Home > Consumer Reviews > Epson PictureMate 500 Personal Photo Lab Compact Printer

I've tried a few photo printers in the past but the quality of the Epson prints is much better than any others I've seen. I've compared the photos I've printed against the same photos developed at Boots and the colours are much better.
The best thing about this printer though has to be the fact that you can print your photos out as soon as you've taken them. It's great fun at parties or weddings where you can give people their photos to take home with them but it also means that I'm printing all of my photos out rather than leaving them sitting on my camera. You can also select to print the photos in black and white or sepia which look great.

The preview monitor is good because it allows you to easily select which photos you want to print and you can either print everything on your memory card or just a few of them. I've also tried using the printer to print photos from my mobile using the Bluetooth adapter - the quality isn't as good but I think that's more down to the quality of the camera on my phone, actually sending them to print is really easy.

Although there is a full cartridge in the box, the printer only comes with 20 sheets of paper and because I was so keen to start playing with it I quickly used those up so I'd recommend getting one of the packs that has the cartridge and paper included.

My only (small) complaint is that you can only print 10x15cm photos but then I can't find one of these compact printers that does do a bigger size and I could just buy a full-size printer.

I would definitely recommend this printer to anyone who has a digital camera.

After reading the reviews and comparing the specifications of the PictureMate 100 and PictureMate 500 I was still left wondering if the PictureMate 500 is worth the extra money (currently selling for £50 more). Reviews for both are very positive and the only real difference in specifications is that the PictureMate 100 is 4 colours dye ink and the PictureMate 500 uses 6 colours dye ink. I visited the Epson website hoping that it might be able to shed some light on this for me and discovered that they will send you a sample photo (or you can upload your own) - limited to one photo sample per product, up to a maximum of 3. I decided to upload my own photo and requested a print of it from both printers so I could make a fair comparison. They arrived within 2 days and on viewing them individually I could see no obvious difference, although the PictureMate 100 did perhaps feel very slightly tacky. I was blown away by how good they were - never really believed they could look as good as shop printed photos. When placing the 2 photos side by the difference between the 4 colour dye of the PictureMate 100 and the 6 colour dye of the PictureMate 500 can be seen. In my photo the sky on the PictureMate 100 has a slight tinge of purple, and in general the photo is slightly darker. These are only minor differences though, and only evident when you have the photos side by side and really look for them.

In the Epson printer guide (which accompanied my free photo samples), the other advantages of the PictureMate 500 over the PictureMate 100 are that it allows you to:
~ Edit your photos without using software on your PC (e.g. zoom/crop)
~ Have fade resistant photos for over 45 years (Source: independent Wilhelm Imaging Research).

In the end I bought the PictureMate 500 as I decided that I'll only user it occasionally and therefore won't need to replace it for quite some time. I would recommend anyone making the same decision as I was to go on the Epson site and request samples to help weigh up the difference as, in all honesty, the 6 colour dye ink alone is not worth paying the extra £50 for.

This is probably the most useful luxury I've invested in. Its ideal for visiting relatives that you cant be bothered keeping in touch with. You just snap away pick your photos and print them. the quality is excellent.Also you can manipulate the images really easily using the screen . The paper is overpriced but Tesco's own brand is more than an adequate replacement. One snag is I havent been able to locate a battery for it which allegedly is available. On the whole i am very impressed especially with how compact it is.

The picturemate 500 has renewed my faith in gadgets. It is simple to use, easy menu accessing and has enabled me to produce prints totally hassle free. The printing quality is excellent. The refill packs include both paper and ink.
As a technophobe; I set it up and produced some prints without asking for any help.(amazing)
Yes you can work more with your photos on the computer, but for those who find computers daunting it is an excellent way of getting your digital images printed out, with greatest of ease.
Very impressed so far.

I have been using my Picturemate 500 for a month now and it is an excellent piece of kit. The pictures are crisp and colours reproduced accurately. I simply plug in my memory card and select the photos that I wish to print. Editing the photos e.g. zooming in on a part of a picture is also straightforward.

I use the printer both connected to the PC and standalone. Both interfaces are clear and intuitive to use, although I must admit I prefer to use it standalone.

The printer tells you when the ink is running low and does not attempt to print printing when the ink runs out. I use only proper inks and papers though as from experience I do think that it makes a difference.

My wife who shy's away from anything technical loves it. Technophobes will have no problems with printing or changing cartridges.

If you want to print snapshot size photos, then this is the one to get.