The competition for the most efficient and affordable All-in-One printer shows no sign of cooling down, with Canon releasing the latest in its PIXMA multifunction range for less than £60. In fact, we discovered prices significantly online which must make this one of the cheapest available in this genre.

Cheap, though, doesn't always mean good value so the real question is: does the PIXMA MP270 deliver all that it promises? Well it's certainly a compact and chic model in restful shades of cream and black, with a simple drop-down output tray at the front and a fold-back input tray at the rear. Measuring 450 x 335 x 155mm and weighing a comparatively lightweight 5.6kg, this would be an ideal All-in-One for perhaps a student or home worker with modest printing needs who doesn't want a printer that takes up a lot of space.

Three functions are possible (scan, print and copy) and you have a choice whether to use the provided software or the quick function controls to the right of the lid, which do not include an organising LCD display. The MP270 has built-in Auto Photo Fix II technology, though, which takes care of red-eye removal and multi-zone exposure correction without the need of a computer. PC connection is, as you'd expect, via USB 2.0 lead (no chance of WiFi at this price) and there's also a separate PictBridge enabled USB port at the front for attaching cameras or memory sticks.

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In terms of volume, the input tray holds up to 100 sheets of A4 which is perfectly respectable for a low-yield machine like this. With print resolutions up to 4800 x 1200dpi, we were generally impressed with the quality of the results: black text even in draft form is clearly legible and the 'best' version stands out boldly and unbroken, while colour prints retained the authentic hues of the originals with some softening noticeable only in A4 copies. We did spot, however, that larger copies tended to have a yellow tinge.

Canon, unlike some of its rivals, has tended to be more realistic in terms of claimed print speeds and its stated 8.4ipm for black text printing was spot on when it came to draft quality (dropping to 2ppm in 'best' mode). On average it took 43 seconds to produce a 10 x 15cm colour print of standard quality and 1 minute 35 seconds at the highest, while standard copies popped out in 37 seconds.

A4 photos only needed 2 minutes to emerge in standard form and only double that at the highest setting, with relatively speedy copies notching up 2 minutes and 40 seconds. So although printing was generally quite noisy, the speeds were encouragingly better than anticipated.

Canon has also packed in a host of proficient software in the shape of MP Navigator EX (for scanning possibilities that include OCR and saving as PDF), Easy-PhotoPrint EX (which will enable you to produce albums, calendars and stickers) and the useful Easy-WebPrint EX which will clip specific areas on a Web page for printing, thus cutting down on waste. What you gain here, though, you'll lose when it comes to ink usage as you just have two cartridges to handle all your print needs and even the high-yield versions are rated to manage just 401 black text or 349 colour pages.

Although you may find yourself getting through the ink cartridges relatively quickly, both the quality of the prints and the speed of operation were impressive and, for the price, the PIXMA MP270 would be an excellent choice for a low-yield All-in-One.