Lots of office-oriented features, quick performance, and high-quality printing make the MFC-8840DN a great workhorse for busy offices.

The Brother MFC-5840CN is good value for a networked MFP, but slow speeds and middling print quality limit its usefulness in an office setting.

The MFC-8860DN is a jack of all trades and has a number of excellent features - above all it is capable of almost anything including printing, scanning, faxing and copying.

The focus of the Brother HL-2140 is clear, and as a good little text churner this laser packs the goods. Use it extensively and, in the long-term, you'll end up paying considerable amounts. But for the typical family, this is an excellent complement to a quality inkjet and thus an ideal way to arm your home with strong text to go along with great colour graphics.

Small, inexpensive and well performing, the DCP110C is recommended if you are after a basic machine for very good quality document printing and adequate photo output. It also has a built-in memory card reader.

The MFC-685CW is a burger with the lot, with wireless connectivity thrown in for good measure. Its print quality for documents is adequate, and its scanning capability is good, but it's not a good choice for photo prints.

The Brother DCP-350C gives slow but top-quality photo prints. Graphics are less impressive, but the Brother DCP-350C is a great scanner and provides so-so copying.

A compact machine that produces some nice images but has minor quality problems in other areas.

At its price point we feel an LCD interface should have been a given. However, the Brother MFC-9440CN is a robust and durable machine that delivers quality output at good speeds.

With a load of features, cheap consumables and an intuitive menu system, the PIXMA MP610 is possibly the best value multifunction on the market. Its print quality may have some flaws when compared to its bigger brother, the MP970, but its scanning quality and lower price tag more than make up for this.

Ease of use and low-cost consumables help give this printer an edge over the competition.

Canon touts the Canon Pixma MX850 as a multifunction powerhouse, and it's worthy of such a description. On top of being fast, easy to use, and excellent at outputting documents and photos, the MX850 includes features such as a duplexer and an automatic document feeder — making it an office-friendly printer. Despite its less-than-impressive scanner output, the Pixma MX850 is a stellar choice.