Epson EcoTank ET -7700

£550/$550 Comes with nearly a pint of ink

Avoiding the need for replacing cartridges, this new Epson printer has deep ink tanks and comes with two sets of

high-capacity bottles. There’s sufficient ink for up to 3,400 6-x-4-inch photos (800 A4). However, even after creating this many photo prints, the combined UK price of the printer, ink and paper is pretty much the same as for the Canon TS6150 on test. The Epson also represents an expensive up-front payment, instead of ‘pay as you go’ printing.

Scanning, photocopying and printing from memory cards is based on a pushbutton interface with a 2.7-inch screen, rather than a touchscreen display. Performance Printing is based on the same combination of pigment black and dye-based CMYK inks as the Canon TS6150. Photo quality is pretty good but, while colour rendition is quite accurate, bright highlights can look slightly dull and lowlights lack definition.

Dual input cassettes can accommodate 100 sheets of plain A4, and 20 sheets of photo paper. Viewing windows show levels in the large ink tanks.

Pushbutton controls are required, as the LCD isn’t a touchscreen.