DeRango's Full Review: Lexmark PhotoJet Z705 InkJet Printer
Printers are quickly becoming higher quality, faster, and more affordable. So which printer is right for the consumer, what features are important, and what should I look for when buying a new printer? These questions plague the ignorance of the majority when shopping for a new printer.
My experience
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. 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 that does not require a separate photo cartridge to complete this task.
Features that stand above the rest
- USB & Mac Compatibility
- One-click driver install
- Ink level indicators
- Accu-Feed paper handling system
- High Resolution printing
- LexExpress 1 Year Warranty
Features of the Z705
- 2400 x 1200 dpi (Dots per Inch). Approximately 38% higher than 2880 x 720
- 4800 x 1200 dpi (Dots per Inch). Using the Photo Cartridge & Photo Paper (Glossy)
- *17 ppm (Pages per Minute) black (at 5% coverage)
- *10 ppm at 15% coverage
*These numbers can be deceiving, for example these numbers are taken as a test using a USB port (Universal Serial Bus) 5% coverage of the sheet of paper, at the fastest setting/lowest quality (Economy). 5% coverage refers to the ink on the paper, if I took all the black ink on the paper crunched it up and put it in the corner of the paper it would cover 5% of the page. 5% coverage is about a page of text double spaced at 12 font. In summary, don’t expect the printer to print out an 8-1/2 by 11 picture in 7.5 seconds.
*The photo cartridge can be used in place of the black ink cartridge, by inserting this it allows the printers to use a 7 color technology.
*Includes a black and color cartridge in the box, but does NOT include: Paper, USB cables, photo cartridge, or specialty software. (Those are extras)
Compatibility
-Windows 98, NT 4.0, Win 2000, Win Me, Mac OS 8.6 or higher, Mac OS X & Linux. Also new drivers available for XP, this is important because some printers are not Mac or Linux compatible.
Input Tray
-Holds 100 sheets standard paper; or 50 transparencies; or 10 envelopes at a time. Handles letter, legal, A4, A5, A6, B5, Exec, Index (3” X 5”), Postcard (4” X 6”), and multiple envelop sizes. Handles up to 150lb paper, (not 150 lbs literally just the thickness of card stock and envelope papers.
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 you a new printer with overnight shipping! You keep the old one too (Paper weight, Door stop, Boat anchor, ect). No hidden charges or shipping dues.
Ink Consumption
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 800-1000 pages yield at 5% coverage & the color gets about 600-800 pages yield at 15% coverage. You can get about 78 full 8-1/2 by 11 photos at the highest settings. So the ink may be more expensive than others, but you get more pagers per cartridge…
When you replace an 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 head thus causing it to “wear down” eventually not to work at all or very poorly. 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!
The printer itself works on both USB. I suggest USB which is about 20 times faster than a regular printer port and much easier to install. 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.
A Word about DPI
For all you who look at DPI, (Dead Printer Information), I call it this because manufactures can all use different ways of testing DPI. So not to point any fingers, (Cough *Epson*), they count colors not dots. For example you see 1440 X 740 dpi, now if you take the color orange; you have to mix red and yellow. HP, Lexmark, Canon count this as a single dot, Epson however counts this as two. So they use a layering technology that uses more ink and claims a higher DPI. (Don’t be fooled!) My point is that your printer company can claim what it wishes by using different DPI tests, (there is not standard for printers). I’m not bashing Epson they do however have some good quality machines, (I just can’t think of any)...Truthfully DPI stands for (Dots Per Inch), which basically means the more dots per inch, the smaller they have to be, which in turn gives you a less grainy look on your photos because it produces a smaller dot. (Harder for the human eye to see)
Single Cartridge System VS Dual Cartridge
When using a single cartridge system this can pose a threat to your ink consumption if not used correctly. What happens is if you have the color cartridge in the unit, it mixes the three colors to get black, giving you more of a gray then black. By mixing the colors it also uses more color ink, which in-turn wastes money.
What I recommend is getting a dual cartridge printer, with the capability to run color & black at the same time. This saves you money while increasing printer speeds. When you have both cartridges in the unit it allows the unit to use the black cartridge for text, and when you print color it uses the color cartridge. This also increases the quality of your color prints out and gives you a true black (Not mixing the three colors and giving you a gray). So if you can afford to purchase a dual cartridge unit I suggest it highly.
Conclusion
A personal small desktop printer 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.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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