Canon Selphy CP600

If you're in the market for a compact photo printer, there are plenty to choose from. All the major printing players offer their own spin on this gadget, including Canon, which has just updated its Selphy CP330 with the CP600.

Priced at the higher end of the spectrum for this type of printer, the CP600 prints onto 6 x 4in paper at a maximum resolution of 300dpi. It's been given an upgrade in the way of Canon's onboard Digic II processor, which allows for quicker printing and more accurate colours when used with Canon digital cameras.

However, its strength lies with the rechargeable battery pack which allows printing away from a mains socket. Just attach it to a Pictbridge-compatible digital camera, a computer via USB2 (cable not supplied) or a mobile phone via infrared and it will churn out the goods.

It takes 90 seconds per photo, which is about average, but 30 seconds slower than the Dell Photo Printer 540. /2135437

The CP600 uses dye-sublimation, which means that photos can be handled as soon as they are printed. Also, unlike many ink-based printers, dye-sublimation prints are more resistant to colour fading.

Print quality is the best we've seen from a photo printer of this size, excelling in terms of colour balance and lifelike skin tones. Black areas are also very dark, rather than grey looking.

A small annoyance is the over-automated software, which won't let you print a mixture of portrait and landscape images on the same print run.

The best feature is its economical printing. Although you need to stump up £200 initially, the cost per page is just 23p if you buy Canon's triple pack of three colour cartridges and 120 sheets of glossy paper.