EasyShare indeed

After extensive research on ePinions and other sites, we had intended to purchase either the Sony DPP-FP50 or the Epson PictureMate Deluxe. What changed out minds?

Speed. This printer is blazing fast at 45 seconds. The other printers ranged from 1 minute 15 seconds to a minute and a half.

Setup. The manual was easy to follow. Just plug in the adapter on the back. Be careful to not block the paper slot. Install ribbon on the right side. Paper in tray and tray connects to front of printer.

Easy of use. The buttons and menu options are well laid out and intuitive. I do not want to have to read a manual every time I need to use something.

Color quality. All the printers were quite good. This one just is excellent. The Kodak paper is supposed to be waterproof.

Size. This was smaller in size than most of the other printers we looked at. However, you do need to keep the back clear for the three printing passes.

Interface options. While the other printers all support the same memory connections, USB and PictBridge, this printer also has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Bluetooth does not seem to work "out of the box". Both the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi require software install and configuration. Upon reading the documentation, this is Bluetooth 1.1 and only supports OPP Object Push or FTP.

Wi-Fi card sold separately and the WEP settings do not have a selection for different encryption 40/64/128 bits. Hopefully this is auto detected.

We were concerned about the perceived cost of thermal toner and availability. This was quickly dispatched as you can purchase a 160 sheet 4 ribbon comb for $47. This keeps the price in the same range as Inkjet printers per sheet.

In summary: well worth the price even though we could not get Bluetooth working and you have to purchase Wi-Fi card.