Lexmark C534dn

Opinion from a graphic designer after putting C534dn through the paces with high volume and graphics printing. Running on Mac OSX. Here are my conclusions:
THE GOOD
* C534 is very fast. I printed 4000 pages of a graphics-heavy report and it barely blinked. Only had to realign the K ink cartridge once about halfway through.
* Color output is quite good without much graininess. It is a little muted in vibrancy compared to samples obtained from Okidata 5500. However the C534 ink lacks the nasty waxiness that you get Oki inks, so on the whole it is better. Ink saturation is better than HP 2605. Speaking strictly from a Mac 0SX perspective, the output is a little dark, but I have not tried tweaking color settings yet.
* Font printing has been excellent with no substitutions found so far, even with non-standard designer fonts like FF Meta.
* Text output is clear and sharp for blacks, not as much for color fonts (which is typical for color lasers)
* Photo printing is good (for a laser) but jpeg images with light tonal areas such as pale blue cloudy skies can be a bit unpredictable with potential for banding.
* Consumables (ink) last well, even beyond their "low ink" status warning. Lexmark's ink standard shipping on their order service is quick, but I suppose it depends on where you are.
* Based on calculation, the cost of ownership of the C534 fairs better than the Okidata 5500 after you replace ink cartridges twice or was it three times? I forget. (w. cartridge return program)
THE MIDDLING
* Overall machine fit and finish appears good. Labelling good. It is an expensive machine, but from all indications, you get what you paid for.
* Form factor is hefty. Be prepared for how large this printer is. That being said, the location of wiring ports is on the side, which makes for better access. Why couldn't they put the "on" switch there too?
THE BAD
* Noise level is poor. Sounds like a jet engine during warming up cycle. My big gripe is c534's sudden, loud re-warm up cycle which occurs without warning. Can startle.
* With no straight passthrough, you are limited in media choices. Not a good choice if you are looking beyond standard sizes and weights for envelope and letter. This is best as a high volume business machine, not a graphic designer's photo quality machine (go with Epson for photo quality).
* While backlit, the menu screen operation is not very intuitive and takes some getting used to. Lexmark needs to do more usability tests on their menu system functionality. The "check mark" and "back arrow" buttons need clearer, more appropriate labelling. On the plus side, the "show me" feature with animated images is a godsend.
THE UGLY
* Getting output print samples prior to purchase was like trying to pry teeth. Slow and painful. What arrived did not show a full spectrum of printer's capabilities.
* Lexmark customer service kept passing me from department to department (3 times) when I wanted to buy an extended warranty and find out about product ink program options (conflicting and missing information on their website).Finally I had to give up after customer service rep admitted their website store has issues in not listing product add-on options such as extended warranty.

I have never taken the time to write a review on any product before, but this experience is so disappointing that I thought I would try to help others avoid the same disappointments I have experienced with the C534dn.

I bought this printer because it was highly rated. I've had it for 13 days now, and have spoken with Lexmark tech support more than 20 times to try to solve what I consider to be a rather simple issue with the way the MP Feeder and the standard tray (called Tray 1) interact. After many hours trying to solve this, and after being bounced back and forth between software support and hardware support numerous times, here is what I have found...

(1) My application: I do a lot of letters, so I want to load letterhead in the MP Feeder and load second sheets in Tray 1. I want the printer to honor the software application's page setup settings (in this case, both Microsoft Word and WordPerfect), which I have set to instruct the printer to pull from the MP Feeder first (for the letterhead), and then pull from Tray 1 (for the second sheets). This works fine UNLESS you happen to let the MP Feeder run out of paper. If this happens and the printer begins to pull first pages from Tray 1, and then you try to reload letterhead in the MP Feeder so that the printer will start pulling first pages from the MP Feeder again, the printer will NEVER pull from the MP Feeder again at all UNLESS you turn the printer off and reset it. It will ignore your page setup settings completely and ONLY pull from Tray 1.

Tech support finally told me today that the printer is functioning as it was designed to function, and that the reason it functions this way is that the MP Feeder does not have a sensor. I have owned several laser printers over the years, and they have ALWAYS functioned so that they honor the page setup settings of the software application. The C534dn does NOT. In my opinion, this makes the MP Feeder virtually useless.

(2) Here is another quirk...the C534dn will NOT print in duplex mode from Adobe Reader.

(3) Here is another quirk...if you set the printer driver default to print in black and white only (by accessing the driver, e.g., in Windows XP in the Printers and Faxes area [Start-Printers and Faxes], these default settings will apply to all software applications accessing the printer driver. (I like to default it to black and white so I can save color toner. I just override the setting within the software application when I want to print a particular document in color.) When you open WordPerfect and try to print a document in color by unchecking the black and white box by accessing the printing preferences within WordPerfect, the printer will NOT honor the override command. It will ONLY print in black and white.

BOTTOM LINE: If you need the MP Feeder and Tray 1 to function as independent trays, then I would NOT buy this printer. If you do not plan to use the MP Feeder, then it might be fine, but you will still find that Lexmark has not worked out all the driver quirks. It's a real shame.

(4) The printer is VERY noisy. I have it sitting on my desk, and it is very hard to talk on the phone whenever it cycles or prints.

(5) The printer is HUGE. Be prepared to give up some valuable desktop space...

ONE FINAL NOTE...it took Lexmark 13 days to research my MP Feeder problem and tell me it is functioning as it is designed. In my opinion, that is neither an acceptable response nor an acceptable response time.