During my stint for several years as a part time Weekend Warrior for Lexmark, I was privy to information about each printer line that came out. This printer is specifically designed for basic home users looking to printer documents, emails, letters, or add some light color to basic images printed from the internet for school projects.


My Experience
The Lexmark Z645 is perfect as a personal small desktop printer, which is capable of being used for photo quality prints, and useful for everyday tasks like printing papers, emails, or letters. The overall quality of the product is exceedingly higher against the cost, thus making it a good value for home users.

Although I have used the product to print some photos, I mainly use it to type text such as papers, letters, mapping directions, envelops, and emails I need to file. I’ve had literally no problems with the usage of the printer nor have I had any reason to believe I will. As cheap as the printer looks, the unit handles media fairly well with the Accu-Feed system that pushes heavier card stock paper through the feeder without jamming. The photos did turn out nice when using the glossy photo paper and a decent digital camera, but I would recommend a higher quality printer specifically designed for photo quality prints and higher resolution handling without the restriction of using photo paper to obtain the higher end results.

This windows based printer should suffice for basic home operations, but anyone looking to use a serious printer for color photos will quickly find out that the highest resolution on this printer is obtained by using a 4 color technology on Photo Paper so do not expect extremely good resolution photos free of graininess with the Lexmark Z645.


Ink Specifications
Ink consumption is major issue with me; I don’t want to purchase a printer that needs a new ink cartridge every time I turn around. The black ink tank gets 400-600 pages yield at 5% coverage & the color gets about 200-400 pages yield at 15% coverage. You can get about 38 full 8-1/2 by 11 photos at the highest settings. So the ink may be more expensive than others, but you get a decent number page per cartridge.

When you replace a Lexmark cartridge you also replace the printer head. The head contains the nozzle used to spray the ink onto the paper. Paper is abrasive to the printer cartridge heads thus causing them to wear down and eventually causing it work poorly or not at all. So by replacing both the head and ink, you insure high quality prints with no streaking. Canon printers and Epson printers have the heads built in/onto the units or separate from the ink cartridge itself. (This can be costly to replace or repair)


Setup Details
The Lexmark Z645 works on any current version of USB. I suggest using USB 2.0 cables and ports when available as this is both faster and easier for the user to install than the old IEEE-1284 printer port. The printer doesn’t come with the USB cable, so be sure to purchase that! If you’re not sure about your computer having USB ports check your computer manuals, most computers that have Pentium II processors or better have it. Most all printers and computers are using USB devices now so this should be a worry of the past.

Setup is a fairly simple process, and each printer does include a driver disc CD, which takes you through a step by step procedure of installing and prepping your printer for use. Usually with any version of Windows it should immediately be detected as an external USB device and prompt you for the driver CD.


Recommendation
I followed many models as they were updated and improved upon, and just so you know, your better off buying 3 of these printers at once because each printer box includes one black and one color cartridge (a $60 value). So rather than purchase a new black/color cartridge for $25-$33 each, your better off giving the printer away (empty) and just using the cartridges from the other unopened boxes.


LexExpress One Year Exchange
A great thing about the Lexmark warranty is that they don’t repair the units, they are simply replaced. If you call and they can’t fix the problem over the phone, they FedEx within (2-5 business days) you a new printer with overnight shipping! You keep the old one too (Paper weight, Door stop, Boat anchor, etc). No hidden charges or shipping dues.


Features & Specifications
• Thermal Inkjet Color Printer
• Max Resolution (BW) 2400 x 1200 dpi
• Max Resolution (Color) 4800 x 1200 dpi
• Black Print Speed 17 ppm
• Color Print Speed 9 ppm
• Platform PC
• Connectivity Technology USB 2.0 • USB
• Monthly Duty Cycle 1,000 - 9,999 (Individual)
• Monthly Duty Volume 2,000 Pages

Media Handling
• Banners
• Coated Paper
• Envelopes
• Glossy Paper
• Index Cards
• Iron-On Transfers
• Labels • Photo Paper
• Plain Paper
• Transparencies
• Hagaki Card
Max Media Size Legal (216 x 356 mm, 8.5 x 14")
Total Media Capacity 100 Pages

System Requirements
• Microsoft Windows 2000
• Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
• Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
• Microsoft Windows XP Home

Dimensions
• Width 15.9 in.
• Depth 8.5 in.
• Height 5.3 in.
• Weight 2.045 lb.

Related Links & Details

Lexmark Z53 Inkjet

Lexmark PhotoJet Z705 InkJet Printer

Lexmark X5470 All-In-One InkJet Printer

Lexmark JetPrinter X1185 All-In-One InkJet

Hewlett Packard LaserJet 3055 All-In-One Printer

http://www.lexmark.com for more info


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 29.99
Operating System: Windows