As our forefathers used to drum into us with monotonous regularity, you pays your money and you takes your choice. And when it comes to choosing a printer for your PC, the market is now so crowded that it's not difficult to find something to suit every budget and need.

Epson has been producing relatively dependable all-in-one printers at the lower end of the price spectrum for some time now, and the Stylus DX8400 is but the latest in its no-frills line. A comparatively lightweight model (5.9kg without the ink cartridges) that is compact (450 x 340 x 179mm) and designed in unassuming smoky grey and black, this is a multi-function machine stripped to the bare essentials.

For instance, there's no front-loading paper tray or specialist photo tray, just the all-purpose rear tray that holds a maximum 120 sheets of A4. The scanner, likewise, will comfortably handle anything A4-sized and can copy two 10 x 15cm photos at one time, but the cover isn't hinged or removable to facilitate book copying and there's no option to copy or scan slides or film.

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There is a USB 2.0 connecting port at the back but no cable supplied to link to your PC. There is an additional USB port at the front which is for PictBridge usage and direct printing from a digital camera, plus a memory card slot for the most frequently used card formats (i.e. Compact Flash, Memory Stick, SD and xD-Picture card).

The control panel on the top left is equally forthright and instantly recognisable if you've used Epson printers before. The menus are shown on the adjustable 6.3cm colour LCD display and every operation is child's play to follow, especially if you're doing simple copying or printing from a memory card or hard copy original. If you need to route your printing via the PC, then Epson's standard (and generally excellent) software bundle - which includes the Creativity Suite, Web-to-Page, Easy Photo Print and Scan Assistant - is there to help you.

Printing speeds inevitably vary considerably from the official, optimistic 25 seconds to produce a 10 x 15cm print in draft, borderless mode and the 32ppm for the fastest black text mode (an A4 standard colour photo actually takes around four minutes), but are certainly within the average speed range for this class of machine.

Using four Epson DURABrite Ultra ink cartridges with print resolutions up to 5,760 x 1,440 optimised dots per inch, the quality when copying - and also when printing from a memory card - was surprisingly faithful to the originals, although a slight degree of fading was visible on larger formats and some darker areas appeared deeper in colour.

For what you're paying, though, you should be pleasantly surprised with the authenticity of the reproductions, even if the speed with which the printer gobbles up ink remains an ongoing issue.

A perfectly respectable, stripped down, multifunction printer for those on relatively tight budgets who still demand good quality reproductions. It may struggle to compete, though, with competitors offering extras like Wi-Fi and slide scanning.