Sony DPP-FP90

Prints are made in about 45 seconds and are sealed with the Protective SuperCoat 2 laminate, resulting in the durability required to withstand UV fading, spills, moisture and fingerprints. The Sony dye sublimation method can print 256 shades for each of three dye colors - cyan, magenta and yellow. That adds up to 16.7 million distinct colors for each pixel, creating spectacularly vivid prints with smooth color gradations that look like a print from a photo lab. Connect a PictBridge compatible camera to the Sony Picture Station printer and make prints using the built-in LCD screen to preview pictures saving the time it would take to turn on a computer, download images from a digital camera, and transfer files to a printer. Picture Station printers allow you to enlarge, reduce or rotate images, shift images to improve composition, add special filter effects (cross-filter highlights, partial color, sepia, monochrome, paint and fisheye lens effect), and superimpose messages or greetings on photo prints. All built into the printer's firmware. 300 dpi dye-sublimation printing process for high quality, durable prints

The only "setup" required is to load the dry ink ribbon into the printer, fill the paper tray and plug the printer into the wall outlet. The ribbon cartridges are marked so you can swap them in and out when using different size media. There are no messy ink cartridges to deal with - ever ! Install the Windows printer driver from the included CD and you're printing.

Compatible with Windows versions 2000, XP and Vista, the FP90 features two USB 2 ports. One for connection to the PC, and a second USB port for connecting to any PictBridge-compatible camera.

As you can see in the image above this printer has a simple control interface. Starting from the upper left you see the Zoom buttons (magnifying glass icons) with the Zoom out serving double duty as the Index button. Below you see the Menu and Cancel command buttons. In the center you see the Enter/OK button surrounded by the Arrow Pad. On the upper right you can see the Auto Touch-Up button and the Print Command button.

The memory card slots are located along the top/front edge of the printer. You can directly read Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, CompactFlash Type I or II or Microdrives and Secure Digital. Other types of cards can be used if there's a CF card adapter available for them -- I know of CF adapters for xD-Picture Card and SmartMedia cards. If your memory card has images already tagged with standard DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) information -- just press the Auto Print button, the rest is automatic. Most digital cameras have a DPOF option that lets you select and tag images on the camera's LCD screen before removing the memory card.

When you insert a memory card into the FP90 you will initially see a 16-thumbnail preview mode like this. Use the 4-way controller to move around the images or go to the next page of thumbnails. You can quickly select and tag the photos you want to print and set the quantity of each to be printed.

plugged into the FP90's PictBridge USB port. Many new digital cameras are PictBridge compatible which means you can print your photos directly, no computer needed. Just use a USB cable to connect your camera to the printer's PictBridge port. You will use the menus on the camera itself to control the printer.