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More…With a 2.5-inch color screen and excellent in-printer photo editing, the $200 (as of 11/3/2006) PictureMate Snap PM240 is one of three new models in a newly revamped portable snapshot printer line from Epson. It joins the more-basic PictureMate Pal PM200 ($150) and the PictureMate Flash PM280 ($300), which has a built-in CD burner. All three models have a boxier design than the original PictureMate, with a flattened top.
Epson PictureMate 240
Pricing
$77.55 - $153.98 From 3 Vendors Get Best Prices »
- Spec Navigator
- Media Handling
- Display
- Network
- Connectivity
- Platform Support
- Dimensions
- General Features
- Green
- Included Software
- Resolutions
- Scanning
- Faxing
Media Handling
| Manual Feed Slot | No |
| Maximum Number of Input Trays | 1 |
| Maximum paper size, height | 6.0 inches |
| Maximum Sheets With All Paper Trays | 20 |
| Standard Number of Input Trays | 1 |
| Maximum paper size, width | 4 inches |
| Standard input sheet capacity | 20 |
| Duplex printing | No |
PCWorld Rating, September 21, 2007
5 User Reviews Add your own »
$77.55 - $153.98
From 3 Vendors
Get Best Prices »
- Lab Tested
- How We Test Printers »
Pros
Good value prints
Extensive in-printer editing
Cons
Narrow banding on prints
Inconsistent quality
Bottom Line
Well designed and easy to use, but narrow banding mars otherwise decent prints.
Epson PictureMate Snap PM240
PictureMate 240 Review, by Paul Jasper November 20, 2006
A newly designed flip-open top offers better protection for the control panel. When open, it forms the paper tray and reveals the flip-up 2.5-inch color LCD. The fold-down front panel acts as the output tray and covers two media slots, which accept all the major memory card formats.
Four directional buttons with an OK button in the center make navigating the menus simple, while two smaller buttons offer access to functions tailored to what you're viewing. Using these clearly labeled buttons, you can edit your photos; in addition to fixing the color balance, removing red-eye, and cropping your images, the Snap PM240 can apply a wide variety of fun effects, such as Disney-themed borders.
You can use the Snap PM240's PictBridge compatibility to print directly from your digital camera, print images stored on a USB flash drive, and archive images from your memory cards. You can also hook up a USB-hosted CD burner or Zip drive. An optional $39 Bluetooth adapter connects to the same USB port for printing wirelessly from Bluetooth-enabled camera phones and PDAs. The Snap becomes truly portable with the optional $50 rechargeable battery pack, which slides neatly inside the printer. Epson says the Snap can print up to 140 photos on battery power, or remain on standby for 6 hours.
The Snap prints only 4-by-6-inch snapshots and comes with enough ink and paper for 20 starter prints. Epson guarantees that the four-color (including black) cartridges in its dye-based ink-and-paper bundles will last for all 150 sheets of glossy paper in its most economical bundle, giving an estimated cost per print of just over 25 cents--a cost that's competitive with the prices of online photo processors when you factor in their shipping costs. You can also buy a pack containing 100 sheets of matte paper for $35.
In two informal moisture tests, we looked for defects after sprinkling water on week-old (and therefore dry) snapshot prints. Then we dunked them in water for 30 seconds and wiped them dry. The Snap's prints didn't show any obvious ill effects after either test.
A recently completed study by Wilhelm Imaging Research, an independent laboratory that tests photo print longevity, estimates the life of the Snap's prints to be 96 years when displayed under glass--surprisingly long for prints from a snapshot printer.
We conducted our speed tests using images stored on an SD Card. The Snap printed quickly, going at 1.0 pages per minute for black-and-white prints (matching the speed of the Canon Pixma Mini260) and at 1.1 ppm for color prints (the fastest speed we measured). Unfortunately, our judges weren't impressed with the results. At a distance, color prints looked attractive, with accurate colors and smooth tones; close up, however, we could clearly see narrow banding across the whole of the print. Our black-and-white sample suffered from a greenish tint, some graininess in graduated tones, and the same narrow banding.
The Snap comes with Arcsoft PhotoImpression 5 software, which lets you organize and edit your photos in addition to printing them from your PC. Epson's colorful documentation includes a Start Here poster and an illustrated Basics booklet that gets you set up and printing quickly.
Paul Jasper
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PCWorld Lab Results
- Rating Breakdown
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73
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72
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88
- See Complete Lab Results »
Performance Comparison with Similar Printers
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76
Performance
| Color Photo Quality | Fair |
| Grayscale Glossy Output Quality | Fair |
| Landscape (secs) | 53.19 |
| Skin Tones/Portrait (secs) | 54.56 |
| Tested Glossy Grayscale Photo Speed (ppm) | 1 |
| Tested Glossy Photo Speed (ppm) | 1.1 |
Photo Printing
| Sports action shot (seconds) | 53.63 |
Grayscale Printing
| 4 by 6 grayscale photo (seconds) | 62.75 |
User Reviews
Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: jbroadfoot
Strengths: Very easy to use.
Weaknesses: Printer only last about a year to a year and a half with normal usage.
Overall: This photo printer works great. This is our 3rd Epson Photo printer. Our company choose this printer because it will print photo the exact size needed for making passport photos.
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Reviewed by: artlewis
Strengths: Quality
Weaknesses: Lack of Speed.
Overall: This printer is dedicated to printing 4x6 prints. It does a great job printing color prints at a reasonable price. The slow printing speed is worth tolerating because the output is excellent.
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Reviewed by: florabing8
Strengths: The price is unbeatable!
Weaknesses: very heavy, thus cannot be called mobile.
Overall: It is a pretty nice photo printer at such a low price. The photo quality is totally beyond my expectation. So far the only weakness is the weight of this printer is a bit heavy, it is not easy for you to bring to everywhere. However, it is the best bargain photo printer I will recommend.
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Reviewed by: realshopmaster
Strengths: Good quality and portable
Weaknesses: No LCD and slow
Overall: The quality of the true borderless 4x6 prints by this little portable printer is amazing, which is better than ones your got from most photo labs. The printer is easy to use. It can be used with a PC hooked up or stand alone with built-in 8-in-1 memory card reader for most popular memmory cards. It is compact enough to even take with you on vacation.
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Reviewed by: slickdealspecialist
Strengths: Price, Size, Looks cool, great photo quality
Weaknesses: A little slow, ink expenses
Overall: I am really impressed by this printer. It does its job really well as advertised. The quality of the pictures are very good. It is easy to carry around. This is good for anyone who is planning to start printing photos at home. Ink/Paper refills are the costly part. It's better to work out this cost before buying.
Shop for the Epson PictureMate 240
| Merchant | Price | Merchant Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Tech for Less Store | $77.55 Buy Now » | |
| Valley Tech | $99.99 Buy Now » | |
| Y2incusa | $153.98 Buy Now » |
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