Epson ET-2550

Inky fingers did not stop our reviewer from testing a new multifunction printer

The Epson ET-2550 is a multi-function printer from the company's Eco Tank range. Rather than using ink cartridges containing 4ml or 5ml of ink, Eco Tank products use ink supplied from bottles holding 70ml of appropriately coloured ink. These bottles should give the user up to two years of printing activity based on an image rate of 200 pages per month.

Pricewise, Eco Tank can offer a considerable savings with regards to running costs. Whereas each 70ml bottle is priced at £7.99, cartridges, often lasting less than a month, can cost around a pound less. Over a two-year period, the saving should work out in excess of £200. There is a downside, as Eco Tank printers have a price premium. The ET-2550 is currently priced at £259.69 on Amazon.

Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 11

All the design tools you need in one place

The gold standard in graphics software, Adobe’s Creative Cloud, includes three separate programs for producing flat artwork: Photoshop for editing images; Ilustrator for drawing with vector shapes; and InDesign for creating page layouts. Adobe’s rivals, notably Serif and Corel, produce their programs along similar lines.

Wacom Bamboo Spark

Write on paper, read on screen

In the classic science-flction film Blade Runner, former police officer Rick Deckard played by Harrison Ford, pursues Rutger Hauer's rebel 'replicant' Roy Batty through a city of skyscrapers and spaceships.

We mention this because as we're writing the page you're reading now, the date on the clock in the corner of our screen is Roy Batty’s date of birth (8 January 2016). It’s disappointing that real-life cars still show no signs of flying and robots are barely smart enough to vacuum your living room, but maybe it’s just as well if the rest of Ridley Scott’s vision isn’t coming to pass.

Internet Explorer survival guide

Microsoft is killing off even more of its software – this time old versions of Internet Explorer. We explain what you must do to stay safe

What’s happening?

Support for older versions of Microsoft’s 20-year-old web browser, Internet Explorer (IE), ended on 12 January 2016, meaning that only the most recent version of the browser for your OS will be supported from this date. For Windows 7, 8 and 10 users, only IE11 will be supported from now on. For Vista, IE9 is the only supported version.

Ricoh Theta S

A camera that sees all around

Since the dawn of photography, taking a picture has meant pointing a camera at something interesting and capturing a rectangular view in that direction. Panorama shooting, which once meant complicated mechanical contraptions but can now be done by waving your mobile phone and letting the software sort out the details, just gives you a wider rectangle.