This isn't the first time we've looked at the tiny Esky-esque PictureMate from Epson and at the time as a standalone product it garnered a Recommended award. It's good to see it do the same in a comparative environment, walking off with a second recommendation from the Labs team. It was a close run race though, with the Canon PIXMA ip5000 coming a very, very close third.

The Epson printed the natural image with a result that was quite passable, but unfortunately too far away from the original image. Auto correcting (including the vivid and clear functions) turned this around. The second image printed was excellent - still not too close to the original - but a much clearer, cleaner, vibrant and sharper print overall.

The printer itself has the cute lunchbox/Esky look to it, even down to the solid carry handle so you can take it to a friend's house with you. Fortunately it doesn't tie you down to a PC, as the unit is compatible with most memory cards available (SD, MMC, xD, CF, MemoryStick (Duo, MagicGate, Pro)) and also has PictBridge for direct camera connection.

While it looks dinky, the PictureMate is a capable little printer and well deserves the award.