TOP MARKS FOR LEXMARK...... (Lexmark Z13)

Member Name: broksababe

Product:	Lexmark Z13
Date:	11/12/01 (404 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap,Excellent photo quality printing

Disadvantages: , Ink very expensive

I was desperately in need of a new printer after my Epson 440 passed gracefully on, so after careful consideration and price ranges I decided to go for the Lexmark Z13.

So after purchasing your printer, you will need to set it up, you will need to purchase a USB cable as this is not included with it, these retail in Dixon's and Curry's etc for £14.99 but a trip to Argos or Index and you can pick one up for only £6.99.

The printer comes with one coloured cartridge (yes this model only takes one at a time), however you can buy a black one and use that alone too.
A power supply box, power cable, printer ink storage box for using black and coloured to stop the one not in use drying up, plus the printer software.

Installing the power pack is easy, you then need to switch your printer on and the ink compartment will move to the middle, open the cover pop the ink in and close the lid, that's it, switch on and off and your now ready to get started.

You will now need to install the software and drivers; this is auto-run from the CD and is done all in one go.
After installation is complete you are given the option of printing a test page to set the correct head level alignment, on screen viewing compared to your print out makes this proceedure foolproof.

Now you can get started on your own printing needs, hitting the print icon on your browser will bring up a the Lexmark properties box, this is an excellent feature I found and very useful with all the varying settings as follows:

You are firstly asked what you want to do:
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

1.Increase the quality or speed of printouts.
2.Reduce the ink usage whilst printing.
3.Print a photograph.
4.Print a banner.
5.Put on an iron on transfer.
6.Any others.

By selecting any of the above you are given clear guidelines which settings to select, the quality and spe
ed setting is displayed on screen via diagram, this shows the out come of selecting quick, normal, better to best printing settings.


The paper tab allows you to select which size or type of paper or card you are using, be it A4 or a small envelope, and simply select the correct one.
Of course you also set here the number of pages or copies you want it to print of each.

The software included will place a shortcut onto your desktop, here you find the Lexmark Solution centre, click this and you will be given the following choices:

Printer Status
Remaining Ink
Printing Ideas - This shows you how to create envelopes to posters to photographs at the click of a mouse.
Troubleshooting -All included here from paper jams to fuzzy printouts to positioning errors.

Print cartridge - Just in case you forget here you can see a step-by-step cartridge installation.

Advanced - Here you get a direct link to the Lexmark website, several of the sites features I will mention later on, but this also allows you to download the latest software or drivers for this particular model.

So that is the basic printer information and operation but now to its actual performance?

The Lexmark Z13 is capable at printing photo quality at 1200 X 1200 dpi, you can load the paper feeder up with 100 sheets or so it says but from my experience if you put too much in then it ends up dragging in 3 or 4 sheets at a time, so this I do not recommend.

It has a gripper that slides along to ensure that whatever size of paper you use will stay straight and be fed into it correctly, a paper tray at the bottom pulls out and extends to catch your printouts and slides neatly back in when not in use, as does the actual paper feeder, this closes over the printer, acting as a lid, so no more dust or dirt in your machine.

I tested the printer both with text. (Yes I printed my old ciao opinions out!!), plus taxed
it slightly more with a photograph, I found that for text only you will get around 4 or 5 pages a minute, whilst a photograph can take 7 minutes or more depending on size.

Whilst printing a status box appears in the bottom right hand corner, this displays the % done, the remaining ink level and estimated printing time left.

So the end results?.
= = = = = = = = = =
The actual printing quality was brilliant in fact a lot better than my old trusty Epson was, the text is clear and crisp, whilst photographs come out almost true copies apart from a slight colour variation.

However the drawback it seems is the cost of replacement Ink cartridges, these are around £20-24 each and with only using the one you are going to notice the usage rather more.
The annoying thing I found is that on various sites you can purchase them for every other Lexmark model at either discount prices or even as refills or compatible, but not this model, hopefully this is merely as it's the newer one and these will appear shortly.

To run this you will need a processor of 200mhz or more, 64mb of ram and 75mb hard disc space, but it will run on almost any operating system Linux included, its very simple indeed both to set up and to operate with results sure to impress, but wait there's more..
= = = = = = = = = = = =

I did mention earlier that there is a link on the included software for the Website, this is well worth a look as from here not only can you register your printer, buy supplies but also have a bit of fun.

Bored with the drab everyday printer status box, well here you can download varying skins to liven this up; these range from animals to TV.

Or feeling creative, well why not make some card models or cards and lots more, all included step by step on site, plus links to various other similar sites to keep you busy and use all your expensive ink!

Of course there are all the usual thing
s such as technical support, product information and the like to go with it. Visit www.lexmark.co.uk


The printer seems to vary a lot in price Dixon's have it for £49.99 whilst Index had it at £51, but the cheapest one I've seen is www.jungle.com and here you can purchase this for a mere £29.99 inc VAT, for that price you really cannot go wrong.
Of course it also comes with a 12 month guarantee as most items now do.



So to sum up, this is an excellent printer and very cheap but with high capabilities, don't expect large amount of pages per minute but think of the quality instead, it's ideal for light home use and I am actually very pleased I bought it.

Summary: