Epson PictureMate Dash (PM 260) Portable Photo Lab

The PictureMate is a lunch boxed sized printer with a handle that you can use to tote it around. This little printer does not require a computer in order to print your photos. It reads your images from its built in card readers, or an attached USB storage device. If you want to connect it to a computer, you have that option too. Drivers are available for Windows and Mac OS X.

The front of the PictureMate closes up for transport. To open the paper tray, you just press the spring loaded latch in the upper right corner. When the paper tray is opened, you'll also see the built in card readers. The top reader slot can accommodate MemorySticks and SD cards. The bottom slot is for Compact Flash Type I and II cards. Other card formats such as MicroSD and miniSD can be used if you have the appropriate adapter.

If we look at the back of the printer, we will find a USB port for external storage devices, a USB port to use to connect to your computer, a power connector, a battery compartment and an ink cartridge compartment.

In addition to loading images from flash cards and USB devices, you can also send images wirelessly from a Bluetooth enabled phone, PDA or computer. Slide the cartridge into the slot, move the locking lever to the lock position and close the compartment door. Totally quick and easy, just the way I like things to be.

Canon Selphy CP760 Photo Printer

The dye sublimation technology Canon uses in its Selphy range of printers is now mature, so to keep sales buoyant the company has to update other aspects of its dedicated photo devices. The Selphy CP760 is close to the entry-level device in Canon's new range, but still provides most of the features seen in its more expensive siblings.

It's simple, rounded lines, finished in pure white with colour accents on the control buttons, mean it can fit in a living room as well as a study. In fact, it will probably be used as a standalone printer as often as a PC-connected one.

The most obvious feature in its top panel is the 63mm colour LCD panel, deep-set into the surface and slightly angled for easier viewing. This is complemented by the usual diamond of control buttons, with just four others for power, menu, back-out and print.

The main features in its front edge are three memory card slots, which take SD, memory stick and CompactFlash, though support for Fujifilm's xD format requires an optional adapter. On the left-hand side are sockets for a PC connection and for a PictBridge cable from a camera.

The right-hand side has a flip-down cover concealing the film cartridge, which is the only consumable in the machine, apart from paper. A similar cover slips down from the front so you can engage the paper cassette, which nearly doubles the footprint of the printer, when in place. As with previous Selphy printers, there's no convenient way to carry this cassette.

If you intend to use the CP760 to print from memory cards or a camera, the only installation required is to slot in the film cartridge, load the 15 by 10cm paper blanks into the cassette and plug the cassette into the front of the printer. Power is supplied from a separate ‘black block' power supply, though in Canon's case it is white, to match the printer.

Canon supplied us with an early evaluation sample of the printer, which came with no software CD, but the company confirmed it will normally be supplied with copies of Ulead Photo Express LE for photo editing, with Canon's own ZoomBrowser EX doing the photo housekeeping. This effective partnership has been seen before in previous Selphy printers.

Canon claims to have improved the firmware in the printer, to automatically detect faces and correct their brightness. You can also remove red-eye without having to use a PC.