I’m now the proud co-owner of an Epson PictureMate photo printer. Even though I’ve only spent about three days with it so far, I’m ready to recommend it to all you Holiday shoppers. I’ve never owned any kind of photo printer before, so let me explain why I believe it’ll appeal to those of you addicted to instant gratification. For years, I worried about ink costs – opting to online photo printing services over local ones. Even the Epson PictureMate can’t compete with a bargain, but when time is of the essence, you’ll wish you had something sitting within easy reach. And let me tell you – the Epson PictureMate is about as easy, powerful, and affordable as they come. Weighing in at just under $200, the Epson PictureMate quickly caught my eye in the store aisle the other day. It can operate independent of any computer system, and sports a relatively intuitive (albeit simplistic) menu system on its LCD. The cost per photo should average out to about 29 cents per print, which isn’t too bad (considering you’re not going to need a hard copy of every JPG on your system). I thought I’d never own a photo printer, but my girlfriend kept asking for one. I didn’t want something complicated, and I didn’t want something that was larger than a keyboard. I suppose the front-loading media reader is what won me over, not to mention the quality prints I saw at the store. Sure enough, when I took a picture with my camera and inserted the SD card to print the image, it did the deed with little intervention.

Gnomie Buster White: You are not as smart a shopper as I thought you were. You didn’t check out the HP 375 printer. This is the 5th generation of these portable printers and the first on the market. The price point is the same, even less for another model. You can see the pictures in the LCD, crop, adjust brightness, add frames and number of other effects. It’s much smaller and can be 100% portable with the extra batttery pack. Ot wireless with the Bluetooth adaptor.You aren’t obligated to buying the Epson Ink / Paper pack which may not be availabel except at Big Box stores. You can use any body’s photo paper and you can even print in 4096 shades of gray for the best Black & White picutres you’ve ever seen. Check it out.

Don’t think of the Epson PictureMate for you, however. Think of all your friends and relatives who have yet to connect to this Internet thingamajiggy. I’m sure they’d love to have prints of your latest adventures. And what about becoming the life of the party by offering your guests near real-time snapshots of their most embarassing evening moment? The printer won’t fit in your pocket, but that’s why the engineers gave it a handle. You’re still not convinced? I wish I could show you the output – it’s as perfect as an original digital image. There’s 5,760 x 1440 dpi maximum resolution waiting to be transfered onto the 4 x 6 high-quality, smudge and fingerprint-resistant photo paper. Not to mention, these suckers will last a hundred years (200 in archival sleeves). Can you say the same thing about your hard drive? The Epson PictureMate has a good price point, too. Let me put it to you this way: the features were enough to win me over without too much hesitation. The value is not quite as quantifiable – especially when you take into consideration the joy your grandmother will get when she opens up a card from you, only to see your boss dancing on the coffee table… OOPS! Printed the wrong one. The Epson PictureMate can make your electronic memories a bit more tangible. Don’t dismiss the option outright. I’m suggesting you add it to this year’s wish list, or give it to someone who may not have thought about asking for one.