When I first ordered my Sony DPP-FP30, the first problem I had was the price - how cheap it was for a Sony printer! I was wondering what I was going to receive when it turned up.
When it did turn up the next day, I was nothing but surprised about firstly the size, then the quality of the printer.
Installation was a breeze, just insert the CD and install the options what you want, then plug in the power and USB cable, and your away.
Before we plugged it in though, we had to insert the cartridge, which simply slides into the side of the printer after you open the large flap. It is so much easier than the usual ink-jet style cartridges. Also, the print cartridge comes with 40 sheets of paper, this means the cartridge will only print 40 sheets until you need to purchase another colour print pack. This is good as you know exactly how many more prints you can do before purchasing a new one, and you don't waste any 'unused ink'.
Once it was all installed and running, I tried a few prints, and first impression was how easy the print dialog was, with normal ink-jet printers, you get a vast variety of options, which most of us never use, or even understand what they do. The DPP-FC30 print dialog is very simple, just choose the paper size (option of two - 'Post Card' and 3.5x5 inch), the orientation, enlargement, and number of copies. In the next tab there are options for Colour Reproduction/Picture Quality, in here you can choose either 'Auto Fine Print 3' or 'ICM', and then settings for the RGB channels.
Whenever I print, I just set it for Auto Fine Print 3, and they always come out fine.
The time of printing is about 90 seconds for a 4x6" and 80 seconds for a 3.5x5" which is pretty fast.
Once the image has been printed, because of the technology used in Dye Sub printing, the paper is not wet at all, and never does get wet from ink. This means you can immediately touch the picture without risk of smudging the picture.
The paper also has another neat trick, at both ends of the paper, there is a perforation, this means once the picture is printed, just tear off these perforated sections, and the picture is a true 4x6 inch photo with no border. This means no more sitting afterwards with a pair of scissors.
Along with printing from your PC, the printer also has the function of printing through 'PictBridge'. Unfortunately my Sony camera is over a year old now, and doesn't have this function, so I could not test it. But PictBridge simply means you can plug in your PictBridge compatible camera direct into the printer, and use the camera to print the pictures direct.
Other software which came with the printer is PictureGear Studio, a program which allows you to create photo albums, binders, photo collections etc. This is a very neat piece of software which allows you to easily organise all your photos.
The whole package comes with th: DPP-FP30 Printer (approx. 60mm x 30.5mm x 122mm) AC Power Adapter AC Power Cord CD-ROM (including drivers for Windows XP Pro/Home, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows 98SE, and Picture Gear Studio) Colour Printing Pack (includes print cartridge, and 40 sheets of paper) Operating instructions Warranty Sony End User Software License Agreement
The main problem I have been having with the printer is the consumables ( the Colour Print Packs). When I ordered the printer, I ordered three more packs, but these didn't arrive until over six weeks later! This may have been just my supplier, or it may have been sony, so I cannot really comment any more. But if you do buy one of these, get plenty of cartridges!
So far I have got through nearly two colour print cartridges, and I can honestly say I have not produced a bad picture, nor has the printer errored at all.
This is a great buy, especially for the price, design and reliability, but just be careful of the consumables
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