Ordered last weekend, they took the order last monday and this monday it was delivered. I'd say this is quick. The hard cover is really hard and solid - no way to bend it. The 170g/m2 paper feels thick and the assembly/binding of the book & cover is well done. The paper is glossy and the pictures do look good. I don't know which printing technology was used, but it seems professional. No smearing with a wet thumb
How does it compare? No idea, I will probably do another one with blurb to see. Having downloaded the blurb software, I think it gives you more layout options than the photoways software. But if blurb doesn't work out, I will happily continue with photoways.