Sony DPP-FP30 Digital Photo Printer

by Sony

Product Details

• Item Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00030DER8
• Item model number: DPP-FP30
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 6, 2004

Product Description

Sony Digital Photo Printer DPP-FP30 - Create lab-quality digital photographs anywhere you go with the ultra-portable DPP-FP30 digital photo printer. Featuring dye sublimation technology, SuperCoat 2 protective lamination and a high speed processor, the DPP-FP30 prints borderless 4" x 6" and 3 1/2" x 5" prints with up to 16.7 million colors in about 90 seconds on a personal computer. The DPP-FP30's compact design (just 6 7/8" x 2 3/8" x 5 3/8" without the paper tray) makes it perfect for travel. It even features PictBridge technology for convenient printing directly from a compatible digital camera without the need of a computer. Dual-Volt power supply for use around the world Image Optimization functions through Sony's Photo Quality Process helps to improve picture quality including sharpness and automatic color correction SuperCoat 2, a unique Sony Lamination process, is applied as a final step in the printing process, protecting the photos from color-shift and fading. Sony photo prints are built to last, resisting moisture, fingerprints and fading Built-in 20 sheet feeder

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best All-Around Color Among Portable Dye-Sub Printers, June 11, 2005

By 

ciniminis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony DPP-FP30 Digital Photo Printer (Office Product)

Aside from Sony, many other brands make portable dye-sublimation printers these days, which makes the choice tougher. I did not consider purchasing the Dell, HP, Kodak, or Olympus ones because they are simply too big - I wanted one that I can comfortably bring with me on my travels, so I can print my own postcards to send home.

I tried out the Canon CP-400 (form factor even smaller than the Sony DPP-FP30) in the store, and found that the print-outs (direct from my camera, not touched up by computer) have a blue cast to them, and in a side-by-side comparison the Sony print-outs (of the same pictures) have much prettier colors.

And comparing to Sony's own older model DPP-SV77, which I have at home: The DPP-SV77 is bigger, complete with touchscreen LCD and Memory Stick/PC Card slots, built-in creativety functions such as printing calendars, and has a higher resolution of 403 dpi (the DPP-FP30 reviewed here, like the Canon models, only has 300 dpi). BUT the little DPP-FP30 actually prints photos with much truer color, while the big brother DPP-SV77 tends to exagerate reds and greens, and over-sharpen any edges. The lower resolution in the DPP-FP30 is not noticeable at all unless I print fine text to it from a computer, which is not this printer's intended purpose anyway.

While I am very happy with the Sony DPP-FP30, I WISH IT COULD HAVE HAD (Sony, are you listening):

- A battery option, so it's not necessary to carry the AC adapter or to be tethered to a power source when printing.

- A button to toggle between bordered (no cropping) and borderless (cropped).

- More creativety functions in the included software.

- Without increasing the overall size by too much, add multi-type card reader slots and a small color LCD to choose pictures (better yet, ability to trim/crop them before printing). This would also eliminate the requirement that the digital camera must be PicBridge compatible.

The other obvious shortcomings common to all portable dye-sub printers are that 1) paper/cartridge are prioritery and on the expensive side, and 2) print size is limited to a maximum of 4x6 (4x8 in some cases). These I accept for now, because I want the quality and durability of dye-sub prints (as opposed to inkjet prints). Hopefully these will improve with time.

As no other printer today has everything I hope for (see above), I am still giving the Sony DPP-FP30 5 stars for its excellent quality prints.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A perfect painless picture printer...., January 22, 2005

By 

Simtare (the great Midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony DPP-FP30 Digital Photo Printer (Office Product)

I picked up my Sony PictureStation last week. I had also considered the Canon CP 220, but decided on the Sony after I saw the prints from one at a friends home.

Installation was very easy and all went flawlessy. Setup consisted of installing the driver to my computer and hooking up the power, and usb (remember to buy a usb cable)...then inserting the printer cartridge and paper.The printer has a very small form factor and takes up litle space on my desk. I was printing 10 minutes after opening the box.

The prints are beautiful 4x6 pictures. Prints take about 1.5 minutes and are smudgeproof and waterproof right out of the printer. I would compare them favorably to photo lab prints. Cost is around 40 cents a picture if you shop around online for the 80 picture ink/paper pack.

Sony includes a 40 count paper/ink pack with the Dpp-Fp30 which is a very nice little bonus that allows you to print right away without purchaseing extra supplies.

Printing is easy from a computer or from my camera using the pictbridge feature. I am very pleased with the Sony Fp30 and would recommend it to anyone who wants a simple easy way to print gorgeous 4x6 pictures.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome little printer, February 18, 2005

By 

Maestr0 (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony DPP-FP30 Digital Photo Printer (Office Product)

I spent a lot of time reviewing these dye-sub printers. I rarely print from a memory card, so that feature was not important to me. Watching this thing do its magic is a lot of fun! 3 passes to apply color, then the last pass for the glossy coat.

I got it mainly for its portable size. It is tiny! Another plus is that it comes with a paper pack and ribbon.
The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that the photos are a tad (just a tad) flat. I think it has more to do with the sony paper. My full size canon i960 makes a better print on the canon glossy paper.

Other than that, this is a fantastic little device!