HP TouchSmart. Touch the future now.Lexmark Z1420
Manufacturer: Lexmark Part number: 10M0900
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- With its built-in wireless capability, the Lexmark Z1420 looks like a bargain until you see the prints it outputs. If you value print quality, look elsewhere.
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Where to buy
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CNET editors' review
Lexmark Z1420 price range: $59.99 - $82.70
- Reviewed by: Felisa Yang
- Edited by: Matthew Elliott
- Reviewed on: 05/30/2007
- Released on: 04/17/2007
The good: Wireless-ready; fast prints; inexpensive.
The bad: Print quality needs a lot of improvement; bundled software has weird limitations.
The bottom line: With its built-in wireless capability, the Lexmark Z1420 looks like a bargain until you see the prints it outputs. If you value print quality, look elsewhere.
The Lexmark Z1420 is a basic and inexpensive inkjet printer designed for home users who need to make only occasional prints. The key feature of this $80 printer is its ability to print wirelessly out of the box; that's a surprising feature for an entry-level inkjet and a boon for homes with multiple users. It prints quickly for a machine in this price range but sacrifices print quality in the process. If the wireless capability is paramount and you can live without great print quality, the Lexmark Z1420 is the printer for you. If you want to print good-looking holiday cards or newsletters, however, you're better off with a machine like the $50 Canon Pixma iP1800. Keep in mind that you can network a USB printer like the Pixma iP1800 with a print server or a router with a built-in print server, though your overall cost will be more than $80.
Design
The Lexmark Z1420 employs a basic design. The white-and-gray printer is boxy, yet not unattractive in its simplicity. It measures 18.1 inches wide, 7.8 inches deep, and just 4.8 inches tall, and weighs a mere 5.7 pounds. The paper input support juts up from the rear edge of the printer and holds up to 100 sheets of regular paper. A translucent, dark gray shield sits in front of the input area, preventing random objects (such as pens or paper clips) from falling into the paper input area--it's a small, but well-considered, touch. The output tray slides out from the front of the printer.
The Z1420 uses a two-cartridge system--one black and one tricolor cartridge--which is standard-issue at this price. When printing photos, you can swap out the black tank for a tricolor photo cartridge, which gives you six-color photo prints. Lexmark's site offers three tiers of pricing: regular, high-yield, and a return program option. The regular black cartridge costs $26 (215 pages), the return program version costs $22, and the high-yield cartridge costs $30 (500 pages). The regular color cartridge costs $24 (185 pages), the return yield version costs $20, and the high-yield one costs $25 (500 pages). The optional photo cartridge will set you back $25. Using the high-yield cartridges, the per-page costs should be about 6 cents for black and 11 cents for color--both numbers are reasonable for a low-cost inkjet printer.
Features
The Z1420 is a basic, single-function printer, so there isn't much to speak of when it comes to features. It does, however, include built-in 802.11g/b wireless capability, unheard of in an $80 printer. During the printer installation routine, you can opt to set up the printer on your wireless network--it's easy to do. A Wi-Fi icon on the front of the printer alerts you to its status.
The bundled Lexmark Imaging Studio software is useful for basic tasks, but it falls short with creative projects. Your main options are to view/print photos from your PC (individually or in packages a la grade school photos), view the photos as a slide show, make poster prints, or make photo greeting cards. The first three options work as you'd expect. When making prints, you simply select a photo, indicate the size you want printed, and how many prints. For layouts, the process is much the same. Creating a slide show is as simple as dragging and dropping photos into the work field and clicking "view slide show." You can even save slide shows for later viewing.
When it comes to creating greeting cards, however, the options are oddly limited. You can select from a number of layouts and themes: each card has a background image that dominates the print field. Then, you get a blank photo field into which you can add one of your photos and a text field. Sadly, you can't set one of your photos as the main background, nor can you change the size and shape of the text and photo boxes. So you're limited to greeting cards such as a picture of your dog in a garden...that's not yours. Odd.
Performance
The Lexmark Z1420 was a tiny bit faster than the slightly cheaper competition (at least some of the $30 price difference can be accounted for by the wireless capability, we think). It printed black text at a rate of 6.68 pages per minute, faster than the Canon iP1800's 5.82ppm. It tied the Canon, however, in 4x6 photo prints with a score of 0.72ppm.
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Unhappily, the speed comes at the expense of print quality. Both color and black text were beset by obvious flaws: nearly none of the characters showed clean edges, and italicized text looked shrouded by shadow. Color graphics didn't fare much better--colors were faded, even with a fresh ink cartridge; barcode-style graphics were rendered an unscannable blur, and everything was marred by faint, but obvious, horizontal bands and striations. The 4x6 photo prints showed decent color, but details should be sharper, and the entire image was distractingly grainy.
