Lexmark's New Speed Freak

The new Lexmark range of printers remains faithful to this manufacturer's traditional product series, but it boasts excellent performance when it comes to speed. Although it is the smallest model in this new generation of printers, the Z23 claims an output of 9 ppm for black and white. The Z65, the top-of-the-line model in the series, does indeed have very impressive features. It produces 21 ppm in black and white and 15 ppm in color, and has two trays, one of which has a paper analysis sensor. Best of all, it has a record high resolution of 4,800 x 1,200 dpi. The Z65 is thus capable of covering an area of one square inch (2.54 cm) of paper with 11 million ink droplets, four times as many as what a Canon or an HP will do (2,400 x 1,200 dpi), and 5.5 times more than an Epson (2,880 x 720 dpi).

On paper at least, the Z65 has the edge over its competition. But a few minor points needed to be confirmed. For instance:

1. Speed - the printer is, indeed, fast. Our tests showed it was particularly speedy at low resolution.
2. Print Quality - the greater number of dots really does improve print quality. In fact, the reproduced photographs were excellent, and even colors printed on normal paper were bright.
3. Paper Sensor the rear tray sensor works well without slowing down the printing time. Once again, the Z65 was satisfactory on this point.
4. Cost Per Page - no change here. The Z65 is definitely less expensive to use than the HP Deskjet, although it is more expensive than the Canon and Epson models.