For the average family, the X4650 should suffice. Wi-Fi connectivity is an advantage for shared printing and print quality is adequate, but poor printing speeds will deter many people.

Epson's CX8300 provides impressive scanning and printing performance in a small, inexpensive package.

The P4350 is an improvement on previous Lexmark models, but there are still some concerns over its print and scanning quality. For the price though, it does combine all the multifunction features into a pretty good looking and easy to use printer.

Slick, very user-friendly and high in quality, the Canon Pixma MP540 is on the whole a superb printer. It’s perhaps not quite as fast as we’d like but, otherwise, it’s a very good model.

The C4580 continues HP's trend of improving the quality of its low-end inkjets. Though there's still room for improvement, the C4580 is good value for money.

Good at text printing, and the memory card slots are welcome; but for graphics, it's a slow printer and scanner.

The Canon Pixma MP510 makes an excellent choice if you're looking for a straightforward printer/scanner combo capable of printing good-looking photos, though its colour LCD could be bigger.

The Dell 942 is a good buy because it's cheap, easy to use and produces high-quality scans, but its print quality is lacklustre.

With a great price but slow performance and mediocre print quality, the X2250 seems appropriate only for those on the tightest of budgets.

The HP PSC 1315 provides adequate photo-quality prints and document printouts, as well as very good scanning capabilities. It has an attractive price tag, and a PictBridge port, but lacks separate print cartridges for each colour.

Wi-Fi connectivity is a bonus for small office networks, and this multifunction has some useful features that can be used without a PC. However, it suffers poor print quality and can be quite slow.

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.