The Hewlett-Packard Deskjet 930C is a wonderful compact colour printer.

I have wanted a colour printer for more than a year, having been spoilt with a good digital camera last Christmas. My computer has been overloaded with saved pictures of holidays, birthdays and weddings which I have only been able to look at on screen.

The idea of having my own photo studio without having to seal off a room and tinker with chemicals in the dark was highly appealing.

Armed with a pack of standard photograph-style gloss printer paper, I set to work.

Installation could not have been simpler. All I had to do was follow the well-worded on-screen instructions from the set-up CD to plug all the bits into the right places and it worked straight away.

The picture quality was clear and the colours accurate, even flesh tones. Many more expensive printers would be hard pressed to deliver better. The text was near-laser in quality on both glossy and plain paper.

Print-feed capacity is adequate. Hewlett-Packard quotes a maximum of 90gsm for the 100 A4-sheet paper tray and claims the machine can support 200gsm card.

Its print speed is surprisingly fast for a printer in this price range, although I did not feel it quite matched up to the manufacturer's claims of 7.5 pages a minute colour and nine pages a minute black.

The printer itself looks snazzy in a smart two-tone grey. It takes up little space on a work surface and the front-load print feed means not much room is needed above it.

The 930C offers excellent value for money in the mid-range inkjet market and would be an asset to many small businesses and great fun to play with at home. It is compatible with most versions of Windows, including Windows2000, and also with Mac OS.

Price: £129.

Contact: 08705 474747.

Feel good factor: 8 out of 10.