This printer has been reviewed before, but since its last review it's come down in price at many stores . . . considerably! It does still retail for $79.95, but I purchased mine 2 years ago for $25 at an Office Max. It's also the kind of thing that people upgrade from and sell, so I thought it might be useful to take another look at this printer with used buyers and lowered price in mind.

Suggested Use
This printer is great for very light household use with no need for faxing, scanning or all-in-one capabilities. I'd recommend it for a child's computer, senior's computer or home PC's with old operating systems. We're using it with Windows 98 and have had no compatibility issues.

It also prints out quickly, which is great for kids who need to print out projects before school or families printing out maps and driving directions or boarding passes before running out the door. Print speeds up to 9 pages per minute in black and 6 pages per minute in color. The resolution is 1200x1200 dpi, enough for boarding passes and coupons that will be read electronically.

This printer is easily managed with few buttons, bells and whistles. It could also be easily installed by people who are not incredibly technically savvy. Furthermore, it really rarely jams, making it just that much more manageable for this type of use. It will jam, however, if you try to load too much paper in it's stand-up paper feed tray. Lexmark recommends storing no more than 100 pages in the paper support tray. I recommend storing no more than 50 pages in the paper support tray.

With an easy flip up cover, there's no guessing when it comes to replacing cartridges or removing the rare jam. Two simple buttons control power and feeding.

Installation
Driver is installed via CD-ROM or by downloading the driver on the Lexmark website. I did notice that the driver is not listed in the InkJet drivers and downloads section there, but after navigating to the product itself and clicking on "Technical Support" in red below the main page for the Z25 you can eventually get to a link with drivers.

This printer connects via a USB Port and I have rarely had issues with the USB connection falling out on either the printer or the PC's end. After plugging the AC Adaptor in and connecting the USB cord, you're almost good to go. You do need to remove some bright orange tape from the unit and install the cartridges. This unit comes with one color cartridge. It does not come with a black cartridge. Keep that in mind when purchasing the product. Also important to note is that even if you buy this for a song like I did, the cartridges cost between $25 and $30. Each. Color and black. I just bought a refurbished cartrige on InkBlvd.com and it is possible to pay no shipping when buying at least $55 (or 2 cartridges) at once. My review on InkBlvd.com is here: http://www.epinions.com/content_198671240836

You will need to clean and align the heads after getting set up, but the sofware walks you through the process and only requires to have paper in the machine and click a few buttons.

Software
The software is very intuitive, with big illustrated instructions for changing cartridges, cleaning the heads, etc. The annoying thing to me - but potentially good thing for some users - is that a guy's voice comes on every time you print saying, "Printing started." When the print job is done, he says, "Printing complete." It's a little too 2001 Space Odyssey for me, but if you don't have your sound on it shouldn't matter too much.

Every time you print a little box pops up near your system tray that shows the percentage of the print job completed as well as your ink levels. Hitting the Properties box on your print dialogue allows you to adjust settings for Quick Print, Normal Print, Better and Best, as well as save settings so you can print in Black by default, etc.

Aesthetics
This printer is extremely compact making it a great printer for people with limited desk and living space. It's also an attractive white with blue accents, as opposed to huge grey or black eyesores. The Lexmark logo is prominently placed on the center of the tray, though.

I'm personally glad it's so lightweight but many people would call it "flimsy." Well, it is flimsy, but hey - if that's all we need to do the job, that's all we need. It comes carefully packed, and I recommend doing the same if you're moving or otherwise going to be shifting it around a lot.

Overall
Great for the price if you're only expecting light use. Particularly good for households with children or seniors that need something easy to manage.

Specs
Resolution
Up to 1200 x 1200 dpi
Paper Handling
Accu-Feed™
Print Technology
Thermal Inkjet, 4 Color Inkjet
Drop Size 7 PicoLiter Color Droplet Size
Print Speed
Up to 9 ppm black and 6 ppm color

Operating Systems Supported
Apple Mac OS 8.6, Apple Mac OS 9.0 - 9.2.2, Apple Mac OS X (10.1-10.2.6, Red Hat Linux 7.0, Red Hat Linux 7.1, SuSE Linux 7.2, Mandrake Linux 7.2, Mandrake Linux 8.0, Mandrake Linux 8.1, Microsoft Windows XP (All versions), Microsoft Windows Me, Microsoft Windows 2000 (all versions), Microsoft Windows 98 (All versions)

Standard Ports
USB
Optional External Network Adapter Support
Lexmark N1 Ethernet Adapter (Print only)
Lexmark N5 Wireless Adapter (Print only)
Print (ASF) Paper Input Capacity (Maximum)
Up to 100 pages 75 gsm bond

Media Sizes Supported
A4, A5, A6, B5, Executive, Legal, Letter, Statement Custom 6 3/4 Envelope 7 3/4 Envelope 9 Envelope, 10 Envelope, A2 Baronial, B5 Envelope, C5 Envelope, C6 Envelope, DL Envelope, Index Cards, Post Card

Print Media Types
Plain Paper, Envelopes, Coated Paper (A4 or Letter), Photo or Glossy Paper (A4 or Letter, Transparency (A4 or Letter), Card Stock, Index Card (3"x5"), Photo/Post Card (4"x6"), Hagaki Card, Iron-On Transfers, Banner (A4 or Letter)

Printer Size (paper support and exit tray extended): H12.3xW17.5xD18 inches

Printer Size (paper support and exit tray retracted): H5.1 inches Width 17.5 inches Depth 8.1 inches

Weight (base model)
4.75 lbs./metric 2.15 Kg
Operating Noise Level
44 dBA
Max Duty Cycle
2,000 pages per month
Warranty
One Year Limited LexExpress

In the Box
Color Jetprinter, #26 / 10N0026 High Resolution Color Print Cartridge, From Setup to Printing Book, Installation Software CD (Drivers and Software),
Power Supply



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 25
Operating System: Windows