I like to take good photographs and would like to enter competitions, but let’s face it, I need to have the best equipment to get the job done. Living next to the Spey, one of the top three salmon fishing rivers situated in the Scottish Highlands, the photo opportunities that present themselves are fantastic. But what do you do when you have top scenery but only average hardware to reproduce it? Easy, you need to pick your socks up and acquire an Epson Stylus Photo PX660 printer. In essence, an ‘all-in-one’ printer such as this will cover all your bases and allow a certain freedom that is always useful when you need to print.

I like things straightforward, so the 6.3 cm LCD screen with touch panel offering smart navigation is right up my street. You have the option to either process your photos via your computer or print them straight out using a memory card or via USB key. If you are using a camera that is Pictbridge enabled, you have the freedom here too to print out high definition photographs directly from your PX660.

There is much to impress about the new printer from the Epson Seiko Corporation. Boasting a Micro Piezo print head this ‘all in one’ six colour inkjet printer will enable you to not only print page upon page of stunning images or text, but can additionally be used for copying and scanning.

It is so exciting returning home from this newly presented winter wonderland after having been so spoilt for choice regarding the pictures to shoot. The moment the image appears on my screen I can’t wait to process through to my PX660 for printing. The printer uses something called ‘Resolution Performance Management’ (RPM) which enables a capability of 5760 x 1440 optimised dpi. Nothing beats the anticipation felt when a brand new colourful image begins to emerge and this is one printer that you can place all your hopes and expectations on without it letting you down. You can of course purchase original Epson ink cartridges but printing being a guilty pleasure of mine makes it a habit that I would struggle to afford. But where there’s a will, there’s a way (as they say) and thanks to affordable compatibles, which, in a nutshell, are cheap ink cartridges – it is a pleasure I can now more often indulge.

You don’t need to wait around too long for your 10×15 printout what with its efficient photo printing speed of 12 seconds. There’s more, the PX660 promises Red Eye Removal as well as Epson Photo Enhance. As well as a great printer, the PX660 is an excellent A4 colour scanner offering a 1200 x 2400 dpi scanning resolution with an easy to refill 120 sheet paper reservoir (75g/m2).

By the way, there is a one-year standard warranty with an optional warranty extension of three years. Best to be on the safe side!

If, like me, you only have limited space available in your home office/studio, again, the Epson PX660 won’t let you down. With this, an eight and a half kilogram compact printer, measuring only 451x386x195 millimetres, it may be a smaller machine but it certainly isn’t small in the quality department. It is so bijou sometimes I forget it is even there!

Now that I have the essential hardware and my cheap ink cartridges for printing great pictures, all that’s left is to fill out some photography entry forms and win some prizes.