Lexmark Z55

Lexmark has been a strong player in the colour inkjet market for several years but, although traditionally its strengths have been in building great value printers, the commonly held belief is that the best quality printers do not come from the Lexmark factory. The latest range seeks to dispel that myth.

A brief scan through the specification of the Z55 reveals some very impressive statistics. The maximum print resolution is 3,200 x 1,200dpi which is comfortably higher than printers costing twice as much from other manufacturers.

Impressive resolution is meaningless if the quality of the printed pages isn't up to scratch but happily they showed the Z55 to be a very capable performer. Printed text has always been a Lexmark strong suit and so it remains. Our battery of printer tests showed it to be the equal of any printer we've recently tested at this price.

Images were impressive as well. Prints didn't exhibit any of the graininess that is so often evident in Lexmark printer images and were very impressive for a printer costing less than £100.

One of the reasons for this is the implementation of PrecisionPhoto technology. The idea is similar to that used by other manufacturers, with the droplets of ink being applied to the page in different sizes.

The varied droplet size allows more precise control over the image, and results in sharper textures and finer detail, both of which are vital for printing photographs.

On the downside, the colours in the images weren't quite as vibrant as we'd have liked but the overall effect was excellent. The fact that it was one of the fastest inkjets we've ever seen when printing text was a bonus.

Setting up the Z55 is reasonably simple thanks to the supplied set-up poster although the fact that it has instructions in five languages and for three different operating systems make it a little unclear.

Windows 95, 98 and Me users can connect using the parallel or USB ports but, mysteriously, 2000 and XP users only get the USB option.

Price: £99

Contact: 01628 481 500
www.lexmark.co.uk

Also consider: Hewlett Packard Deskjet 940C
Impressive quality at a good price. £60 *****.

See also:

Canon i320

This i320 is a bargain for low-volume home users.  10 Mar 2003

HP PhotoSmart 7150

Make your prints charming with this photo-quality model.  16 Oct 2002

Epson Stylus Photo 950

The Stylus Photo 950 delivers excellent picture quality but at a hefty price.  25 Jul 2002

Canon S750

A 'photo-quality' inkjet printer at a fair price.  04 Jul 2002

Epson Photo 810

The Stylus Photo 810 boasts photo-quality prints.  04 Mar 2002

Lexmark Z43

Is this cheap photo printer too good to be true?  01 Mar 2002

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