The labs team this month tackled scanners, and they put 16 through their paces to bring you the good, and the not so good.

At first glance, HP's latest product could be mistaken for an oversized, landscape-orientated photo frame, or even a fancy document holder. But the Scanjet 4670 is, of course, a scanner, the like of which you've probably not seen before. The 4670 defies traditional categorisation, because while it relies on familiar scanning mechanics, they're employed in an unusual fashion.

The 5250 is a compact unit that combines a good quality scanner with an average printer, efficient photocopy function and basic fax, all controlled from a simple to use software control centre.

The tiny Hewlett Packard PhotoSmart 1200 is a sleek, portable, flatbed scanner tailor-made for scanning small items with minimal hassle. Weighing in at a tiny 680g with a scan bed of only 10 x 15cm it's perfect for scanning photos. Features include 1,200 x 1,200dpi optical resolution, a USB 2.0 port, CompactFlash card and shared MMC/SD slots. Power is by the USB 2.0 port, or by four AA batteries when unplugged

There’s a good range of software and excellent image quality, but you pay a lot for the durability and ADF.

With a lightning-fast scanner and high-quality photo printing, it’s only hampered by speed and running costs. CD printing and transparency scanning are bonuses, though.

While HP’s strength in photo printing is once again proved, mono prints take too long and the scanner is poor.

Capable of reproducing good photos, but it’s slow, a bit expensive to run and has a poor scanner.

Print, scan, copy and fax with one single device. We put 10 all-in-ones through their paces.

Packed with features like network capability and transparency scanning, it also has the best scanner by far, with great print quality too.

Not many people would have come across the IBM name on a scanner but it does have a range

Quality, speed and a huge array of features go some way to justifying the price

We test nine devices, from the simplest printers to versatile multifunction devices that print, scan, copy and fax

Do you have a business or are in charge of a business’ tech security? Get some tips from PC Authority’s experts.

New technique predicts actions before they take place.

It wasn't too long ago that mono-lasers by themselves cost over $500, but now that colour lasers have dropped in price, mono-lasers, too, have shuffled down a peg. Samsung has delivered a laser printer with a decent scanner for a very low price. It's a SOHO device, but without some of the features associated with that, such as faxing and document feeders.  

A Lexmark multi-function device, the P6250, won our last photo printer roundup, so the expectations were high for its big brother, the X7170. Unlike our Labs Winner, this machine is definitely targeted at the business market. For an extra $100 premium, the machine adds office-oriented functions such as faxing, a copy feeder and a better scanner. It's also noticeably larger than its brethren.

A dreadful scanner and an overall lack of features make the low price a moot point

A comprehensive set of security tools in one package, with a convenient and easy-to-use interface.

The second cheapest scanner in our labs roundup this month, the S2W 5000U is designed with Web use in mind. As such, it features a 'Scan to Web' (S2W) and PDA (Palm compatible) quick launch function.