Ten... ADF-based inkjet all-in-one printers

HP Officejet 4500

The cheapest all-in-one in this survey, this little machine offers a lot for a small outlay. A simple but effective 20-sheet ADF sits on top of a wide, but shallow machine with a basic control panel centred on a single-line LCD display. The 100-sheet paper tray has no dust cover and USB and Ethernet connections are standard, with a wireless version available for an extra £15. Speeds of 6.0ppm and 4.0ppm are claimed and I saw 6.1ppm and 2.6ppm in black and colour. Print quality is very good for an entry-level printer on documents and photos and page costs of 2.8p and 6.5p are a little better than average.

HP Officejet 8500A

This is a big, sleek all-in-one for somebody who expects to get a good day’s work out of a printer. From the rakishly styled ADF to the touchscreen controls in a panel hinged at the right-hand end of its front, it's trying to do chic. There's a 250-sheet paper tray, though no special-purpose feed, and memory card and PictBridge slots support photo print. Under test, it reached 12.4ppm in black and 5.6ppm in colour, though it only manages 3.7 sides per minute, duplex. Black text print is sharp, colours are bright and photos are very good, too. The high yield ink cartridges give very low page costs of 1.1p for black and 4.0p for colour.