There was a time when it seemed that Epson would never be toppled from its top spot. In our last inkjet Labs (issue 21, p64), one of the company's printers has walked away with the overall honours, only to be challenged by HP on the way.

This month has brought several surprises, one of which is the relatively poor performance of its latest mid-range offering, the Stylus Color 760. On paper, the 760 boasts several improvements over its predecessors, the most noticeable being noise reduction. The Stylus Photo 760 emits a clearly audible high-pitched whining noise during printing. The latest range is much quieter, and while it can't match the supremely hushed tones of the HPs, the noise is no longer an irritation.

Other impressive-looking specifications include a smallest claimed dot size of four picolitres, variable dot size, 1,440 x 720ppi maximum resolution, a claimed maximum speed in mono (economy mode) of 7ppm, and what looks like an improved paper feed mechanism. Unfortunately, when put to the test, these specifications begin to look a little thin.

Image quality is a mixed bag. On close examination, our tests place the 760 fifth from top overall. While its colour photo results are acceptable, when set alongside the high-end HP products and the Canon BJC-8200 it looks distinctly grainy, especially in light areas. Its best performance came with the colour fades test: colours are bright, saturated and smooth. Colour accuracy is surprisingly good too, securing it first place. Text performance on plain paper, however, was poor. Consistent banding and spidery characters where the key culprits.

In terms of print speed, the 760 put in an average performance, with a speed of 3.6ppm for plain text on plain paper at standard settings, and taking just over 13 minutes to produce the A4 full-colour photo using the best settings available. However, the biggest source of concern for us was its tendency to misfeed plain 80gsm copier paper and drag it through at a slight angle.

What ultimately saves the day for the 760 is its price. At a price of just $499, you get an amazing amount of quality for your money. Despite the fact that text output on plain paper is poor and paper handling is below par, we find it hard not to recommend it.