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Tour
HiTi takes on a vertical orientation with all of its printers. The paper is pulled from the horizontal paper tray up through the vertical ribbon path and momentarily passes out the paper slot at the back of the printer before being pulled back in to receive the next ink layer. The S400’s chassis is constructed uniformly of black plastic.
Front
From the front, the S400 is largely square in shape and angled back from the vertical at about 45 degrees. The face of the printer is dominated by the front ribbon door, which has a series of horizontal slots that serve as heat vents. The HiTi logo sits at the top of the ribbon door, and the model number sits at the base of the door. When slid down, a silver release switch on the door’s left opens the door from the top. The paper cassette door sits below the ribbon door. It opens with a thumb tab at the top and swings down. The paper cassette is simply slid into the slot, and it locks in place. (More on paper trays in the Components section below.)
The media card slots sit stacked vertically on the right side, with the SD, SM, MS slot on top and the CF slot below this. A PictBridge camera cable port sits at the bottom of the stack. Above the slot is the small, green LED power indicator light.
At the top left of the front is the silver mounting post for the handheld remote control. The control itself is also black plastic with simple silver plastic control buttons. (More on the remote control functions can be found in the Controls / Buttons / Dials section of the Design / Interface page. [link])
At the top of the printer can be seen the dust guard attachment that encloses the paper path slot at the top to keep the paper surface dust-free.
Back
The back of the S400 is minimally featured, with the center dominated by a pattern of holes that serve as vents. Above this sits the hatchback, the horizontal slot covered by a narrow, hinged door that serves as a pass for the paper as it is moves through the rollers for each ink layer.
At the bottom left are the controller socket, into which plugs the plug for the LCD controller, and the USB port for connection to a PC. On the bottom right are the power switch and the power cord socket.
Left Side
The shape of the printer from this angle is very simple and elegant. The S400’s only functional features on its sides are the heat vent holes that appear in a row of five that lines the top, back, and bottom edges of the printer. The front and bottom edges are lined in sliver plastic in contrast to the base black plastic of the unit. At the top is the mounting post for the LCD controller.
Right Side
A virtual mirror image of the left side, the right side has no mounting post and is therefore simpler than the left.
Top
Because of the printer’s angled front, the top of the S400 is the narrowest side, all black plastic with no features of note.
Interior
The S400’s ribbon door is opened via the silver switch at the door’s left. When opened, the ribbon cartridge can be seen standing vertically at the back. The inside of the door contains the heating element that fixes the dye to the paper.
The rollers that carry the paper through the ribbon path can be seen along the bottom and the back of the interior, behind the ribbon. The dust filter slides in just behind the louvered door.
Components
Display (4.00)
The display on the LCD controller is tiny compared to other printers in this price range, but we suppose it has to be limited in size to fit on the handheld control. Given its small size, it displays images well and has adjustments for brightness, contrast, and color.
Paper Trays (8.00)
HiTi did a very good job constructing the paper tray for the S400. Most other dye sublimation printer manufacturers pay only lip service to the function of this all-important component. The trays are actually called cassettes because they usually have two interlocking parts that contain the paper within it, thereby shielding the paper from dust and debris. If you’re lucky, the paper cassettes of other printers actually stay together and don’t beak when you’re trying to load paper.
The S400’s cassette does not come apart in two pieces, and it doesn’t need to. The center hinge allows the front door to open easily and stay open, and the paper can be loaded directly through this open slot. A separate, hinged top serves as an output tray to keep the papers neat and prevent them from falling off the top of the cassette. Most other manufacturers simply let the top of the cassette serve as the output tray.
Once the tray is loaded, it slides easily into the paper cassette slot at the front of the printer and locks in place. The cassette can even be loaded while still in the printer, a feature that the other manufacturers haven’t figured out yet. We hope they’re reading this, because this new kid on the block is really showing them up on details like this.
 Power supply A 6-foot power cable connects the S400 to the power source.
Internal Memory (7.00)
The S400 packs 32 megabytes of RAM.
Multi-Tasking (2.00)
Users can queue print jobs for the S400.
Hard drive (0)
Image storage is not possible on the S400 as there is no included hard drive. Most printers do not have one.
Battery (0)
Although portable and compact, the S400 does not have a battery for use at locations without power. Other manufacturers, such as Epson and Canon, provide a battery as an optional accessory for some of their printers.
CD Burner (0)
No archiving onto CDs is possible with the S400, unlike other printers such as the Epson PictureMate Flash.
Accessories (5.00)
Hi-Touch provides basic accessories for the S400 Dazzle on its website, including extra dust filters, cleaning, kits, and paper. Two sizes of print packs are offered. (Print packs include ribbon and paper.) The 50-sheet packs costs $19.99, resulting in a price per print of 40 cents, while the 200-sheet pack, at $69.99, costs 35 cents per print. Since the printer can do ID pictures, they also offer an ID cutter.
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