For many digital camera owners, finding a convenient and affordable means of printing images can be difficult. The Epson Picturemate Personal Photo Lab is a mini inkjet printer designed to produce professional-quality prints.

The unit is designed for portability. It measures less than six inches in height and 10 inches in width, and features a handle so you can carry it around.

Setting it up is simple - open the flap on the lower rear panel, slot the ink cartridge into place and lock it into position using a sliding lever. The buttons at the top of the unit can be used to navigate through the LCD menu, from which all functions can be controlled.

There are several ways to access your images on the Picturemate. It supports 12 types of memory card and has a USB port on the rear that can access images directly from your digital camera or USB flash drive.

The Picturemate produces high-quality borderless prints. We printed several test images, each of which took about two minutes to complete and were on a par with professional prints. These were resistant to smudging and water spills, and Epson claims they can last up to 100 years without fading.

The cost of owning the Picturemate is reasonably low. The package includes a batch of 10cm x 15cm photo paper and an ink cartridge, but replacement packs cost just £30, giving a claimed cost per photo of around 29 pence.

A good photo inkjet printer can produce similar results, but the simplicity of the Picturemate makes it a useful tool for any digital camera enthusiast.

Contact: Epson 0800 220546
www.epson.co.uk