Dell P713w inkjet printer-scanner ‘multifunction’ device

The smart lines of this Dell inkjet printer-scanner ‘multifunction' device indicate its origins as a having been built by Lexmark.

There is nothing wrong with this. Indeed, it provides an alternative to the original manufacturer's models and such devices can be better value.

One of the most obvious features is the touchscreen, which uses a large 117mm screen and touch-sensitive buttons that light up to provide direct and well-arranged control. Behind the panel is a single-sheet scanner, with a good resolution of 1,200x4,800dpi.

Paper feeds from a 150-sheet cartridge at the front, which is more convenient than the rear-feed of some devices, and protects the paper from dust and spills. There's no separate photo tray – you have to replace plain paper with photo stock to print photos.

To the right of the paper tray, behind a cover, is a memory card slot and a USB socket, for direct printing from cameras and USB memory keys. The device connects to a home network wirelessly or to a single computer over USB. It works with Windows, Mac and Linux.

Print speeds were above average for a printer in this class, with black text pages coming through at 6.7 pages per minute (ppm) and colour at 4ppm. A colour A4 copy took 45 seconds, and a 15x10cm photo, 42 seconds.

Print quality was generally good too, with only a slight fuzziness around some black text and a bit of over-inking in dark areas of photo prints. Colours were bright where needed, but there was plenty of subtlety in photo prints.

The two disadvantages of the P713w stem from its twin ink cartridges (black and tri-colour). When any of the three colours runs out the entire cartridge must be replaced. People who print a balanced mix of colours won't notice a problem but it's not good if you're heavy on just one.

Worse was the cost of the replacement cartridges, with a cost per page of 7.1p for black and 17.1p for colour. These are both around 50 per cent more expensive than we would expect, and the difference goes to subsidise the low up-front cost of the device.