Epson Stylus Photo PX660 review

Epson Stylus Photo PX660: Handling and print times

Like other new and recent models in Epson's all-in-one printer range, the PX660 has a particularly intuitive touch-sensitive control panel for standalone use, either photocopying or printing from memory cards or a USB pen.

It's based around a not overly large 6.3cm (2.5-inch) colour LCD but the neat thing is that individual controls only light up if and when their functions are relevant to the task in hand. The same approach is taken in some of Canon's latest printers and, in our view, it makes control slightly easier than with the touchscreen LCDs fitted to some of the new HP and Lexmark models.

Epson printers are typically a little sluggish, especially in 'Best' quality photo modes, and the PX660 is no exception. In our tests, it returned the same highest-quality mode speeds as the entry-level Stylus Photo P50, taking 4 minutes 57 seconds to produce a borderless A4 print, and 1 minute 54 seconds for a borderless 6x4-inch print.

Dropping to the regular 'Photo' quality setting, print speeds increases to a more respectable 2 minutes 2 seconds for A4 and 26 seconds for 6x4-inch photos, with practically no discernable drop in quality. Scanning speeds were pretty average, at 22 seconds for a full A4 photo print and 10 seconds for a 6x4 photo, both being scanned at 300dpi.