Robert’s Reviews

 

Sony Digital Photo Printer DPP-FP30

 

Sony just introduced a new low-cost dye-sublimation photo printer, the DPP-FP30, that can print 3.5 x 5 or 4x6 postcard size prints. The unit is extremely small (7 x 2 ½ x 5 ½ inches). It can work directly with digital cameras that implement PictBridge or from a computer. (It wouldn’t work with my Macintosh, however. Seems that the Mac just isn’t powerful enough to support Sony’s advanced imaging functions. That wasn’t a big deal because we have almost completely switched over from Mac to PC in our photo shop.)

 

   

Figure 1 -- The Picture Station DPP-FP30, and extra media

 

The local Sony store called when this model came in; I went down and picked it up, and an extra box of paper. Cost per 4x6 print is about 50 cents (US).

 

Out-of-box experience

 

The OOB experience was nice. The device was well packaged and easy to set up:

 

Figure 2 -- The printer and power supply

 

I unpacked the paper tray, loaded the paper, inserted the dry ink ribbon, plugged it in, connected it to my Sony DSC-T3, and started printing within minutes. A print takes about 90 seconds.

 

Overall, I was very satisfied. The prints looked excellent, the PictBridge function works great with the DSC-T3 (or a DSC-T1 with latest firmware), and it works well from my PC, too (though I think that Sony can do a better job writing its driver software. Too many options you don’t need.) If your camera supports PictBridge, you can use the camera’s UI and display to select photos for printing.

 

This unit only has a USB port—there’s no memory stick jack so you either have to plug it into your computer or use a PictBridge compliant camera and USB cable.

 

The printer makes 4 passes: once for Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow, and one more pass for a clear seal to make the print more durable.

 

Two negative points:

 

  1. The paper needs to exit from the back of the printer and get sucked back in 4 times during the printing process. Be sure you don’t have the back of the printer blocked. It’s very easy to get the power cord in the way of the paper path.

 

  1. As with all dye-sublimation printers, they are sensitive to dust and dirt on the paper before the print occurs. If your house is full of cat hair like mine is, you need to be careful you don’t expose the unprinted paper to dirt—otherwise it will be embedded in the print.

 

Mine came with an English and French manual, and a coupon for a media discount if you register the product.

 

Figure 3 – Documentation

 

We paid $135.75 for the unit, plus $38.45 for an extra box of 80 sheets of 4x6 paper and ribbon.

 

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