Trying to keep up with Epson's printer output is a daunting task, as barely has the dust settled on one new machine or series before an announcement is made about yet another launch. This time it's about a new series of economic All-in-One printers that shouldn't put a strain on your budget in these financially testing times.

The Stylus SX200 combines printing, scanning and copying facilities in one stylish jet-black wrapping. Designed to be lightweight (7.5kg) and to take up minimal workspace (measuring 450 x 342 x 182mm), the SX200 makes use of four separate Epson DURABrite Ultra cartridge inks which are resistant to water, smudging and fading.

Epson claims that this All-in-One also offers PC-free printing because it includes built-in memory card slots (which cater for all the current favourites such as Compact Flash, SD, Memory Stick Pro and xD-Picture card) and PictBridge connectivity via the USB port. However only its sister machine, the Stylus SX400, has a 6.3cm LCD viewer so it's difficult to understand how you can choose which photo to print off your memory card without first viewing it via a PC...

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It would certainly make sense to use the PC anyway for photo printing, as the accompanying software inludes Epson's impressive and reliable Easy Photo Print (which does just what it says on the label), Easy Photo Fix, File Manager and Web-To-Page as well as ABBYY FineReader Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software and Sprint Plus for the Mac. Both the SX200 and the SX400 feature Epson PhotoEnhance technology which automatically detects skin tones, landscapes and skylines and adjusts colour settings accordingly.

The SX200 isn't the fastest printer in the world, despite Epson's grandiose claim of black text documents rolling off at a best rate of 34ppm, colour copying at 30cpm and 10 x 15cm prints appearing after 26 seconds. In reality, the best rate we could manage for black text draft documents was 20ppm (down to 4ppm with normal text), while colour copying averaged 3cpm at normal settings and 10 x 15cm prints emerged after 55 seconds. A full A4 colour print at Standard setting will mean a four minute wait.

Yet despite the relatively slow print rate, the quality of both the black text and colour prints is excellent for a printer in this price bracket (and online prices have been seen much lower). The only exception is colour print copying, where the results are far more bleached than the original and there's more evident banding.

If you have low print demands but want extremely good quality reproductions on a tight budget, the SX200 is not that speedy but it certainly will deliver. Be aware, though, that you will need a PC connection for the best results and colour print copying is disappointing.