But what we really need to know ...

is how they run after a year. Not just fresh out of the box.

The "real life" test would run the printers with non-original cartridges, having left them unattended for a couple of weeks - so the print heads dry out. Since these printers all have wireless connectivity, it would be handy to know just how good the reception was. It would also be helpful to know how easy it is to configure the wifi connection - could my old mum do it, for example?

I appreciate that all this would take time - some weeks and that it would be difficult to persuade the suppliers to let you hang on to them that long (though not as difficult as getting permission to use non-original ink in them, though everybody does this due to the extortionate cost of the manufacturers supplies). However, these are the things that matter to normal people in the real world. Not how quickly it spits out a page of text + diagrams, or a photo, for that matter.

If you like, I'll start you off. I've just "buried" a XXXXXXXX which is the previous model to the XXXXXXX in the survey. It was crap. Unreliable, drank ink like it was lager. The head-clean function consistently failed to do what it said on the box. After going through a complete set of colour cartridges, just trying to un-gum the blue channel, I enquired about getting a replacement print head for this 6 month old printer. The cost of doing this (not covered by warranty - natch) and the cost of 2 way shipping was more than the cost of a whole new printer. Which I now have, but I'm not ever buying another XXXXXX brand product.

Not fully relevant conclusions

In my experience over years with inkjet printers and all-in-ones with various clients - there are other factors which are relevant when buying and using them. For example you might be rating the Epson relatively high because it is fast - but I found inkjet Epson printers in general to be rather weaker machines then Brother and HP. They seem to develop mechanical faults easier - and their print heads just don't last very well. Also, many of the current generation all-in-one Epson's are really clunky and noisy - they just feel really cheaply built inside. Another gripe I have against Epson printers is their cartridge chipping system - which seem to go wrong so many times. Compatible or original cartridges not being recognised correctly or at all, printers of the same model, but with several different generation of cartridge chipsets - so if your printer was manufactured before a certain month, only some chipped cartridges work - while after a certain month - other generation of chips work. And we are talking about the same model here.

On the other hand - the HP might look good when comparing the price of original cartridges - and they are indeed on average sturdier printers then other inkjets. But the fact that the cartridge includes the printhead on their consumer grade inkjets - which makes it impossible to replicate by other companies - is an important factor. It means you will always be limited to original cartridges, or refills - and refills can be problematic - as the printing head can dry out, or the person who used the cartridge before you might have refilled it already several times and the printing head on the cartridge is worn out etc.

All-in-all - I found Brother inkjet printers/all-in-ones the best compromise. They seem to be stronger and last better then both Canon and Epson printers. I have used them at clients for years with compatible (brand new) cartridges without any visible side effects. Their Windows software and driver support is perfectly good. Not so good if you want to use them with Linux. I haven't managed to get any of them working with Linux yet - but there is supposed to be some support. All the current ones that I know of can scan over network - which is nice. And if you buy one of the ones which take cartridges from the LC900 (mostly discontinued), LC1000 or LC1100 series, you can easily find cheap brand new, non-original replacements for very little. The supplier I currently use (available on the internet) charges £2.99 for a full, 4 cartridge set. It will make a huge difference in running costs, specially when printing photos. And yes, you might say that my printer is going to last 3.75 years instead of 4, because I've used non-original ink - but by then, I would have saved enough money on ink to buy another 4 printers - so who's winning and who's loosing here?

And a note on the above comment(s) about HP printing and scanning software. I agree. It seems like the HP department in charge of printer/scanner software is hell bent on destroying the one which actually makes the printers. The printers are quite decent, strong, fairly well performing. On the other hand, the software is bloated, buggy, and worse of all - the updates keep on breaking working installations. So many times I had calls from clients with HP printers or scanners which either have stopped working - or entire functions have disappeared from their software. Just to discover that HP Update has done the deed. I always uninstall HP Update as soon as I install an HP printer or scanner. Then you will be ok.

There you go - that should round up nicely that review.