Lexmark Z1300

At a price of around $30 the Lexmark Z1300 has the distinction of being the low-cost printer in this buyer's guide. Even so, this compact unit employs a four-color inkjet (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, with separate CMY and black cartridges) to produce sharp, vibrant color at resolutions of up to 1200x1200 in black and 4800x1200 in color. It's also no slouch in the output department either, with draft black output at 22 ppm and draft color at 16 ppm (normal black is 12 ppm and normal color 5 ppm).

While it does feature a somewhat plain exterior, the Lexmark Z1300 does the job.

The Z1300 also handles a wide range of papers and stocks, including card stock, coated papers, envelopes, labels, transparencies, index cards and more. Media sizes include No. 10 envelope, 7-3/4 envelope, 9 envelope, A4, A5, B5 Envelope, C5 Envelope, DL Envelope, user-defined up to 8.5" x 17", Executive, Legal, Letter and many more. It can also print borderless photos on 4x6", 5x7", 4x8", L, 2L, and numerous metric sizes.

This unit is among the smallest in this buyer's guides, with dimensions of 4.75" x 16.89" x 8.37" (12.06cm x 42.90cm x21.25cm), with a weight of 5.1 pounds (2.32 kg). With a print noise level of under 52 dB(A), it's also one of the noisier printers in this batch.

The ratio between unit cost and consumables comes to mind as we look at typical prices for Z1300 cartridges. Black cartridges run from $18 to $25 depending on size, and color cartridges from $19 to $30, likewise. Discounts for bundled purchases, numerous photo stock sizes and transparency film are also available.