THE NEWS IN PRINT

RX680 is one of the latest additions into Epson's quiver and the available features cum performance are unmatchable by most printers in this segment. The six-cartridge MFP RX680 is basically a photo printer which is supported with multi-functions like copying and scanning.

This printer prints 6"� X 4"� photos at a speed of 11 seconds per photograph and a whopping 40 text documents a minute.

The unit comes with two input trays; one for photo printing and the other for documents. A removable duplex unit adds to the various features present on the printer. The printer is capable of printing directly on CDs and DVDs.

The RX680 comes with a PictBridge port and memory slots for PC-less printing. Photos and documents can be scanned directly into memory cards in JPEG and TIFF formats.

Epson UK has upgraded the Epson R1800 with R1900 wide-format printer which offers impressive features over its predecessor. Some of the eye catching features include 18,446,774 trillion colours and the introduction of UltraChrome Hi-Gloss2 Ink technology.

From its predecessor, the blue ink is replaced by orange which enables the printer to offer as many colours as it does. Cyan, magenta, yellow, matte black, photo black, red and orange are the remaining ink cartridges that the UltraChrome Hi-Gloss2 technology leverages upon. Gloss optimiser is available to provide the gloss finish.

This wide-format printer is capable of printing photos ranging up to 13 inches wide and up to 44 inches long. It can print on various media like glossy, luster, matte, canvas and fine art papers.

Epson R1900 is presently available in the market and carries a price tag of £400. Seems like the upgrade is not only with the technology but also the price.

The world leader in photo printing has introduced a gem which is much ahead of its competitors in terms of quality and surprisingly, the looks. The Canon Pixma mini320 is a photo printer capable of printing 7"� X 5"� borderless photos.

The outlook of mini320 is unique in many ways. As seen in the picture above, it does not have normal edges and does look different and unique in multi-dimensions. The top-perched 2.5"� LCD is just the right size for a photo printer and its wide angle makes it even better. With the Easy Scroll Wheel, users can navigate through menus and images in a jiffy. It also comes with an optional battery pack for portable printing; an option I feel is a necessity on compact photo printers.

The mini320 produces a best resolution of 9600 X 2400 colour dpi. The printing is quite fast at 40 seconds for a 4"� X 6"� print and 52 seconds for a 7"� X 5"� print. The printer can work sans PC and has compatibility with most memory cards, digital cameras (PictBridge) and Bluetooth which should enable it to print directly from mobile phones.

The stylish mini320 makes a good ally for those who like to print a lot. The price of printing per photo is pretty high at 15 pennies while the printer carries a price tag of £100.

Canon has had a history of great quality and exceptional clarity in its output. But, the history will remain a highlight and the present not too bright for Canon. Their recent entrant, Selphy DS810 has all the glamour attached to it but no taste in the pudding. This compact photo printer spits out low quality images despite having several good features. If the print quality is no good, the rest becomes redundant.

The beautiful looking Selphy DS810 is tiny at 9"� X 9"� X 4"� and takes over a minute to print a 4"� X 6"� photograph. Industry average speed is around 40 seconds. Decent sized 2.5"� LCD screen allows users to view pictures before they are printed. An inbuilt image editing software allows users to make image modifications before printing, like red eye corrections.

The order of the day is for printers that can print sans PC and DS810 falls into this category. It can print directly from digital cameras through PictBridge and mobile enough to be carried around. It's rather appalling that such a tiny printer comes without a battery pack considering its strength that revolves around its size.

Canon has been a printer that has produced quality prints for a very long time, but not this one. This one is best to avoid and if you are an avid Canon fan like I am; wait for Canon's future releases.

If you intend to buy this printer, the DS810 is priced at £119 which is nominal.

The king of instant photographs, Polaroid, has found an able and trustable partner in Zink. The tie up between the giants is bound on job nature rather than strategy. The outcome is Digital Mobile Photo Printer which is based on Zink's inkless printing technology and Polaroid's expertise in producing instant photographs.

The aforesaid printer is capable of producing 2"� X 3"� borderless photographs. It can connect to cell phones through Bluetooth and digital cameras through PictBridge and USB port. Users can instantly print photographs by syncing the camera devices with the printer. The printer takes a minute for each print.

The printing is inkless and hence no cartridge hassles. Special Zink photo paper needs to be used. Here's a brief about the technology:

Without ink, ribbons, or even toners, the ZINK printer utilizes a patented paper that changes its color when heat is applied. This is made possible with the dye crystals that were put inside the photo paper. At room temperature, the photo paper looks like any other paper. It's colorless. But when inserted in the printer, the heat that was activated when you start printing releases the shades in the embedded crystals to create a plethora of colors that take the shape of your image.

The Digital Mobile Photo Printer should be made available in the US sometime during August/September this year. The estimated pricing of this product is around £75. The cost per print is around 15p per print.

The video below shows the printer in action. It was shot at CES 2008.