SAGEM Photo Easy 255

Well, these days everyone likes photo's. Most have digital camera's and so personal photo printers are quickly becoming must have accessories to complement the cameras. Being honest, I myself wasn't too interested in owning a personal photo printer, I was perfectly happy using Boot's online service to get my digital prints or simply use my standard printer, although upon owning one I do find it has it's benefits, especially since I got it free from ...
...phone contract.)

Features:

Dye Sublimation Technology (Oooo... Fancy)
Removable paper tray
Blue-tooth Connection
Various Memory Card Compatibility (SD, MS Pro, Mini SD etc.)
Pict-Bridge
Direct USB input
Colour Screen
Easy To Navigate Menu's
Removable Print Film

Now for those who don't know exactly what dye sublimation technology really is, don't worry ... more

Well, these days everyone likes photo's. Most have digital camera's and so personal photo printers are quickly becoming must have accessories to complement the cameras. Being honest, I myself wasn't too interested in owning a personal photo printer, I was perfectly happy using Boot's online service to get my digital prints or simply use my standard printer, although upon owning one I do find it has it's benefits, especially since I got it free from a friend (originally acquired as a bonus to a mobile phone contract.)

Dye Sublimation Technology (Oooo... Fancy)
Removable paper tray
Blue-tooth Connection
Various Memory Card Compatibility (SD, MS Pro, Mini SD etc.)
Pict-Bridge
Direct USB input
Colour Screen
Easy To Navigate Menu's
Removable Print Film

The printing process starts as you select the items to print from the desired input (whether it be memory card, blue-tooth it's up to you) then once selected the printer begins the print operation. This involves printing each of the core colour layers one at a time, Yellow, Magenta and finally Cyan. This process is then completed when a protective film is applied to the photo before it is completed, this obviously applies a final coat to add the reflective effect to the photograph. Overall the process only takes a minute or so per photo, so it's not too long to wait in reality. (Works out faster than most companies providing 1 hour processing.)

The build quality of the printing station is acceptable, it's quite a heavy weight but then again it is a printer, the one main flaw is the build design is the print head, as I've wasted several pictures with red streaky lines and other damaged effects due to dirt on the print head which is VERY easy to get. (Each time you load the tray you can drop a crumb or something tiny in which will have devastating effects on your pictures until the head is cleaned.) The pictures are really good quality however, after the film is applied to the photo they come out not far from professionally developed pictures!

I've had no problems with the actual use of the printer, however as I've previously mentioned the print head is susceptible to dirt and frequently needs cleaning. Otherwise the actual printer seems pretty reliable, been in use about 9 months or so now.

The printer is VERY simple to use, if you're printing from a memory card, simply plug it in and power the dock up. The items are automatically read and thus you have the option to select which ones you would like to print, what size, how many per page, there's a whole host of variable options you can chose to customise your prints. The printer also allows you to keep or delete the images from the source. If you're using blue-tooth to transfer the images simply plug in the adapter (provided) and the images you send via blue-tooth are stored within the printer until it is powered off. This is another extremely simple process, as is using pictbridge where you can plug the camera into the printer directly and use the menu as normal.

Now for the bad part, I've recently been hampered searching for consumables, the most popular is the DSR400T which consists of 3 print films and 120 sheets of printer paper. The problem is its pricey, approximately £35 - £40 (30 - 35p per print) when bought online after delivery, it's also a pain as there are limited English companies that stock it.

Overall it's not a bad photo printer for the price, even moreseo if it's free! The prints are decent enough to put in an album without worry and it should last long enough to keep hold of for a while, although saying that with the price of the paper & carts it can always be cheaper to use an online service to print your snaps. (Unless of course they're something you want to keep private...)  

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