21 February 2005 11:52 GMT / By Debbie Davies
Pocket gizmos don't come much more fun than Fujifilm's MP100. This tiny, wireless device uses IRDA (infra red) to receive images from your mobile phone and print instant colour mini-photos. The printer measures 123mm x 30mm x 97mm so slips easily into a handbag or a baggy back pocket.The MP100 takes a cartridge of ten credit card-sized high-alkaline photo sheets so there are no inks needed for printing. A twin pack of 20 sheets retails at around £10.00. 50p a photo makes this a fairly expensive device to run especially as the prints are more likely to be momentoes or something you wanted a quick reference shot of. It takes 2 CR2 lithium batteries which Fuji claims will print about 130 photos. An auto power-off function turns the device off.
We tried the printer with our Sony Ericsson K700i. This model is listed on Fuji's website as compatible with the printer. A complete list of compatible phones is given at www.fujimobile.co.uk/phones.html. With so many of the latest mobile phones dropping infra red in favour or bluetooth, make sure you check your phone's compatibility before you buy.
We had to save photos on the phone before we could send them. The printer has no screen to display the image. With IRDA or beam on your phone switched on, it is simply a matter of selecting the option to send by infra red and then lining up the two devices. It takes less than 30 seconds for the whole printing process. A counter tells you how many sheets are left in the printer and there is a reprint button to print the last image sent. As with Polaroid cameras, it takes a while for the photos to fully develop but the finished, glossy images were better quality than we expected. At 86mm x 54mm images are small in our opinion, worth it for those moments when you want an instant printed copy of what's on your camera phone.
Verdict
The size and design of this tiny printer is really appealing and if you miss seeing your photos printed out, it is also useful. As the size of JPEGs on camera phones grows, you may be put off sending your pictures as MMS. An alternative is to print high quality images on your MP100. Hopefully the price of the device and the consumables will come down over time.
Score
Review Recap
- Made by
- Fujifilm
- Price as reviewed
- £100
- The good
- Very portable and easy to use
- The bad
- Pricey and uses expensive consumables
- Quick verdict
- If you use the camera on your phone a lot and prefer printing photos to storing them digitally, this is a fun gadget
- Score
-
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