Epson Photo 810

Print Image Matching is a stroke of genius, not so much for what it does, but for the fact that Epson has licensed it to an array of camera manufacturers and held back on the printer technology. It's built into the 810, so the photos you get from this printer are about as close to what the camera saw as you could possibly hope.

The bundled Photoquicker 3 software enables edge-to-edge printing without any special attachments, making this a good choice for the digital photographer. Connection options stretch to parallel and USB, for either a PC or Mac.

The cartridges have a built-in chip that monitors the amount of ink used. Cynics would argue that this is to stop you refilling them, but Epson assures us that it's to save you running out of ink half way through a print job.

Using Epson's glossy photo paper our test photo was well rendered, with realistic colours and smooth transitions between graduated colours. Even in darker areas we were able to easily make out detail, and skin tones, traditionally difficult to reproduce, were realistic. It completed in five minutes three seconds, which would put it third in the pack of nine tested in our inkjet group test.

Close inspection of text output revealed some minor imperfections. At regular quality there was evidence of very slight feathering. Although not serious enough to put you off using this printer in a business situation, it does suggest that it has a penchant for heavier media.

It took almost exactly the same amount of time to complete 50 pages as the Stylus Photo 895 featured in November's group test: 26 minutes 22 seconds.

High-end users may prefer the Stylus Photo 895, or the newer HP Photosmart 1315 but, at this price, the 810 deserves to sell very well.

Contact: Epson 0800 220 546 www.epson.co.uk