We were amazed by the variety of inkjet MFDs on the market, and even though we kept the price below £200 this really didn't limit us at all. In fact the only omission from this group is Samsung as it couldn't ship us a review model in time.

The most obvious differences between one MFD and another are whether it includes a fax and has a network port. These two features separate the office MFD from a unit that is suitable for the home. Personally we detest the fax and wish that it would fade away, but that doesn't seem to be happening any time soon. The network port is completely different as it is an essential feature for all but the smallest offices, otherwise you'll find that the MFD has to be connected locally to one specific PC.

Once you've got beyond those basic features we come to the thorny issue of photo printing. We find it unlikely that many offices will want to print out pictures from a digital camera, but there are some that will find this feature to be essential. Architects and estate agents, for instance, have taken to digital photography in droves, while journalists tend to keep pictures in digital form without printing them out at all.

The key point is that any MFD that offers photo printing should be able to print pictures quickly, easily and accurately, and that's easier said than done. In the past we would have said that Canon and Hewlett Packard were both superb at photo printing but recently Canon seems to have dropped the ball, leaving Hewlett Packard in prime position.

Any MFD has to be able to produce decent text, and once again HP takes the crown, although the other makes gave it a good run for its money. While we liked the compact Brothers and were impressed by aspects of the Canon and Epson models, the stand-out MFD in this group is the superb HP Photosmart 2610 All-in-One.