Epson offers a wide range of home printers that give ease of use and good image quality, for a budget-conscious price. The Stylus Photo P50 is aimed at those who want to print their photos at home up to A4 size and get good-quality prints without having to pay a premium.

At just £90, the Epson certainly meets the price requirements of the home user. It also offers six separate inks for better colour depth and, as an added bonus, it can print directly onto CDs and DVDs.

Setup is quite straightforward. It’s a light printer getting it out of the box, then you simply need to plug it in, insert the six ink cartridges and wait for it to align the print heads, which can take up to three minutes. Install the software CD and you’re ready to start printing. 

Print quality is really very good for the price and it compares favourably to lab prints. It uses Epson’s Micro Piezo print head technology and Epson Claria Photographic Ink to create high-definition images. Blacks are deep and rich, while the saturation of bright colours is realistic and impactful. It’s quite a fast little machine too, as it takes around 12 seconds to print 10 x 15cm prints.

The inks themselves are not too pricey, but the ones that come with the printer will need replacing sooner than fresh inks, as they use so much on the initial calibration when you boot up the printer for the first time. The bonus of individual inks is that you can just replace the ones that you need to.

The CD/DVD printing is achieved by replacing the front tray. This is nice for adding a personal touch to photo discs. This works reasonably well and the image quality isn’t too bad.

Looks-wise this is a stylish black affair that is as compact as it can be while still producing A4 prints. The top surface is fingerprint resistant too, so the glossy black finish won’t tarnish too quickly. All in all, this is an impressive piece of kit.

Final Verdict Impressive sub-£100 printer that gives good quality prints and can add visuals to CDs and DVDs OVERALL

Julie has a reputation for always having a camera to hand for those opportune moments and candid snaps, therefore she has a preference for compacts that pack a punch yet still offer creative, manual controls. She’s been reviewing cameras for around four years, putting all manner of compacts, ultrazooms and bridge models through their paces.