Solid, high quality color printing is one "must have"
feature for me. As a budding digital photographer, I demand good quality output
from any printer I own. The Lexmark Z52 does not disappoint in this department.
By default, it automatically installs it's own ICM (Intelligent Color Matching)
profile in Windows, saving you the bother of having to tweak your output too
much to achieve good results comparable to screen output. It's output quality on
coated inkjet stock @ 600dpi is very good, and fast enough for good preview
printing. It does subjectively better on non-photo paper here, than the HP
932c. Although I was unable to obtain one of the special "photo" color
cartridges in time for the review, I did several printouts on Kodak glossy photo
paper. Output was stunningly good, approaching the tonal and detail quality of
the Kodak PS4 dye-sublimation printer I have at work. Of course under a
magnifying glass you can obviously tell that one is an inkjet print, and one is
from a dye-sublimation printer. But, you really have to look very hard to try to
criticize the Lexmark's output. Considering the dye sub is $1000+ specialty
printer, I can live with it. Compared to the HP932c, the printout is practically
identical for all intents and purposes, although the 932c prints at 2400x1200 a
little bit slower than the Lexmark. Don't kid yourself however, ANY inkjet
printing at that high of a resolution is going to be slow, and the Lexmark is no
speed demon at that resolution. Still, it *is* faster than the HP932c, and just
a wee bit cheaper.
Consumables costs are probably the only caveat here with
the Lexmark. From cursory examination online, and at the retail level, Lexmark's
print cartridges cost a little bit more than HP and Epson's cartridges for their
competing printers. And stated page yields are higher for the HP's cartridges
(example: 833 pages black at 5% coverage for the HP, verses 600 pages black at
5% coverage for the Lexmark). These numbers probably need to be taken with a big
FAT grain of salt, but at least on per-cartridge prices, the HP 932c has an edge
in the long haul. From stated specifications, the Lexmark totally trashes the
HP 932c in monthly duty cycle ratings. Duty cycle ratings attempt to show the
types of print workload the printer is designed to handle. The Lexmark is rated
at 5,000 pages per month, whilst the HP932c is rated at a much lower 2000 pages
per month. From my examinations of both printers, it's clear that the Lexmark is
geared more towards a volume printing environment than the HP. It's a faster
draft mode printer than the HP, and overall has a more rugged feel, despite the
fact that the Lexmark weighs 4 pounds less!
Overall, the Lexmark Z52 comes off and an ideal
all-in-one workhorse printer. It's a speed demon draft mode workhorse, that
decimates all other inkjets in it's price class in draft mode printing speed.
It's slightly faster than the HP 932c in color, and on glossy photo stock,
produces stunningly good output, on par with the best inkjet printers available
today. For those of you looking for a printer that does everything well, and
need high volume printing, the Lexmark Z52 printer deserves a good look!
Pros:
-
Best in class draft mode printing speeds
-
Very high 5000 page/month duty cycle
-
Stunning photo quality output. On par with the best
inkjets available
-
Clean and crisp text output, on good inkjet stock
paper
Cons
Rating:
8.5/10
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