The performance of this sub-$1000 colour laser printer is fast and we're happy with its ease of use and installation. Its colours could have been a little more vibrant, but its overall print quality was impressive. Consider this model if you want a fast printer for a small workgroup environment.

Good quality prints from digital images in a PictBridge-compliant device. Ink and paper are not the cheapest however.

Office users searching for a bargain should snap this up. The PIXMA MP180's text output is excellent for the price, and scan facilities aren't bad either. However, if you're after graphics output that takes the breath away, look elsewhere.

The HP Photosmart A716 is an attractive unit that will definitely appeal to someone who is looking at a home solution for reasonably cheap prints, but the black levels issues may deter those printing photos shot after dark.

The Epson Stylus Photo RX590 looks nice and is easy to use, and its CD-printing feature is unique. Still, its limited paper handling and slow, poor-quality printing on plain paper limit its value as a general-purpose device.

Exclusive business users might find a laser printer more to their liking but, for a home office with a need to mix faxing and decent text output with a desire for eye-catching photographs; the C6180 is a decent option.

The Canon Pixma MP530 may lack some trimmings of a full-featured MFP, but it delivers a good mix of performance, quality, and paper handling at an affordable price.

Priced at $299, the D7360 is exceptionally easy to use and has the best software bundle in the business. But, its image quality is merely good, and plain-paper printing is clearly not its strong point.

The Konica Minolta Magicolor 2530DL is an economical choice for printing text and photos, if space and convenience are more important to you than print quality. It will appeal especially to professionals in need of quick, tolerable-quality photo prints from a digital camera.

This is a worthy but slightly dull MFD, enlivened by the presence of Wi-Fi.

Despite combining plenty of functions in a single unit, the Dell Photo All-In-One 966 isn't a good value for the money due to its modest quality and performance. It's nice that you can configure the unit with several options, but you're looking at quite an investment (about $576) if you choose them all.

Getting the highest print quality out of the 5300 costs about 30 cents per photo, which is a pretty good result. And those ink prices may be hard to pass up.