Lexmark’s X4850 is excellent value for money. It costs just £129.99, but includes features such as wireless networking that aren’t found in even its more expensive rivals.

Lexmark’s attention to detail is evident from the moment you insert the software CD. Its Setup Assistant runs on your Mac and gives you clear step-by-step instructions on how to set up the printer, including the installation of ink cartridges and the wireless networking features. The only minor oddity here is that you first need to connect the printer to your Mac with a USB cable before you can activate the wireless printing features. Still, at least Lexmark does take the bother to include a USB cable – unlike all the other manufacturers here.

The printer is primarily designed for four-colour printing, although like HP’s PhotoSmart C4280 from HP it also lets you use an optional photo-cartridge for six-colour printing. The results using the standard four-colour inks are very good – certainly better than those of the C4280 – although photo prints do have a slightly grainier texture than the more subtle colour tones provided by those printers that use six or seven coloured inks. The printer also added a slightly bluish cast to some prints. These minor flaws weren’t so evident on smaller print sizes, such as standard 4in x 6in prints, but were noticeable on our A4 test files where there were larger areas of solid colours.

There was a similar story in terms of print speed too, with the X4850 churning out 4in x 6in prints faster than any other printer in this group, but then slowing down a fair bit for A4 prints. Scanning speeds were impressive as well. This is probably explained by the relatively low scanning resolution, although it was still high enough to complete our scanning tests without any problems. It can turn out Word documents at high speed too, and it’s the cheapest printer to also provide double-sided printing, so it’ll make an excellent general-purpose office printer.

However, if your emphasis is on photo-printing then you might be prepared to trade in features such as the wireless networking for that little extra print quality that is offered by its six-colour rivals.