- Average user rating: 1.5 stars out of 24 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
0.5 stars
"Con-job 530dn"
Pros: Decent output- but certainly not great!
Cons: Junk, fraud & SUPER EXPENSIVE TO OPERATE
Summary: Lexmark, CNet, PC Mag- all rate the included cartridges at 1,500 pages at about 5% coverage (normal). I found that ALL of my cartridges began to run out of toner at less than 300 pages (all reporting low), with 6% or 7% coverage. I made numerous calls to tech support until finally someone told me that the included cartridges actually hold 40% of the reported 1,500 pages worth. I have documented my experience and their statements, by the way. Over half of my printing before the toner reported as "Low" was experimentation to try to get color pages to look decent, since their tech support is useless.
When told the actual capacity- I was speechlesss- and asked to talk to a supervisor. I asked him how a consumer was supposed to know about the actual cartridge capacity so as to make an informed purchasing decision. He didn't have a real answer- of course- their fraudlent practice is inefensible.
I had to make numerous tech support calls for various paper-handling issues (and I am using standard paper weigths and sizes). As mentioned, their support is nearly worthless. If your time is worth anything, consider that cost of operating this, in addition to the cost of supplies.
I had my attorney send a letter to Lexmark's corporate headquarters, and got a call from someone who agreed to send me brand-new regular cartridges. They tried to convince me that the tech was wrong, and that the toner sensors were bad. But in all four cartridges? That's stretching credulity!
I will never buy anything with a Lexmark brand name again! It's just not worth it. I am baffled as to how they could get so many Editors Choice awards for this line of printers. So from now on I will rely on user reviews exclusively. I wish these had been here when I was doing my research!
Updated on Dec 23, 2008Evidently, if you run the print jobs continuously, you might find that the cartridge capacity is better. It seems that the printer is wasting toner during its many times daily calibration cycles- even if you don't use it for a couple of weeks, the toner supply will be depleted, and the WASTE TONER BOX, which is a costly periodic replacement item will fill up. So turn it off it you're not going to use it for awhile. Or, even better- get rid of it. I am going to get a Brother MFC-9840CDW, which seems to perform better, with more features, and a lower operating cost. I have had a Brother workgroup laser printer with duplexer for about 7 years, and a B/W MFC, and have never been disappointed.
Lexmark C530dn:
