HP Deskjet 5550

Likewise, our CorelDRAW image-quality test was all the better for being printed with the photo cartridge, particularly with regards to greyscales. There's really only one downside to the photo cartridge and that's its small black ink capacity. It wouldn't be practical to use constantly in an office, but it provides an option for high-quality colour printing if you need it.

And it's not as if the print quality without the photo cartridge is horrendous. It lacks the smoothness and suffers from some banding, but it's still above average for everyday printing. The black cartridge also has the bonus of speeding things up a little - our four-page DTP test took 17 minutes, 42 seconds with the photo cartridge and 16 minutes, 43 seconds without. An A4 photo using PhotoREt III also took 51 seconds less time to complete.

The Deskjet 5550 isn't laden with advanced features like the Epson Stylus Photo 950, but it has everything you're realistically likely to use and it looks good too. The automatic cartridge alignment and paper detection is still a useful function, and the often overlooked flat paper feed is convenient for saving desk space.

The best bit, however, is the price of just £119 from dabs.com, making this the best-value all-round printer out there. It stays ahead of the competition with its acceptable print quality in every area, fast print speeds and the option for high-quality smooth photo and colour printing if you need it. Whoever you are, if you've got £119 to spend on a printer, this is the one to buy.

Author: Ben Hardwidge