If you need a cheap combination of printer, scanner, fax, and copier for a home office in which speed and quality are of no concern, the Lexmark X5470 could be a good choice. But if you need to make a good impression, consider spending a little more money.

The Brother DCP-150C's photo prints take an age but are worth it; strong scanning but mediocre copying; very high colour print costs.

The HL-4040CN is designed to be, and is priced as, a low-end machine. Its only option is a networking add-on.

Lexmark's budget-priced colour laser delivers fast, high-quality text. Albeit without the option for a duplexer, but you can increase your paper tray to a 530-sheet tray for an additional cost.

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.

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.

Konica Minolta appears to have fixed the problem with sluggishness that plagued our 5430DL test unit. However, the 5440DL's 14.7 pages per minute for text and 4.5ppm for colour still lag behind colour lasers that have a similar price and comparable paper capacity.

This is the lowest-priced colour laser we've seen -- and it offers top-notch print quality. Its only downfall is the cost of a networking adapter.

The Pixma MP210's real attraction is that it offers extra functions beyond printing for a printer-like price. But if your copying needs extend far beyond the occasional, look for a model that has better capabilities and controls, such as Canon's Pixma MP470, which costs only $60 more.

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.

The Pixma MP470's design shortcomings should be easy for many people to forgive, considering everything the MFP offers for the price. Its print, scan and copy functions are sound, and its software gives you lots of options.

With many photo-centric features such as film scanning, the easy-to-use Canon Pixma MP960 will appeal to photographers who work with both film and digital cameras. It performs most tasks quickly and makes superb photo prints.