The wide-format Deskjet 9650 delivers consistently good print quality on many kinds of documents. This printer is no speed demon, however, and its costs per page are quite high.

This entry-level colour laser delivers high text quality and fast colour speeds, but operating costs are high.

The Epson Aculaser C1100 is a good choice for low-volume colour printing, with best of breed output quality, providing you don't mind the slightly higher than average running costs and slow colour output.

The Photosmart A526's minimal-options approach to printing photos will be a relief for some, a frustration for others. But it's the slow printing that dampens its value somewhat, even if the photos are worth the wait.

In the end, the RX610 is worth its $299 price tag. Its photo reproduction is sharp as a blade, it's versatile (it'll print, copy and scan) and easy to use.

This printer may well lead the colour printing revolution, with rapid colour output at an affordable price.

One of the better budget inkjet printers, the Canon Pixma iP3500 hits the spot offering above average performance and a decent amount of features for a fair price.

The HP Photosmart A826 is a great choice for beginning photographers who want to print their digital photos as easily as possible. The printer's case design could use some improvement for greater ease of handling, and dark prints appear a little dull; but overall, the A826 is an attractive, fun device made just for its intended consumer group, hobbyists and scrapbookers. At $399, the A826 isn't cheap, but its innovative, user-friendly interface makes this printer a worthy investment, and you can use it as a photo and slideshow viewer.

If you are a professional photographer or serious amateur looking to reproduce your work at large sizes and with extremely high quality, the Epson Stylus Pro 3800 Standard Model is a great printer. You get speed, quality, and efficiency at a good price, even when you factor in the swapping of the matte and photo black inks. While some people will view the printer's primary flaw as a fatal one, it's hard to argue with the end result: large, beautiful prints on almost any media type.

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.

Canon's LaserShot LBP-3000 runs quietly, quickly and offers acceptable print quality for work documents or assignments - provided you run Windows.

Canon's LBP-5200 offers straightforward colour laser printing for a single machine or small workgroup. Unfortunately, you'll be struggling to get it to work with Mac OS or Linux