Canon Pixma mini260

You'd expect something called the Canon Pixma mini260 ($179.99 direct) to be pretty small. But mini is a relative term. The mini260 is roughly the same size as a miniature poodle, but it's not significantly smaller than any other ink jet based, dedicated small format photo printer.

It's arguably larger than some, and it's certainly larger than a typical thermal dye photo printer. That said, it's small enough to count as portable, and it delivers good looking output at fast speeds.

Measuring 3.3 by 8.9 by 8.9 inches (HWD), the mini260 looks like an over sized CD player. At 4.8 pounds and with a built in handle, it's easy enough to carry around. Add the optional battery ($79.99 direct), which weights a little under a pound, and you can even bring it to a picnic to print photos on the spot.

Setup is simple. Open the top and front covers, which turn into input and output trays, open up the printer, snap in the print head and the single four color cartridge, close the printer, and load paper.

You're ready to print from memory cards and PictBridge cameras.

If you want to print from your computer as well, you can run the automated setup program from disc and connect by USB cable.

You can also connect through an optional Bluetooth adapter ($79.99 direct) or the built in infrared port.

The front panel contains a 2.5 inch color LCD that you can easily tilt to any angle to preview photos on memory cards.

The controls are essentially the same as on some other recent Canon printers, combining buttons with a wheel you can rotate to move through the settings.

As I've pointed out in other reviews, whether you like this approach is largely a matter of personal taste. The front panel menu system lets you choose the essentials, including which photos to print and how many of each, but I was surprised to find cropping as the only actual editing feature on the Edit menu.

Other edit choices, including red eye reduction, are tucked away on an Advanced menu, where you might never think to look for them. Making up for the hidden settings, however, is a command on the Special Photo Print menu to print a page of nine thumbnail size samples, each with different adjustments and settings similar to the Variations option in Adobe Photoshop chosen by the printer.

You can then pick which sample to print at full size. I suspect that in most cases you'll get a better photo this way than if you tried to adjust the settings yourself.