Epson Stylus Photo 1400

For those who want the most control over photo printing, experts say Epson's Stylus Photo 1400 tops a crowded field of inkjet competitors. It's not perfect; reviewers note that, particularly for black-and-white printing, the machine requires tweaking of settings to achieve professional-looking prints. The Epson Stylus Photo 1400 also lacks convenience features like memory-card slots that other printers in the same class have. But, experts remind consumers, all of this is trumped by photo quality, and the Epson Stylus Photo 1400 outperforms the competition on that measure. Color accuracy is excellent, and prints show greater detail than other printers at this price. In a pinch, the Epson 1400 can also produce acceptable text documents. If you don't want to spend so much but still want a printer with an LCD preview screen, check out the HP Photosmart D7560 (*Est. $150). If you need a more general-use printer, reviews most often suggest the Canon Pixma iP4700 (*Est. $100).

The best review of the Epson Stylus Photo 1400, by far, comes from professional photography site Photo-i. Reviewer Vincent Oliver spent several days conducting an interactive evaluation of the 1400. The review includes a small library of photos and sample prints and direct comparisons to half a dozen competing photo printers. CNET's article is less detailed and lacks photos and sample prints, but it does a nice job outlining features, specifications and performance. PopPhoto.com and PCMag.com publish significantly less-detailed reviews with minimal comparisons, but the sites give some nice summarizations of the printer's pros and cons. Since this printer has been on the market for a while, most reviews are older.