Epson’s Stylus Photo TX800FW is undoubtedly the most user-friendly printer we’ve had the pleasure of testing.

The key to its simplicity is its control panel. While most are moving to larger colour LCD panels, comprehensive menus and scroll wheels for navigation, Epson has opted for something different.

What looks like and is advertised as an 8in touchscreen is, in fact, a touch-sensitive 3.5in LCD with further touch-sensitive fixed controls on either side.

It works brilliantly. The permanent controls to the right and left are large enough to accommodate the fattest of fingers; they also keep the most common selections – yes, no; left, right; select, cancel – off the main screen area.

And there are all kinds of extras here: alongside the usual setup options, you have the ability to back up the contents of an inserted memory card (SD, MS, CF and xD-Picture formats) directly onto any external storage plugged into the USB socket on the front.

There are quick buttons for printing lined or grid patterns directly onto plain paper and – this is more fun than it sounds – an option to turn any scanned image into a basic, outlined colouring-book-style image, ready for the kids to get scribbling.

The Epson can also print directly onto CDs and DVDs. Rather than a separate tray that needs inserting as an adapter, a button on the front brings out an integrated tray, ready for the disc to be clicked into place. It takes about ten seconds to appear, but it beats having an extra part to lose.

But as good as all this is, the Epson needs to produce the goods in our tests to really appeal. It got off to a flyer in our speed tests, churning out mono documents at 9ppm at normal quality, and a shade under 8ppm in colour. Copies were just as nippy: 45 seconds for five mono copies and 55 seconds for colour.

It even did an admirable job of keeping up with the Canon in our photo tests, producing a 6 x 4in print in 1min 12 secs, and our A4 montage in just over two minutes.

Unfortunately, the Epson falls down on print quality. Text is bluish and speckled with a lack of sharpness to its edges, while colours bleed into one another on plain paper.

The lack of a separate pigment-based black couldn’t be more evident next to the crisp output of the Canon. Photos are better, but if you intend printing more photos than text there are far cheaper printers out there.

The scanner is a strength. Detail is high and colours accurate, while scan speeds are up there with the faster models we’ve tested. Don’t expect this to lift the quality of your copies, though – the same print quality issues remain.

These issues aside, the Epson is a wonderfully versatile all-in-one, and with Wi-Fi, ethernet, fax and an ADF, it ticks all the boxes. However, $399 is a lot of money. To make it worthwhile, we’d expect print quality of the highest order to come with it; alas, this is where the TX800FW falls short.