22 June 2005: Epson Australia has released the Epson PictureMate [TM] 500 dedicated 4x6 photo printer with a 6cm colour LCD (Liquid Crustal Display) viewing screen and optional Lithium-Ion battery, designed for portable, quick and easy photo printing.
With a high resolution (320 x 240) colour LCD screen, the PictureMate 500 allows users to confirm images before printing and gain an accurate indication of the printed result. This feature becomes particularly useful when printing a selection of the images stored on a memory device.
For totally portable photo printing, an optional Lithium-Ion battery can be used in the PictureMate 500. This allows users to take the PictureMate 500 with them on holidays or to special events and print high quality photos at the touch of a button.
These new features in the PictureMate 500, build on those of the highly popular PictureMate, which was released by Epson in 2004.
The Epson PictureMate 500 produces high quality photos using Epson's six colour UltraChrome Hi-Gloss[TM] pigment ink (Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Red, and Blue). With a 5760 optimised dpi (dots per inch) and 3pl (picolitre) droplet size, prints from the PictureMate 500 are better quality and last longer than traditional photos.
Using UltraChrome Hi-Gloss pigment ink means that extremely durable photos can be produced on the PictureMate 500. With a lightfastness of up to 104 years#, photos produced on the PictureMate 500 ensure that memories can be preserved for future generations. UltraChrome ink is also water resistant and less susceptible to scratching compared to dye-based inks.
As the PictureMate 500 is PictBridge compatible, each image is automatically optimised for colour and quality as it passes from the digital camera to the printer and users can print photos in colour, black and white or sepia, with or without borders, and in a range of sizes (up to 4x6) so home printing can be creative as well as easy.
The Epson PictureMate 500 maintains a low cost per photo of less than 50 cents per print. The affordable and convenient PictureMate PicturePack is designed specifically for the PictureMate range of photo printers and includes the ink cartridge and 100 sheets of PictureMate Photo Paper.
With the PictureMate 500 users have a range of PC free printing options from digital cameras, all popular memory cards including SD(tm) memory card/MultiMediaCard(tm), Memory Stick Ž, Compact Flash(tm) Type I and II, SmartMedia(tm), Secure Digital, MMC, xD and Microdrive, as well as storage devices. An optional BlueTooth module is also available for wireless printing from compatible mobile devices.
The Epson PictureMate 500 is priced at $399 RRP including GST and the Epson PicturePack is priced at $43.95 RRP including GST, and are available through Epson resellers.
For full product specifications on these and other Epson printers please refer to www.epson.com.au.
High resolution images are available at: www.channel.epson.com.au where you can log in using the email address media@epson.com.au and password
To obtain a unit for media review, please contact Amy Crosbie at CommunEcom Strategic Communications on 02 9949 9788 or 0410 771 500 or by email at amycrosbie@communecom.com.au.
Read them at: http://www.epson.co.jp/e/newsroom/newsroom_index.htm
