This year it seems that compact photo printers have reached the market-flooding levels achieved by their digital camera cousins. There are dozens out there, made not only by recognised printer manufacturers, but by names more associated with photography such as Pentax and Sony.

However, with Epson's new device it looks like years of hard graft in the printing game has paid off, as the PictureMate 100 is the best we've ever seen in terms of affordability and print quality.

At £99 it's the cheapest 6in x 4in photo printer yet to arrive at Computeractive and, at 22p per print, it's also one of most affordable to maintain.

Like its previous incarnation, the PictureMate Personal Photo Lab,the PictureMate 100 looks like a bread bin with a handle, signifying that this compact photo printer is designed to be portable.

With this in mind it can run from a battery pack, although this is a £50 optional extra. A standard mains connection will suffice for most, but the carry-and-print aspect is a nice feature to have.

There's a vertical paper feed at the back and a horizontal paper tray protruding from the front. Both fold away, meaning that this printer won't take up much room on a desk when not in use.

Rather than the new breed of dye sublimation printers, which use a thermal heating process to get images onto paper, Epson has opted for conventional inkjet printing.

However, instead of an ink tank the PictureMate 100 uses an ink cartridge that resembles a VHS tape. It slots in the back and comprises a four-colour high-gloss dye ink which prints at a resolution of 5760dpi when using Epson's PictureMate Photo Paper.

As previously mentioned, the print results are excellent. Colours are rich, vivid and detailed, while up close there's not much noise, a usual trait of inkjet printing.

At 90 seconds per print it's not the quickest - the Dell 540 achieves a one-minute-per-print speed - but having to twiddle your thumbs a little longer in anticipation of top quality photos is a fair trade-off.

As well as being able to print from a computer, the PictureMate 100 can operate independently ,reading from most types of memory card, PictBridge compatible cameras and a USB key.

Also, there are built-in special effects to print in black and white or sepia tones, for example. Attach an optional Bluetooth adapter (£49) and you'll also be able to print from compatible mobile phones. However, don't expect image quality to be on a par with a digital camera.

The integrated screen is clear and the surrounding buttons are easily navigable. It also comes with lots of set-up material, and a reference sticker which identifies the function of each button on the printer.

Like all compact photo printers, the majority of us will be looking at two main factors: print quality and price per print.

As already noted, the print quality is superb and the price per print comes to 22p when paying £29 for a pack of 135 sheets and a full ink cartridge.

This makes it the cheapest we've seen and, while it's still more expensive than high street kiosks and online printing services, the PictureMate 100 allows you instantly to print from home with or without a computer.