Canon BJC-5100

As you might expect from the colour tests, the BJC-5100 doesn't excel as a photo printer either. High-contrast areas suffered from dithering, and details in shadows were lost. You can buy a photo cartridge for £30, which helps to pick up more detail and makes colours more realistic, but unfortunately the printer then had problems with banding. If photos are important to you, either sacrifice speed for the excellent but slower Epson Stylus Photo 750, or save a few extra pounds and buy the Epson Stylus Color 900.

So should you buy it? Admittedly, the Epson Stylus 900 produces better all-round quality output, but you pay for the difference. In fact, the HP DeskJet 880C and Lexmark Z51 are the BJC-5100's biggest threat. They're both nearly as fast as the Canon, similarly priced, and the HP is a better colour image printer, while the Lexmark produces superior text.

However, there's a lot to like about the BJC-5100. Although it can't always match the output quality of the top printers, it's the fastest printer we've seen for the money. Many users will also appreciate the reassurance of Canon's one-year, on-site warranty. But the only feature that sets the BJC-5100 truly apart is the option of A3 printing - useful, but not enough to make us recommend it over either the Lexmark Z51 or the HP DeskJet 880C.

Author: Tim Danton