HI-TOUCH HiTi Photo Printer 730PS

I've had this printer for almost 3 years now, and it still completely blows away any desktop ink-jet printer out there..period.

The paper and ink roll come matched and bundled together, so you always have the right amount of ink for the number of papers, when one runs out, so does the other, which is one of those conveniences you take for granted until you realize how helpful that is.

The printer can operate in stand-alone mode (not connected to a PC). You simply stick your memory card in the printer and select the pictures you want to print using the little hand held controller. Admittedly, I very rarely use mine in stand-alone mode, so can't really say how it compares to others in this regard.

I use it almost exclusively for printing 5x7, though it also does 4x6 and 6x8. This could be a disadvantage for those who like to switch print sizes mid-way through a stack, because you need to remove both the paper and the ink roll (and store them in a dust free container), and load up the new size paper and its accompanying ink roll.

However, those inconveniences are more than made up by the quality of the prints. You will not be able to tell the difference from the prints you get from a commercial developer. Regular Ink-jets drove me crazy with uneven color and banding issues, not to mention running out of a particular color when you are in the middle of doing a batch.

The cost per print is comparable to what you pay at your local Wal-Mart, etc.

One significant downside though (which is why I gave it 4-stars), is that it's a dust magnet. If left unattended for more than a few days, dust particles tend to find their way onto the top sheet of paper and/or the ink roll, causing random splotches and scratches on the first print. Any print you make after that is usually clear though. I also find that putting a plastic cover over the printer when not in use reduces the dust problem significantly. So you may need to consider the added cost of a plastic cover, though in my case, a department store shopping bag was the perfect fit for mine.

We bought this printer a year ago, travelled half way around the world with it and back, have printed over 1000 pictures on it and absolutely love it!

1. Picture quality is excellent. You read a lot about "photo quality" prints on printers. In our experience, many of those printers are not at all photo quality and you end up having to pay for prints anyway. We could see no point in having a photo printer that didn't really print great photos. We wanted to buy a printer to avoid having to print professionally. And this printer did it. It is worth the price.

2. The printer uses a different technology than laser printer which is used by the photolabs that you may send your digital prints for processing. It uses dye-sublimation and produces equally good photos.

3. Because of the cost of the ink cartridges and paper (which must be purchased together), the cost per print can still be around .29 to .35 cents, which is the same as many internet labs and more than some of the cheaper deals. So, if you're looking for a cheaper alternative, this is not going to be it. But it is a lot easier. To save some money, look for deals on the paper/cartridge combinations (they have to be bought as a combo - it's not like you can use any paper and buy separate cartridges as you can with other types of computer printers. But this is true for most of the other dedicated photo printers anyway.) You can buy 60 print packs for 4X6 prints which will save you some money over the standard 30 print packs.

4. We chose the 730PS over the 600 series because we personally preferred the pictures. You can go to Hi Touch's website and request a sample from the printer you are considering. We requested a sample from one of the two we were considering in order to compare. For the longest time, we could absolutely not see any difference between the prints and certainly no difference from the prints and what we would get if we sent away to a print lab. Finally, we decided on the 730PS because the colors looked more vivid to us, which I preferred.

5. If you have any questions, email or call Hi Touch. They really know their stuff and were very helpful (even after we made the purchase). We got real answers from them, not stupid marketing hype.

6. For Mac users, we use the 730PS with our iMac.

7. We also liked the versatility of the 730PS - it can print 4X6, 5X7 and 6X8 and hopefully will do stickers soon though that isn't available yet.

8. You can do basic editing from the printer itself - including resizing (larger or smaller) and moving (recentering) the part you want to print. Though you can attach to a computer, you don't need to. The printer accepts all types of photo cards. We use Compact Flash cards but have put in even the Sony cards using an adapter that comes with the Sony cards. You can edit pictures (e.g. using PhotoShop) on your computer and connect the printer to your computer to print.

9. This has really expanded our use of photos and makes events more fun because you can immediately print out photos for people to enjoy.

10. We don't have any of the problems that we hear about from other photo printer owners. This company is very solid in terms of their technology. It's not a cheap printer but you won't be disappointed because you'll get a printer that does what you want it to do - produce truly great prints. We have absolutely no need to use photo labs any more unless we need a print that's bigger than 6x8.

11. As for portability, it's not as easily portable as some other dedicated photo printers but we did cart it half way around the world though we're not doing that again. It was tough to find a case for it - we ended up using a salesperson sample/catalog case on wheels w/handle but that fit in overhead compartments on the plane.

If you get the printer, enjoy. We've loved it!