Stylus Photo R350

Following on from the soon-to-be-discontinued R310 comes this even heavier-duty photo printer from Epson. It may not be cheap, but you get a host of goodies for your money.

The R350 boasts pretty much every feature the digital enthusiast could hanker after - from extensive support for PictBridge and USB Direct Print-compatible digital cameras to a memory card drive. Wireless capabilities are an optional extra. The R350 comes with a CD and DVD compartment so you can print images onto suitable media - an excellent alternative to LightScribe or LabelFlash. And thanks to the 2.4 inch colour LCD and extensive control panel, the printer is easy to navigate without connecting to a PC.

The R350 doesn't just aim to please the digitally minded, and the paper-handling facilities feel rather more substantial than some of the flimsy holders found on cheaper inkjets. With the ability to take up to 120 sheets of A4, this printer is excellent for large jobs.

But if you're looking for an everyday printer, be warned that print speeds aren't stunning. Even in the lowest quality mode, the Epson printed out text at the slothful rate of 8.6ppm (pages per minute) - 1.6ppm faster than its predecessor, but hardly impressive. Furthermore, to get good-quality text you really have to push it up to the higher modes and be content with less than a page every minute.

However this is a photo printer and, while its speeds aren't searing, the Epson still compares favourably with many of its direct rivals. Crucially, the results are extremely eyecatching: prints are packed with colour depth and detail is sharp. We doubt you could be anything less than enthralled. The Photo R350 faces fierce competition from the HP Photosmart 8250, and we think the HP retains a slight edge on overall quality and performance, but this is a good model.