Lexmark Interpret S405 Wireless N Multifunction Inkjet Printer

• WiFi N provides up to 3x the coverage and faster transfer speeds than wireless G technology.
• Lexmark''s industry leading three year warranty with lifetime technical support provides peace of mind.
• Individual ink cartridges allow customers to replace only the ink that is needed.
• 35 page automatic document feeder easily handles large printing, scanning, copying, and fax jobs.
• Document print speeds of up to 33 ppm; borderless 4"x6" photos in less than 24 seconds

I bought the S405 through Amazon mostly on the basis of favorable reviews here and on other sites where electronic products are reviewed. Buying a printer that was efficient---meaning, didn''t use much---on ink was highly important. In general, manufacturers price printers dirt cheap and then gouge you on replacement ink cartridges. All reviews rated the S405, and other Lexmark printers that use the 100 series cartridges, very highly in this regard. I went to a brick and mortar store and the sales people confirmed the Lexmark was very good in this regard. But, the particular S405 *I* received has been horrible. The cartridges packaged with it were toys---they ran out after just a few sheets of paper. I bought a full set (i.e., one black, 3 color) of cartridges at Office Depot, which set me back around $80, and installed them. These were the "XL" type---they cost more than the regular "L" cartridges but are supposed to be something like 3x more efficient for the difference in price. I expected a set like this to last something like 1/2 year at the rate we print---we use the Lexmark mostly for copying and color printing which we don''t do much of, for regular black and white we use a different (laser) printer. It''s been around one month and the black is nearly empty, all 3 color cartridges are only around 20-25% full, and we''ve only printed a little more than 100 sheets. At this rate, I will spend something like $700-$800 per year on ink, which is insane. I am in discussions with Lexmark technical support and most likely they will send a replacement printer, but first they want to ship me another cartridge and have me try again---as if it''s at all likely that I bought 4 different malfunctioing cartridges at Office Depot! Anyways, the purpose of this review isn''t to complain about Lexmark service, rather just to warn that so far I have no evidence this printer is at all efficient on ink, rather, just the opposite. A couple of other annoying things: when you install cartridges, they don''t seat firmly. Actually, this might be related to my poor ink usage, perhaps this printer has some defect in the shape of the cartridge containers. Anyways, on every other printer I have ever used cartridges snap firmly into a compartment with some sort of spring-type grip and you can hear a distinct click, i.e., there can be no doubt whether a cartridge is seated properly. With this Lexmark you can never tell when a cartridge is properly seated, there is sometimes a click sometime not and it never feels firmly in place. Lastly, we have 5 computers in our house that need to reach the Lexmark wirelessly. So, I had to do 5 installations. Each installation was time consuming---this is *NOT* a printer where you can just "connect" and have the operating system automatically find drivers and set it up, it needs the Lexmark CD and a long procedure. On several of my home computers I had to repeat the procedure 2 to 3 times to get the installation to work. It is tricky, and will fail without obvious cause-and-effect reasons. The computers I installed on ran 3 different Windows systems, XP, Vista and 7, but the failures were spread around, they weren''t all on one type. It simply appears to be hit or miss whether the install will work. By the way, I''ve got a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and 20 years experience in processor design, and so I know my way around these things, if I''m making errors then errors are too easy to make!

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This is my second Lexmark printer. What I like about this, and my previous printer is that it is fairly easy to set up. There are separate buttons for each function, which are fairly easy to use.However There are 2 issues that you need to consider if you are considering this printer 1. The ADF is VERY sensitive, and tricky to use.If you are reading this because you are having a problem, push the paper very very slowly forward. The moment you hear the beep, stop, and push start for the scan to start.

2.It has separate ink cartridges, which sounds great, you don''t have to pay for a whole cartridge if only one colour runs out. BUT if one colour runs out the printer stops working, which means you have to have spares.I found the printing speed very slow too, but for home use that isn''t too serious.I would proceed with caution on this printer. I returned mine this morning, and am trying to decide what to replace it with.

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I bought this printer for it''s wireless capabilities and ease of use and it has separate cartridges which is good. I do not print a lot of useless paper anymore as I have gotten into the habit of saving items as PDF files. Setup was easy and it has worked well so far in the few weeks I have had it.

Now the rub, this printer sucks up more ink than a vacuum cleaner and dust. I do not have 50 pieces of paper run through it yet and the Black ink needs to be replaced and yes these cartridges are ones I bought when I purchased the printer, I think I got about 5 pages from the temp cartridges that came with it. The yellow and blue are below 50% and the magenta is down to 25%. I have been running this printer on quick print. Staples does not carry the larger volume cartridges but at the rate this thing sucks up ink it would make little difference.

To bad Lexmark could not get it right. There is no way to tell how many pages you have run through unless you actually keep track on your own.

As far as recommending this printer to anyone else I would not. I would suggest finding another brand which tells you a basic amount of pages before you need to change cartridges. Maybe one of these days printer companies will get it right and make printers that get good ink mileage and you don''t have to go into debt to buy ink.

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When I tried to clear a paper jam, I found that the S405 does not have a rear door for clearing paper jams. There was no way to get at the paper, which was jammed in the bottom of the S405. I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with a Lexmark technician. He was not successful in resolving the problem. He had to bump the problem up to a more experienced technician, who would get back to me in 24 to 48 hours. About 30 hours later, I returned unit to the store where I purchased it.

I would not buy an S405 until this engineering defect is remedied.

This printer fails on many fronts:

wireless set up does not work with more than one computer in the house (windows 7) even if one of those computers is hard wired to the printer

automatic feed does not work for even one piece of paper

i do not print a lot, and not a lot in color yet it burns through printer cartridges at an extremely high rate

there is absolutely no way to clear a paper jam there is no door giving access

i estimate that 1 out of 10 print jobs will print without issue more often than not there is some message about replacing the cartridge head, or cleaning it, which often results in printning a full page of colored lines with no way to stop it (burning another set of cartridges!).

there is no way to set default to print in B&W

the manufacturer considered the first printer a lemon and replaced it. the issues experienced the ssecond time were identical.