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With several to choose from, a new photo printer with memory card slots needs that little something extra. In the case of Kodak's Personal Picture Maker 200, that extra something is an in-built 1.8in display, which makes picking your pics a breeze. It can be tilted for various lighting conditions, but is blocky and not up to the standard of a digital camera screen.
But apart from displaying your images, this screen is also home to a menu, so you can use the printer without a PC. As well as controlling the number and size of prints, it lets you make basic edits, such as cropping and adjusting the brightness, or adding descriptive words. You can add your own or select from a list, but when entering something as simple as 'Hello' takes 23 button-presses, you start to wonder whether it's worth the effort.
PC connection is by USB pass-though port, but you'll have to buy your own cable. Kodak bundles four sheets of photo paper to get you started, and it takes two cartridges - one colour and one photo, which are colour coded for easy installation.
What really lets this printer down, though, is its performance. We printed a 2.1megapixel image direct from a CF card at 8.5in x 11in on photo paper. Set to best quality (1200 x 1200 dpi) this took a mind-numbing 24 minutes 6 seconds to complete, and arrived saturated and with overly sharp contrasts.
Business performance was no better. A standard one-page letter from Word slowly drifted from the unit in no less than 2 minutes 16 seconds, and the text was distinctly grey with poorly formed, feathered edges.
Sadly, we can't recommend the Personal Picture Maker when there are so many alternatives that make a far better job of it - and faster, too. The screen is innovative, true, but it's not enough to make up for what it lacks elsewhere.
Contact
Kodak 0870 243 0270, www.kodak.com
See also:
All Inkjet Printers
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