Once upon a time not too long ago, your average inkjet printer had a single tricolour ink cartridge. Of course, the print quality was fairly ordinary, but it did the job. Today, with digital cameras the norm and home users wanting to print their own photographs, your photo printer may have as many as eight different ink cartridges.

Tandberg delivers an innovative hard disk-based alternative to tape for small-business backup operations.

A good quality and speedy colour laser printer, but the running costs are unsettlingly high.

Printer manufacturers have steadily been increasing the number of ink cartridges in their top of the range photo printers on the basis that the more basic colours they have to work with the more precise the overall result.

The quality of this diminutive cutie is almost as good as the high-end models, but the price means a compromise on both speed and features.

The DAT 160 breathes new life into the format and provides a firm upgrade path for users of DAT 72 and DDS-4.

An interesting new technology, but cheap running costs are let down by poor quality.

Good photo quality and a large touchscreen make this the A4 inkjet to buy.

A fast printer let down by high running costs and few features

A workgroup printing workhorse that delivers classy mono and colour print quality

A workgroup printing workhorse that delivers classy mono and colour print quality.

A workgroup laser with a good turn of speed and low running costs, but we expect better quality at this price.

Cheap to buy and run, the X5470 is great for mono printing, but less so for photos and images.

Finishing a point above average overall, Canon's PIXMA iP5000 was unlucky to miss out on our coveted recommended award, pipped at the finishing line by Epson's PictureMate small format printer. Canon's five individual ink cartridges is a great system that allows you to replace only the inks you need without needing to replace a whole colour cartridge as is the case with the HP PhotoSmart 8150 printer.

The scanner is the only minor weakness in an otherwise near perfect home all-in-one

Expensive but solidly built – a fast way to get superbly vibrant A3 prints.

The C5600n handles colour-related tasks well and at a price that makes it affordable for small businesses.

A compact workgroup laser suited to high-volume colour and mono printing, but delivering average photo quality

Top colour speeds are only achievable in draft mode, but output quality is quite remarkable

Good print speed, high expansion potential and quality colour output makes the C9650n a great total printing machine.