I am a big fan of all-in-one printers, as although I very rarely use the scanner or the photocopier, its hady to have them there 'just in case'. And they have proved useful in the past. The added bonus of this is it can also fax, although I must admit I never send faxes, so i cant comment on this feature.

I have had a few Epson's in the past, so when my old printer went wrong, I decided to put my money in a name I could trust again. This one is suits my needs as a personal user, and it was at a good price. It also looks quite stylish and different, being black. One of the things I look for before buying the printer is how much will the ink cost me. This printer has 4 different cartridges, each cost around the £10, so not too bad compared to some other makes and models.

The printer itself looks very smart with a control panel on the front, with buttons to photocopy, buttons for the fax faciltiy, and stop/start button etc. The control panel makes the printer look very business like!

The scanner unit operates by lifitng the top compartment. I must say I was a little bit dissapointed by the strength and quality of this, as its not the studiest and stronegst feeling thing I've ever felt, and is a bit wobbly and uneven. Also, when you come to change the ink, you have to lift the lid by one side, which makes it feel a bit ackward. Getting onto the ink, this is where the printer lets itself down. I am always one to buy the geniune Epson ink, but i have had 3 occasions now where when i replace the ink, after a few uses, the printer fails to recognise the cartridge anymore...no matter what you do. Essentially in the end, all you can do is go out and buy a new cartridge, and throw the old one away, which is very frustrating considering that theres plenty of ink left in the old one! I am at the stage now where i am going to have to take this back to the shop if it happens anymore.

The print quality itself is what you would expect of a inkjet printer, and is good for what i want. It must be said howver, that it does take a while to print, so dont go buying this expecting to be doing any fast printing!

Thge paper tray is also a downside in my view. Its quite ackward to fit a lot of paper in the upright tray, as there is a annoying plastic flap that gets in the way, and keeps falling every time you want to put paper in there.

Overall, Im begginig to think maybe I should try a different make of printer i the future.