Lexmark Z23 Color Printer

• Color thermal ink-jet printer
• 1,200 x 1,200 dpi resolution for both black and color prints
• Up to 8 ppm color and 5 ppm black
• USB connectivity
• For both PC and Mac, using a wide range of operating systems

There is a reason why this printer is an added "perk" given to those who are buying an entire computer. Issues dealt with below:

Installation Uncharacteristically clumsy this time around. Perhaps I had a semi-defective CD installation disc but all sorts of installation issues arose.

Alignment process Again, uncharacteristically clumsy. Your "choices" for the best "alignment of the printer cartridges" all basically looked the same (read poor quality).

Cartridge installation Easier installation than previous generations of the Lexmark printer.

Cartridge ink Ink is used up in the cartridge at an alarming rate. If one is a moderate user of the printer then the amount of replacement ink cartridges required would make this printer especially not cost effective.

Sheet feeder With a new unit I had more uneven sheet pulls than should be expected. I also had a couple of mangled pages.

My recommendation is that one should avoid this printer especially is if one expects to do moderate to high volume printing.

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This is a decent low-end inkjet printer. Be warned though, Lexmark does not include the cable to connect this to your USB port. You''ll need a USB-A to USB-B cable to connect. Also, while the printer comes with a color cartridge, you''ll need to add the black cartridge to make your blacks black. Also, you''ll go through a lot less ink with the second cartridge in place. Other than that, it has proven to be worth everything I didn''t pay for it.

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I bought mine for my office at the beginning of the year, in a fit of desperation to get a printer, any printer, as long as it would print something on that day. Living in a small town, my choices were fairly limited. By the time I bought my USB cable and the color printer cartridge, then drove to another store looking for the black ink cartridge, I felt like I hadn''t saved much money.

For plain old black printing, it''s not bad, and the per-page printing rate for normal or draft quality hasn''t bothered me. Eventually, I figure it will make a decent emergency backup printer. My biggest complaint is the astounding rate at which I go through cartridges--... "Reconditioned" cartridges cost less but don''t last as long. Refill kits are messy and run out even more quickly.

Complicating the cartridge situation is the difficulty of finding the black cartridges. You would think that the store where I bought the printer would carry them. Wrong! Neither office supply store that I regularly use carries them either. (Amazon has delivered quite promptly when I''ve ordered here.)

I do appreciate the ink level reminder that pops up every time that I print. Given the speed with which the ink runs out and the difficulty getting a new cartridge the same day, the advance warning is helpful. The cartridges also are quite easy to change. Having to print a new "alignment" sheet and attempt to make adjustments frequently proves a tedious interruption.

Since I wasn''t specifically shopping for a color printer, the ability to print in color was a bonus. Printing good-quality pictures takes quite a while, and the quality isn''t that great. I have noticed that despite the ink-level indicator suggesting that I have plenty of ink, if one color is low, the warning doesn''t let me know. For the most part, I''ve been satisfied with the color printing quality because it suits my purposes: a color-highlighted word or two in handouts that I give to clients and printing photographs of Victorian dresses for my living history research.

The Lexmark''s interface with a specialized software that I use for my business has been frustrating. Despite fiddling with alignment and calling tech support, the Lexmark Z23 continues to cut off the "tails" of certain letters when I print single-spaced Courier. Despite selecting the "print last page first" option, which works just fine in my Word documents, my specialized software continues to print "first page first"--which results in my having to handsort lengthy packets. This same software has never proven difficult with other printers that I have used.

If I could just save some money from the cost of cartridges, perhaps I could afford to buy a real printer!

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I''ve owned this printer for about 1 1/2 years now. The bottom line is that it is expensive junk. The replacement ink cartridges will cost you more than the printer itself, with each running over $30. Unlike other brands, all three colors are in one tank, so if one color runs out you have to spend $30. The cartridges themselves work well for the first couple of printings, then begin to look poorer and poorer, until they finally die an early death.

The software that comes with the printer is useless as well. It allegedly monitors ink levels, but it does not. Running the trouble shooter to align the print heads also does nothing.

All-in-all, I''m going back to Cannon.

The only good thing about the printer is the initial price. Don''t get too happy, cause you will open your bank account for the ink. When you open the box you will find the need for the black ink. After printing a few pages get ready to shell out more money to replce the ink, as this printer goes through it fast. For the amount of inkl it uses the print quality isn''t that great. If you let it sit for a week without use be prepared for the streaking; that doesn''t go away. This was the first Lexmark I owned and I should say it will be the last.