For non techies this is a type of printer optimised for photographic printing.

The output is more durable and should not fade when exposed to UV light like inkjet printing, also the colour rendition is supposed to be better (despite the limitations of digital cameras and the colour conversions.._

they work by melting fine particles of ink on to the paper and then coating it with some gloss stuff I’ve been looking at these in Jessops. They’ve been around for some time but have hitherto been ridiculolusly expensive – now you can pick them up for a cost cheaper than a decent inkjet or laser!

The have lower running costs than inkjets (25-27p per print) and output standard 6″ x 4″ photos – they are the same quality as the photo printing on your average postcard or old skool film photos from a minilab.

What is even better is that you can connect your PC to the machine as well and print optimised photos – and of course you don’t have to pay for the duff photos like with traditional film cameras. (I am particularly harsh on myself when putting photos up for public viewing as opposed to just backing up chips, I will only print/upload about 33% of the pics I have shot, you get a lot of NG (no good) pics when shooting at raves for various reasons (light conditions and/or being moosed)

These seem like a brilliant way of sharing photos but dealing with the security problems – as much fun as gallery photos are nothing IMO beats having a real print or a photo album to look at or show your friends (particularly those who don’t have computers) and its so much more secure…. – between all of us in our crew I’m sure we could spare a few quid for media costs for those who want extra copies…

anyone else got one of these machines already, or used one at work/college?

I am looking at the Canon models as I need one that reads memory cards (I haven’t got Pictbridge on my camera as it was built before this was invented), also media should be easy to get… anyone know of any better models?