Lexmark Optra E312 10PPM 600X600DPI 4MB Par USB PSl2 PCl6

• Robust duty cycle
• Sturdy, compact, performs reliably in any environment
• 67 MHz processor and expandable memory
• Speedy, 10-ppm printing and 15 seconds to first print
• Quality, 1,200-dpi resolution

When my old Brother laser printer died, I replaced it with a $99 Epson color inkjet. It''s a cute little printer but its paper feeder is not very well designed and it drinks ink like there''s no tomorrow. For $99 I got a printer that has cost me about $50 every two months in new ink cartridges. It was definitely time for a new workhorse printer, and after considerable research I settled on the Lexmark Optra E312. Its little brother, the E312L, is about $120 cheaper but lacks PostScript, and the other printers in the Optra E312 price range, such as the HP 1100, seem to be designed only for MS Windows. Since I run both Windows and Linux in my home office I needed something that was a little more flexible.

When I opened the box and lifted out the printer, I thought something was wrong; it was too light! Maybe they left the mechanism out? But no, nothing was wrong. After removing the shipping tape, I took the ink cartridge with its simple install diagrams printed right on top, pulled out the toner seal and inserted it into the printer. I plugged the E312 in and inserted the USB cable and hit the operator button to get a test page, which came out beautifully. This whole process took maybe five minutes.

Since Linux was running, I ran the Gnome print queue tool, which is an easy Windows-like dialogue box, and added the Lexmark as a postscript printer. I then printed a test page from the dialogue box and a web page from Opera browser. Both worked perfectly. The Linux setup was all of five minutes.

I next rebooted to Windows ME, inserted the CD-ROM, and let it rip. This process was a bit slower than Linux and included an automatic download of the latest drivers from the Lexmark web site. After persuading Windows to stop trying to reinstall the printer every time I rebooted, I finally had everything working in both operating systems.

What else can I say about this printer? It is fast and quiet and handles everything I''ve thrown at it with equal competence: web pages, Finale music scores, Microsoft Word documents. Its toner cartridge is rated for thousands of pages, its Postscript and PCL compatibility allow it to handle any kind of graphics and text, and its user interface is simple. This is what a small office printer should be like. The molded icons on the sheet feeders remind the user which way the paper should face, it''s got two separate feeders with variable width adjustable trays for envelopes and other items, and an extra straight paper path for heavier paper.

My only complaint so far is the paltry 4M of memory that comes by default; heavy graphics jobs will require more memory, and Lexmark charges top dollar for memory upgrades, but one can add up to 64M if needed. A 16M upgrade costs $150 from Lexmark, but I''ve heard on the internet that you should be able to use a standard 72-pin SIMM which would be maybe one third or one fourth the price.

All in all this is a fine example of how to do things right: a well engineered, well documented machine that is almost effortless to set up and use. Lexmark got it right with this one.

12-4-2005 Revision

All of the above continues to be true with one major exception: the paper handling is flawed. When the printer started sucking 2, 3, or even 10 pages through at a time, I thought it was something I was doing wrong, but repeated calls to technical support did nothing to fix the problem ("riffle the paper, use only clean new paper", etc.). Therefore I must say that Lexmark''s Optra E312 has a flaw. Since the printer is discontinued one can only hope that later models don''t have this problem, but I am probably not going to get another Lexmark to find out.

Buy Lexmark Optra E312 10PPM 600X600DPI 4MB Par USB PSl2 PCl6 Now

When my 8 year old workhorse of a Lexmark printer, production of which had been discontinued long ago, finally died of hard work, I was left with several unused ink cartridges for it that I couldn''t do anything with. So I figured I''d try my luck and buy a used Lexmark and hope for the best. I was pleasantly surprised by the result. The used printer was shipped promptly and works a treat. It was a great investment. I''m very pleased!

Read Best Reviews of Lexmark Optra E312 10PPM 600X600DPI 4MB Par USB PSl2 PCl6 Here

I have had this printer for about a year now, and

find it to be a very good buy and a durable little

printer.

It is especially nice that it does both pcl and postscript.

There probably is a newer version of this now, but I

haven''t really keep up with these lately.

Want Lexmark Optra E312 10PPM 600X600DPI 4MB Par USB PSl2 PCl6 Discount?

My department placed about 15 of these and the earlier E310 model on user''s desks over the past 9 months or so. We''ve been very happy with them thus far. Our goal was to displace as many inkjets in the department as possible (inkjets cost a small fortune on a per page basis) and the E312 has been excellent in this role.

Since this printer''s "little brother", the E210 came out, we have standardized on it. It is a bit cheaper and is actually rated slightly faster at 12ppm. The E210 also seems a bit smaller if desktop space is a concern.

I have owned this little printer since 2001(ish). To date, I have used it for low volume printing (eg. 1 batch per month in recent months though it used to print large 500+ volumes early on), and it has never failed me. I''ve never had to replace any components on it (no ink cartridges, toner, etc.). It has been connected to multiple generations of Linux, Windows, and MacOSX computers in my household during that time period with no problems whatsoever. The printer is solid, and I would definitely recommend this little guy for anybody who works from home, or is looking for a reliable printer that you won''t have to replace ink cartridges every year.

Be sure to use the recommended heavy paper. If not, the printer will struggle somewhat and sometimes end up with a clog. If you use the recommended paper weight, you will have no problems whatsoever.