Entered CNET Catalog: 04/11/2002
SKU: 0734646245975
Manufacturer: Lexmark International Inc.
Manufacturer description
The Lexmark Z65 is a versatile, high-performance printer perfectly suited for small business, home office and individuals who demand the highest quality possible from a color inkjet printer. With 4800 x 1200 dpi, the Lexmark Z65 easily outclasses its competition. The Lexmark Z65 delivers higher definition than ever achieved before delivering output so sharp and vivid, that photo quality prints and laser sharp text are possible, right out of the box. Accu-Feed paper handling virtually eliminates paper jams while handling a wide range of paper from envelopes and transparencies to paper stocks.Product summary
The good: Fast print speeds; easy setup; low-cost networking option available.
The bad: Mediocre print quality; high cost per page; USB cable not included.
The bottom line: Business users will appreciate the Z65's fast print speeds and dual paper trays, but poor color quality and high operating costs plague this otherwise promising printer.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 04/19/2002
Ten easy steps
You can set up and install the $200 Z65 in 10 easy steps by using the illustrated setup sheet. The printer connects via USB and is compatible with Windows 98, Me, 2000, and XP, as well as Mac OS 8.6 or higher. Unfortunately, no cable is included. A 25-page, printed user guide covers basic setup, driver settings, and troubleshooting. If you need to share the printer across your network, Lexmark also offers a network version of the Z65 with built-in Ethernet for $230.
New and improved
The Lexmark Z65's sleek, two-toned plastic case houses some useful features, including dual paper trays for different media. The usual, top-loading front paper tray can hold up to 100 sheets of plain paper and various amounts of specialty papers. It also has an automatic paper-type sensor and adjusts the print settings accordingly for optimal output. Another paper tray just behind the first one can hold up to 150 sheets of A4 or plain paper, eliminating the need to constantly reload or switch out different kinds of media. Media from both trays exits into the output tray located in the front.
The Z65 also features a new and improved driver interface. Simply select what you want to print (photos, envelopes, banners, and so on) using the drop-down menu, and the printer makes the correct settings. Plus, you can manually change print quality and paper type or select n-up, monochrome, or two-sided printing.
If only speed were everything
In CNET Labs' tests, the Z65 turned in some impressive speeds. At 6.3ppm for text, it edged out the Epson Stylus C80 but remained nearly a full page behind the Canon S750, which produced 7.2ppm. The tables turned slightly when it came to printing a full-color photograph--the Z65 took just 1.7 minutes, compared to the Canon S750's 1.8 minutes.
But speed means little if the output is mediocre. The Z65's plain-paper text was indistinct, with visible hairs and flecks around characters. When we switched to coated paper, text improved greatly, with crisp, clear, dark letters. Plain-paper graphics showed visible dots and horizontal banding, resembling a grainy photocopy; they improved marginally on coated paper. A full-color photo printed on Kodak's Premium Picture paper suffered from poor skin-tone reproduction and color matching.
The ink will get you
Unfortunately, the Z65 gets pricier before it gets better. The Z65's prints costs 7 cents per text page and 55 cents per color page, compared with 2.7 cents and 19 cents, respectively, for the similarly priced Canon S750. Plus, while some competitors, such as Canon, are moving toward separate color-ink cartridges, Lexmark sticks with a three-color cartridge. This means you must replace the entire set of inks even if one color runs out.
The Z65 ends on a high note. Lexmark's one-year parts and labor warranty includes a free, overnight (next business day) replacement policy for defective printers. Technical support is available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturdays from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET. You can find driver updates, manuals, FAQs, and a searchable knowledge base at the company's Web site.
The Z65 is among the fastest inkjets we've tested. But considering its mediocre color output and high cost of consumables, the Canon S750 is a better deal, with faster, more economical prints and better image quality.
| Inkjet printer text speed Pages per minute (longer bars indicate better performance) | ||||||||
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| Inkjet printer color photo speed Minutes to print a color photograph (shorter bars indicate better performance) | ||||||||
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Inkjet printer quality
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| The Lexmark Z65's fast print speeds put it in the same league as the Canon S750, but the inferior output quality mars an otherwise promising printer. |
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5out of 5 user reviews
Losing with Lexmark
Pros: It powers up
Cons: Does nothing else well
As a printer it's been so utterly useless for anything other than black and white that it's a mystery how it managed such an unjustifiably high rating in Cnet's editorial review.
Speed? So what? An ability to produce some of the worst colour prints from any printer at 10 prints per second (or whatever it does) is absolutely no ability at all -- so why even factor it into any kind of rational judgment?
Lexmark printers really have no place in today's market. They're not so much a product as a marketing exercise, built cheap and sold cheap so as to attract a captive user audience for Lexmark's inks.
They're touted as the best for this, or the best for that, when in fact they're the equivalent of small, cramped cars of mediocre ability which happen to consume gas at a rate of $1 per mile compared to models from every other manufacturer.
No wonder certain major PC suppliers include Lexmark printers as a "free bundle", never Canon or Epson: Lexmark can afford to give the darn things away and then sit back and wait for the money to roll in from the sale of its inks.
Why do people buy 'em, knowing the horrendous (and absurd) on-costs of Lexmark ownership, and then come on here singing Lexmark's praises?
They can't all be related to Lexmark, surely. Or unable to count. Then again though. . .
out of 5 user reviews
Cheap to buy, expensive to maintain
Pros: Fast, quality is OK for me, user manual is easy-to-understand.
Cons: Runs out of ink quick, cartridges expensive. I'm now looking to buy a laser printer & keep this one to do color only printing.
out of 5 user reviews
Z65, who's your daddy?
Pros: I'd like to give the Z65 an honorable mention, but I don't know if the word "honor" computes with Lexmark.
Cons: I expected the photo quality touted by Lexmark's adds for the Z65, but was disappointed. Then power supply meltdown after little more than a year of light usage left me with 5 very expensive ink cartridges for a product that Lexmark has discontinued. W
out of 5 user reviews
Worked till the warranty ran out
Pros: Cheap. Liked the software interface, fairly intuitive.
Cons: You get even less than you pay for from Lexmark. Just about one year to the date of warranty expiration the "hardware" on the printer failed. Lexmark Tech Support diagnosed the problem rather quickly and suggested I throw their printer away. Meanwhile
out of 5 user reviews
Z65 Makes it all possible
Pros: Pictures come out clear and very detailed. The printer is very fast and I love that it talks
Cons: The ink cartridges are sooooooo expensive.
