon and heating element, and temporarily partway out the slot at the back of the printer. Then it is drawn back for each ink application until it finally exits via the output slot.
Components
Display (4.00)
The printer’s small LCD screen is incorporated into the controller unit. At only 1.5 inches, it seems dinky considering all the large LCD screens being added to printers today. It serves the purpose, but that’s about all.
Paper Trays (9.50)
Finally, a sturdy, well designed paper tray for dye sub printers. Consumers have had to put up with cheaply constructed, difficult-to-assemble, easily broken trays on most other printers. Made of durable plastic and metal, the paper tray for the HiTi 731PS slides in and out of its slot smoothly and is seated firmly when in place. Completely enclosed when installed, the release latch opens the top front plastic door smoothly and easily, allowing for paper replacement with or without removing the cassette. When removed, the hinged lid opens nearly completely to allow full access to the cassette, but it remains firmly attached to the printer and is easily closed again. It may sound like we’re going on and on about this, but you really have to use one of those other cassettes to realize what a joy this thing is.
Power supply
The 731PS hooks up to an outlet with the supplied, 6-foot power cable.
Battery (0)
HiTi does not provide an option for a battery on the 731PS. It may not be practical for a printer of this size, but many smaller dye subs do have the option, such as some Canon and Epson models.
Internal Memory (8.00)
The 731PS has a good amount of memory for a photo printer, 32 megabytes.
Multi-Tasking (2.00)
Multiple jobs can be queued in the printer driver spool, but that is the extent of the printer’s multi-tasking capabilities.
Hard drive (0)
A rare thing is a printer with a hard drive, and the 731PS is not among this august assemblage. Some high-end HP models have them, as do a few Lexmark models.
CD Burner (0)
Archiving is not a function possible with the HiTi 731PS, since there is no CD burner.
Accessories (6.00)
Hi-Touch Imaging provides several replacement parts as well as accessories for the 731PS on their website. Extra paper cassettes, dust filters, software, and an ID cutter for photo IDs are available.
The various photo paper and stickers can be purchased as well. Ribbons are included with the paper in print packs, like other dye sub printers. Four-by-six-inch print packs are available in packs of 60 for $23.99 (40 cents per print). Thirty-sheet packs are available in 5-by-7-inch and 6-by-8-inch sizes for $17.99 (60 cents per print) and $23.99 (80 cents per print), respectively. Stickers for 4-by-6-inch print size are available in three configurations—1x1, 4x4, and 4/2/4—and for larger sizes in the 1x1 configuration only.
HiTi also offers huge bulk packs of 720 sheets of 4-by-6-inch paper for $264.99 and 360 sheets of 5-by-7-inch paper for $199.99. This only brings the price per print down a small amount, to 36 cents and 55 cents, respectively.
HiTi offers a carrying case for their 640 series printers, but not, strangely enough, for their larger printers, the 730 and 731 series. We would have hoped a bulky stand-alone printer like the 731PS would have a carrying bag available.
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