The HP Photosmart C4180 is exactly the sort of multi-function device that you might consider for the home or small office. It’s a twin-cartridge inkjet printer with a scanner on top that also gives copy features.

In addition it has four card reader slots which support Compact Flash, Memory Stick, MMC and SD cards. That should suit the owners of most digital cameras and mobile phones, although you’re left high and dry if you use xD media. Once you’ve inserted a memory card you flip up the colour LCD display, which turns the backlight on, and then use HP Photosmart Express to print off your photos.

You’ll need to swap back to the black cartridge for a decent rendition of mono prints, but speeds are disappointing at 4ppm. Draft mode offers some relief, with pages being hurled out at 20ppm, but text appears blurred. At least costs are low, with 4.6p per page using the standard-sized cartridge and 2p per page using the high-yield 336 cartridge. We prefer the Lexmark for office-based work, though, as it’s faster and offers nearly as low running costs.

t wouldn’t be so bad if the print quality was worth the wait. In Best mode, we found obvious linear print patterns and even on the printer’s top dpi setting, they are still all too visible.

On the upside, colour rendition is excellent making this a printer great for printing graphics over top quality photos.

As with most AIO models, the C4180 offers direct printing from a range of memory cards including CF, SD/MMC, xD, Memory Stick (and Duo) cards and everything can be viewed on the units 6cm colour screen. You can also apply basic edits to prints without a PC, which is a nice touch. On-screen instructions provide simple steps to getting your photos printed and, if connected to a PC, the C4180 acts as a memory card reader so that you can upload your images as well if required.