Review Photobox 'v' Colab

Brains

Brains

Messages
909
Edit My Images
Yes
I decided to order a couple of prints from Photobox and Colab just to compare. 2 prints of size 7" x 5" were ordered.

Photobox
Ordered 11pm 04/06/07, Dispatched 01:48 05/06/07, Received first post on 05/06/07
E-mail confirming order with receipt and notification of dispatch.
Well packaged. Comes with index prints and packet for the prints.
7" x 5" prints - 19p each
P&P - £1.50
Total Cost - £1.88


Colab
Ordered 22:57 04/06/07, Received 08/06/07
No e-mail confirmation of dispatch
Nice firm packaging (much firmer than Photobox) but no packet inside - just another piece of card for protection.
7" x 5" prints - £1.52 each (actually, 2 prints were £3.03 but that means one print costs £1.51 and a half! Obviously down to the VAT rounding) :thinking:
P&P - 2.29
Total Cost - £5.32


Both labs use the same paper and the prints are identical side by side.

I prefer the Colab ordering system, but that does not warrant the price difference of almost 300% (even more on a large order)

I'll be sticking with Photobox for the exceptional speed alone.
 
I use Photobox for A4 and smaller.

But when someone wants a larger photo I prefer to get some sort of backing on it to keep it stiff (not a word please!) and Colab provide this service and they look the part then.
 
Photobox tick all the boxes for me too, had images for myself process with them and many from shoots which are for paying clients..... not had any problems with them so far. (Touch Wood)


Janice
The Colab service..... are the images stuck onto mounting board ?? just wondering what type of material it is. I've had some done before (different company) but find that if the board is not absolutley deadpan smooth, then the texture starts to come through showing up on the image (only very slight mind, but has that orange peel effect)

Surprised in the apparent diffrence in price though...........:thumbsdown:
 
It was very smooth. almost looked like laminate to be honest. (y)

Customer was impressed nice white background on a shot of her boys and it looked great. They could almost have put it up on the wall as it was tbh.

3mm white board I think it was.
 
I did the same as you brains, before I got prints from the wedding we did, I ordered the same photo from both places - I ordered 6x4, 7x5, 8x6, 10x8, 16x12. Couldn't tell the diference print wise between the two, except I got the photobox ones the next day and the colab ones took the best part of 4-5 days.

Only had one problem with photobox - that is one of the prints I had done had a strange mark/pattern towards the top like the ink hadn't bonded with the paper properly and had come away in a strip. Emailed them and had my account credited and a free replacement sent within 24 hours.

They get my orders each and every time.
 
Janice said:
It was very smooth. almost looked like laminate to be honest. (y)

Customer was impressed nice white background on a shot of her boys and it looked great. They could almost have put it up on the wall as it was tbh.

3mm white board I think it was.
Click to expand...

Cheers for that Janice.

Sounds like a good quality finish, especially if the customer was pleased too. I think I'll send a couple off and try them out.

Thanks.
 
Chris you got a couple of prints from Colab i think, comp prizes...

i find colab to be quite quick and very high quality, my concern with the fast labs is the print life, will it fade in 12 months?
 
I did a side by side test with Photobox and Colab too with 2 x 15"x10" prints. I was much happier with Colab's results at that size and I think they were slightly cheaper (this was before their merge with Mulitprint). My findings were posted here.
 
matty said:
Chris you got a couple of prints from Colab i think, comp prizes...
Click to expand...

Sure did Matty..... I was more asking Janice about the quality/finish of the monuted on board print option you can choose.

I was very impressed with the quality of the A3 prints I have from them....(y)
 
is the paper used different for a mounted piccy i wonder, i know when we have mounted stuff in the past for punters the printing material is thicker
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top