Scott Elder, an expert photographer has reviewed six photo printers which fall into the economy range. He gathered two ordinary inkjet printers and four dye sub printers. The review was on the basis of photo printing quality and the available features. He added weightage for quality and each feature to determine the best photo printer available in the market.

Here are the highlights of the review conducted:

1. Panasonic KX-PX 2M
Price: £50
Cost Per Print: 23 pennies
Printing Time: 74 seconds
Conclusion: Picture quality: 9 (out of 20), Ease of use and features: 5 (out of 15), Value bonus: 0 (out of 5), Total: 14 (out of 40)

2. HP Photosmart A526
Price: £50
Printer style: Inkjet
Cost per print: 14 pennies
Printing time: about 83 seconds
Conclusion: Picture quality: 10, Ease of use and features: 6, Value bonus: 3, Total: 19

3. Canon Selphy CP740
Price: £50
Printer style: Dye-sublimation
Cost per print: 14 pennies
Printing time: about 75 seconds
Conclusion: Picture quality: 12, Ease of use and features: 8, Value bonus: 4, Total: 24

4. Sony Picture Station DPP-FP70
Price: £75
Printer style: Dye-sublimation
Cost per print: 14 pennies
Printing time: about 53 seconds
Conclusion: Picture quality: 15, Ease of use and features: 12, Value bonus: 3, Total: 30

5. Kodak Easyshare G610 Printer Dock
Price: £50 (not including camera)
Printer style: Dye-sublimation
Cost per print: 14 pennies
Printing time: about 76 seconds
Conclusion: Picture quality: 17, Ease of use and features: 11, Value bonus: 3, Total: 31

6. Epson PictureMate Dash PM 260
Price: £50
Printer style: Inkjet
Cost per print: 12 pennies
Printing time: about 38 seconds
Conclusion: Picture quality: 18, Ease of use and features: 14, Value bonus: 5, Total: 37

Scott found a number of image editing features like cropping, black and white option, and manual image adjustments with this printer which was unique to the others reviewed. The controls, menu and the features were easy to use which is important for amateur users. The LCD screen displays images in a thumbnail view which allows users to locate images hassle-free. The quality was exceptional and spotless. Most importantly, coupled with the low price of printer, Epson cartridges are cheap.

Economical is a word that I try not to use along with a photo printer. The quality of a print is highly dependent on the technology behind the printer and good photo printers cost more. If you are looking for an economical printer, you get what you pay for.

We have seen time and over again that Canon has produced the best prints at our labs and we stick to our stand. The Canon Pixma Pro 9500 although expensive, is worth every penny.