Epson PictureMate 500? Photo Printer And Postcard Printer?

 I bought an Epson PictureMate 500 at a garage sale. I bought it for $20. The person selling it thought it was some kind of portable stereo. I thought it was too until I examined it. It didn't have a power cord. It had an ink cartridge but I couldn't know if it was usable since I didn't have a way to power it (could be used with a battery but it didn't come with that either). 

Here is a photo of one that is similar to it. 

There is a panel on the right front that reveals different ports for different kinds of flash / memory cards. There is an USB port in the back to connect to a printer. There is a panel in the back that shows where a battery would go (it was empty). 

There is a panel in the back where one inserts the photo paper. One can get the photo paper for this printer. There is a panel in the front that lowers so it holds whatever one chooses to print with it. It uses a standard size photo paper. 

It prints using an inkjet printer inside; hence, the inkjet cartridge that is put into the lower back of it. I am amazed how big it is; compared to the overall size of the printer. 

I was able to find the power cord on eBay. Depending on who has it up for bids or 'buy now', the price wasn't too bad. I could also find the ink cartridge (T770) on eBay as well as the Epson photo paper. 

Power Cord , Ink Cartridge and Epson Photo Paper

(there are times the ink cartridge came with photo paper).

Power Cord

Ink Cartridge

Ink cartridge with photo paper.

I also tried postcard paper that was made for printers. I separated it from the sheet; usually two per sheet. I fed them in a stack of singles in the back of the printer. It took awhile to get the printer head to print properly (it had not been used to print anything in quite awhile). Once I got it to print, I found myself creating a lot of postcards using photos I found online and ones I took myself. 

I found myself creating cards for different holidays and just for the fun of printing them. I have found that they post office does not have a problem delivering them. I have found it is a lot of fun. 

A Better Disney Computer? - Part 3?

 

Here is my idea for a better Disney computer. It is inspired by Goofy's hat or at least it does to me. 

The Disney computer they had before was a small desktop with a few Mickey Mouse type things added to it. I thought it was kind of plain and not very creative. It used a small desktop tower with a CRT monitor. It had a Disney frame around the monitor. I thought they could have done better.

My idea for a Disney Goofy (see other - part 2 - for the Mickey Mouse inspired computer) computer. It is a rough sketch. The main box is shaped like the hat Goofy wears. It has feet at the bottom to stabilize it. It doesn't show speakers but they could be on either side of the monitor. 

I think the main box could hold the main board - a Raspberry Pi board or small mini-ITX style board - that could easily fit within it. It could a thin LCD or OLED screen like that used in a laptop computer. If one wanted a camera, it could be placed above the screen. One could place speakers on either side of the screen. 

Since optical drive are no longer on newer computers, one would not have to make room for one. If one wanted one, there are USB optical drives that one could use.

The base of the computer box are 'feet' - shaped like Goofy's shoes. It could hold a power supply in one and different ports in the other (like USB, memory card slots, etc.). The feet would also stabilize it so it would be less likely to fall over. 

For the drive, one could use a small hard drive or a small solid state one. They don't usually take up a lot of space. One could also operate off a SD card or a micro-SD card (both now have really large memory capacity). 

One could use a blue tooth keyboard and mouse since one would not have to connect either to the box or one could attach them to the USB ports. 

This is just me thinking out loud. I like to design things - most of which I never get around to making or doing. Perhaps one day I will get to create it. 

TomLeeM

2024 / 02 / 08

TomLeeM at Cafe Press.

A Better Disney Computer ? - part 2?

 

Here is a more detailed version of my earlier blog and design for a Mickey Mouse computer. 

They had Mickey Mouse computer before but I think it was boring and not very creative. I think they could have gotten a little more creative than adding a Mickey Mouse frame around a regular small desktop computer.

My idea for one would be an all in one design. The box would be round with mouse ears on top (the ears being speakers on either side). There would be feet at the bottom to keep it steady. Perhaps a mouse shaped computer mouse and perhaps a Disney inspired keyboard. I think this would leave a possible camera for the space above the screen but with the frame / round box design.

I think the computer board could be a Raspberry Pi board, or one like the Mini ITX style boards. It is small enough that it could fit the case design above. 

The screen could be either an LCD or OLED screen; both of which would be thin (like those used in laptops computers) and would not take up much space. The screen would not have to be round but square and fit within the round box in front. 

I think a power supply could be located in one of the feet in the base and the other would have ports (USB, power, memory ports, etc. ). 

It would not need a space for an optical drive or a floppy drive since they are not being used in newer computers. It would need lots of USB ports or have blue tooth capabilities since both are very popular (but that could change) 

The above is just me 'thinking out loud'. It is my ideas on how it could have been better. Perhaps one day I could do it but I don't see it happening in the near future. I have lots of ideas and/or designs like this. 

TomLeeM

2024 / 02 / 08

TomLeeM at Cafe Press.

a Better Disney Computer?

 I have checked online for Disney computer. I saw that they were just a regular computer with some Disney stuff added onto it. The box was just a box with some Disney designs on it and the CRT monitor was nothing special but a regular screen with a 'frame' of Disney designs. I think they could have done better with some imagination. 

To see what I am referring to, one just have to do a web search using Disney computer. 

This is just a simple drawing made in the older Microsoft Paint program. It is basically the Disney Logo of Mickey Mouse. The top is a round case that would hold a LCD or OLED screen. The round main part would not have to be large since it would have a small computer board inside; like a mini-ITX or a Raspberry Pi type board [which is really small]). Since the optical drive isn't really used anymore, it would exclude it or have it as an USB drive. It could have USB ports and other ports as part of the shoes that form the base of the computer. The ears would speakers. The bottom of the round part would be the base and they would resemble shoes that Mickey Mouse wears. The two rectangle parts are the keyboard (left bottom) and mouse (right bottom). 

As a fan of Goofy, I designed one around him. 

Instead of the Mickey Mouse logo, it is Goofy's hat with his ears on either side of the box. It would also have feet - Goofy's feet - for the base and to put the ports. The bottom two shapes would also be the keyboard (left bottom) and mouse (bottom right). It is not colored but it would have a basic Goofy color scheme. 

I have a better drawing for both and I will post them in a separate post. It is way better than what is posted here since I used a pencil and graph paper. I just want to post these as starter for my other computer designs. 

I am not an expert at making these. It is just my designs. 

TomLeeM

2024 / 01 / 20