Design & Features

Now let's have a closer look at the printer itself.  While well designed and offering features not found in a majority, you'll quickly notice the compromise you'll make in terms of its actual size.  These printers really push the boundaries of what really is considered a "compact photo printer".

From a purely design standpoint, the PictureMate Dash won't raise any eyebrows.  From Epson's poor choice of colors to its unnecessarily large footprint, it certainly doesn't look "high-tech" by any means.  However, as the saying goes, it is what's inside that counts and that certainly applies to this powerful little printer.  Most of their models sport slightly different color combinations but the Dash sports a two-tone white/gray finish.  Starting with the top, the printer has a slide out protective top panel that will reveal the impressive LCD and its function buttons.  The top cover does have a plastic protective cover not only to protect the LCD within, but somewhat offer the user to still make use of it with the lid closed.  I say "somewhat" because it is not really aligned well enough for you to see the full display.  In fact, this somewhat puzzled me quite a bit but I guess the point is that it really isn't intended to be used this way in the first place.

The front has a fairly standard push and release type tray for the prints to exit from.  This is one of a few areas that is not really up to par in terms of quality.  It just feels flimsy and cheap and I'm really not sure how long it will hold up over time.  In addition, this is where you'll also find the supported memory card slots.  For those wondering, it little beast does support all popular flash storage cards, including Microdrive and SDHC options.  On the rear is where you'll find the power and USB jacks, as well as the compartment for the unique ink cartridge.  However, you'll also find one additional covered slot here that really is what makes this printer truly portable.  Unlike a majority of options on the market, the latest PictureMate models allow you to power it via a standard adapter or an optional battery pack, allowing full use of it when on the road.

Size Comparison

Being a compact photo printer, many may wonder just how "compact" it is based on the pictures you may find online.  With that said, I will provide a comparison shot below and let you be the judge...

**click to enlarge**

While the PictureMate is small enough to barely find a fair spot on this category, it is far from the smallest and actually the largest compact photo printer I have personally seen and/or used.  The above shot is just one example to try and depict its overall size over a couple of other compact printers in its class.  By far, Canon has some of the smallest standalone photo printers on the market.  HP also has some very aesthetically appealing printers that are quite small, but fail heavily in all other areas.

The LCD

One of the most impressive features and actually the most apparent improvement over their older PictureMate Series printers is the LCD display and its level of functionality.  It is not only significantly larger and of high quality, but designed to be easily tucked away for storage or angled to your preference for viewing and printing.  Using the clearly labeled control buttons, you can navigate and make use of a number of features that would normally only be possible from your PC.  With that said, I decided to not only provide you all with additional pictures of the display itself, but also cover most of the main features you can take advantage directly from the printer.

When you first connect the printer, it will need a bit of charge before you can actually use it.  The display will actually show the charging process and inform you once it is ready for first use.  This whole process takes approximately one minute.

The main menu consists of seven submenus, the most important of which will be covered here.

The Print Settings menu has plenty of very useful features most will certainly take full advantage of...
 

The Layout Menu will allow you to choose the size and type of print you prefer.  Typically, these options are available when connecting a compact printer to your computer.  However, all can been done without any PC support whatsoever.  There are also a number of photo enhancement features most can make use of if a particular picture wasn't exactly taken well enough for printing.  Personally, I prefer to PS every photo I take but for those on the road or those unfamiliar with image editing tools, these options may suffice.

The Edit Menu has very common features that most would typically have to resort to a computer to make use of them.  With the PictureMate, you can take advantage of all without even connecting it to your PC.  This includes red-eye removal, color effects and heck, they even throw in a number of decorations for you to choose from.

Complete maintenance can be performed from the printer directly.  All can be done via the LCD by accessing the Maintenance Menu.  Finally, they also have a Setup Menu as well that will allow you to make changes to confirmation screens and even a slideshow feature.

Next:  Bundled Software