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Gavin Stoker, Computeract!ve, Friday 11 January 2008 at 00:00:00

A Swiss army knife of a printer

Who wants to traipse off to the high street or spend ages uploading images to a website when it's often easier and cheaper to print photos at home? Epson is the brand of choice for many photo professionals, so is its latest portable printer, the top-of-the-range PM 290, pull off the same trick for the man in the street? First impressions aren't good: its boxy grey plastic housing suggests that the designers should have gone back to the drawing board, or at least had a spell in detention. But it's what's inside that counts, and that is an inkjet printer with a great resolution of 5,760x1,440dpi that will in theory deliver much more detail than similarly priced dye-sublimation printers. There is also a four-colour all-in-one cartridge - reminiscent of a video cassette - that slots easily into the base at the back so there's no fiddling around with messy innards. Four colours also mean a wider and more subtle range of tones and impressively deep black shades alongside warm, well-saturated colour. More detailed prints don't mean having to wait ages for delivery either: the PM 290 claims - and fulfilled - 37 seconds for a 6x4in photo print, the fastest we've experienced. The unit can be used as a standalone device - there is a USB port and slots at the front for common memory cards - or it can be used with the PC if you budget extra for a USB cable. Even better is the fact that it's Bluetooth-equipped and has a tray for copying images to or from CD or DVD. With a bright and clear tilting 3in screen on which to review shots, the PM 290 shapes up as truly a complete printing package. Home printing is usually more expensive than high street bulk printing, but if you opt for Epson's 100-sheet photo pack the price per 6x4in copy is a very reasonable 20p. A carry handle and battery are available as extras. The PM 290 offers the best marriage of speed and image quality on the market. It may appear expensive compared with the best of competing brands, but it is a knockout product for which it's well worth digging deeper. Vista: Yes

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