The New Speed Freak: Lexmark Z65

Features
By Vincent Alzieu
published

1 - Speed

Maximum speed

  • Printing ten pages in draft mode with a lower case "o" in the center.
  • Filename: o.doc
  • Method: Printing was started with the quality parameters set to minimum. The printout of page 1 was disregarded. The stopwatch was only started when the second page of the document had been picked up.

Speed in draft mode

  • Test in "draft" or "economical" mode, forcing printing of color sections in black.
  • Filename: printer.speed.doc
  • Method: Printing was started using the default quality parameters, with the black and white option activated. The printout of page 1 was disregarded. The stopwatch was only started when the second page of the document had been picked up.

Speed in black and white

  • Test in normal resolution, making color sections print in black.
  • Filename : Printer_speed.doc
  • Method: Printing was begun using the default quality parameters, with the black and white option activated. The printout of page 1 was disregarded. The stopwatch was only started when the second page of the document had been picked up.

Speed in color mode

  • Test in standard resolution.
  • Filename: Printer_speed.doc
  • Method: Printing was begun using the default quality parameters, with the black and white option activated. The printout of page 1 was disregarded. The stopwatch was only started when the second page of the document had been picked up. \

Printout of first page

  • This test was performed successively in standard, higher, and highest resolution, first in black and white, then in color, with automatic paper analysis activated.
  • Filename: Printer_speed.doc
  • Method: The command was used to print page 1 only and the stopwatch was started as soon as processing began.

Printout of photograph in all three modes

  • Printout on photographic paper of a high-definition image at the highest resolution, then in both lower quality modes.

Printout of A4 photograph

  • Printout on photographic paper of a high-definition color image, then a black and white image, at the highest resolution.

NB : to find out the page speed per minute of the printer, from the timeframe observed.

Output = 60 x number of pages printed/timed in seconds.Example : The Lexmark Z65 took 46.7 seconds to print ten pages in draft mode.
Output = 60 x 10 / 46.7 = 12.8 pages/min.

Methodology: 2 - Print Quality, 3 - Cost Per Page

2 - Print Quality

Word-processing:

An assessment of the print quality of the pages produced from the file Printer_speed.doc, first in black and white, then in color.

The following factors were taken into account in this evaluation:

  • Definition of the characters and their smoothness
  • Depth and brightness of inks
  • Quality of large areas of color in the diagrams
  • Detail of images
  • Precision with which the ink droplets were deposited

Photographic mode:

  • *Printout on A4 80 gsm paper of digital photographs measuring 10 x 15 cm
  • Printout on photographic paper recommended by the manufacturer (Tetenal in our case) of maximum definition photographs measuring 10 x 15 cm and A4, in color and black and white.
  • Printout of color patterns (to assess how faithfully colors are reproduced).

Vincent Alzieu