Hits the mark!
Written: Oct 05 '02
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Pros: Excellent quality, quiet, no jams, great drivers, USB or Parallel
Cons: Slow, big, expensive cartridges
The Bottom Line: Fantastic quality, cheap to buy, pricey to run but won't let you down unless you are in a hurry!
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| readk's Full Review: Lexmark Jet Z55 Business Edition InkJet Printer |
I managed to pick a Z55 up in PC World (UK Chain store similar to Circuit City) for £69 ($110 US) and have to say that I am very pleased with my purchase.
I had looked at almost every other major manufacturer and the 2 things which the Lexmark had over the others was price and a parallel connection. Why not USB? Well I have 2 digital cameras, a scanner and an MP3 watch which have taken up my four USB slots and since none of them can be daisy chained I am stuck with parallel. On a positive note though it meant I already had a cable so no worries that Lexmark choose to cut costs by not including one in the package.
The printer was very easy to set up. The interface is intuitive and the vocal prompts are a nice touch though I suspect they may annoy people who print lots.
I use my printer for the odd letter, resume or digital photograph. I suspect for a more hardcore user would level a few criticisms at the Z55. Text printing is disappointing on normal setting using standard copy paper. The printer is slow on any setting apart from draft and ink is relatively expensive with few suppliers of generic or recycled cartridges around to force Lexmark to reduce their prices.
In the UK it would be possible to replace the printer each time the ink ran out for only slightly more than the cost of the Black and Colour cartridges together!
For my occasional use though the Lexmark is efficient with Ink, produces stunning photos on glossy paper and razor sharp graphics on posters or greetings cards.
The Z55 has a pretty big foot print and produces hefty vibrations on my desk but that said it is quiet and reassuringly solid. The Z55 has never jammed on me in 5 months of use and continues to produce fabulous prints.
The Lexmark package is designed to keep costs down and attract you to the brand. My deal had no productivity software or cable to connect the printer but it did have full ink cartridges and a sample pack of media such as photo paper, labels and iron-on T-shirt transfers which proved great fun. I suspect that Lexmark are creative with the statistics that they quote. The dpi is certainly not 3800x1280 though it may look close and the pages per minute have never come close to the 13 they quote, no matter what I have printed.
I can't recommend the printer highly enough for the occasional home printer. One thing stands in the way of making it a must buy though and that is the price of ink. Lexmark are making money in the meantime but I wonder if the prices of the printers would be so low if they had competitors providing compatible consumables at reasonable cost.
Have a look around though, are there other printers in this price bracket which can match the Z55's quality? I couldn't find one!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 110
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
readk
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Member: Kevin Read
Location: Wallsend, Tyne & Wear, England
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
A big guy from a small country re-visiting epinions
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