We realize this is a low-end $80 printer (with wireless, no less), so it's hard to judge print quality too harshly, but on the other hand, the $50 Canon Pixma iP1800 did a much better job with prints. If you only print the occasional directions and maps for yourself, the Z1420 is fine, but we don't think it's good enough for attractive holiday newsletters or other graphics-laden tasks.
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Service and support
Lexmark backs the Z1420 with a one-year warranty. Free, toll-free phone support is available on weekdays from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. PT for the length of the warranty. Lexmark's Web site includes a knowledge base, downloadable drivers, and a resource center to help get you started on new printing projects.
User reviews
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Handsome inexpensive wireless printer
by rwvandiest on August 16, 2007
Pros: Great looking, fast, inexpensive, wireless, good color printing
Cons: Instructions for ad hoc wireles setup not clear
Summary: If Apple came out with a printer, it would look like the Lexmark Z1420. It is gorgeous!
This is the least expensive wireless printer on the market.
I have a ...Summary: If Apple came out with a printer, it would look like the Lexmark Z1420. It is gorgeous!
This is the least expensive wireless printer on the market.
I have a small space and use a laptop as a desktop replacement and got sick and tired of wires sticking out everywhere. I use a Sprint mobile broadband card for the Internet (no wires, no router). So, I had to setup an ad hoc wireless connection ( computer direct to printer). I had to call Lexmark for help. The wait time was less than five minutes and I actually got somebody on the phone who knew his stuff (Try that with that HP hellhole in India).
I printed the "Desert Landscape" picture from Vista Pictures on 8 1/2x11" cheap paper. Detail and color reproduction were excellent. I suspect good enough for simple brochures. CNET may possibly be right not to use the Z1420 as a family picture printer, but "hey" I send my pictures off; why bother, especially with all my misprints?
I compared the black print with that from two HP Printers and the HP's was indeed better, but I had to get a magnifying glass out to see the difference. I would not hesitate to print my resume with this printer, but I would probably not try to print the bible with it.
All in all this is a winner!2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Crayons Are Better Than This
by potasnik on March 31, 2008
Pros: Small enough that you won't get tired when you have to ship it back.
Cons: Breaks down more than a mourner at a funeral.
Summary: I have had four (4) Lexmark z1420 printers. Two were replaced because the plastic cartridge guide came off and it can't be fixed, and two because the wi-fi did ...
Summary: I have had four (4) Lexmark z1420 printers. Two were replaced because the plastic cartridge guide came off and it can't be fixed, and two because the wi-fi did not work. I am awaiting delivery of #4's replacement. This has been since October, 2007! Incredible. They have very good customer service - real friendly and everything. But beware...if you buy this printer, put their customer service number on speed dial. I have bought printers since 1983, and this is by far the least reliable one I've owned.
Also, the printer fails to communicate with the computer every once in a while. It is no biggie for me until my wife starts giving me the hairy eyeball about not being to print out something.
I bought this because our new computer is totally wireless and I wanted the printer to be as well. I think I'd opt for a wired printer if I knew from the start that life would take such a reckless turn. Just remember...I told you so!1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Received 2 defective printers; one defective cartridge
by JenEllis on March 10, 2008
Pros: Not much; clean, sleek look; flat top surface
Cons: 2 Defective printers shipped to me; defective cartridge
Summary: The first printer I received did not have a working internal wireless card. After a few minutes on hold with Tech Support, the rep decided to send me a second ...
Summary: The first printer I received did not have a working internal wireless card. After a few minutes on hold with Tech Support, the rep decided to send me a second Z1420. What are the chances that the second one would be defective? Well, I hit the jackpot on that one! Another DUD! The second tech support rep said they "understood that this is a great inconvenience to you" so they would send me an "upgraded printer".
Later I discovered that one of the black print cartridges was defective. 3 out of 4 worked. Is that acceptable to you?
I just saw the email, and, indeed an "All-in-One" is on its way to me. Unfortunately, it is not WIRELESS! That is the feature I wanted. I don't need another scanner. Now I'll have to pay an additional $50 for a wireless adapter. So, now I will have paid $125. Maybe I would have bought a different scanner for $125.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Nice printer
by ladydi1davis on February 9, 2009
Pros: I like the wireless, we have 3 laptops in our home and my 14 yrs in in high school, he can print off his school reports without having to hook his laptop to a printer
Cons: I don't have any
Summary: Great printer, well worth the money. It fits into all our family needs
Summary: Great printer, well worth the money. It fits into all our family needs
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Do not buy this printer.
by ilangford on November 19, 2008
Pros: Quirky at best; but being the first cheap wireless printer you have to expect that.
Cons: The Z1420 will only work with new Genuine Lexmark replacement cartridges and it is down right dishonest for Lexmark to say "we recommend using genuine Lexmark cartridges for highest..." because only NEW Genuine Lexmark cartridges will work!
Summary: Don't buy unless you like paying $25 per cartridge that only gets about 20 pages of printing before it runs out of ink. This printer may only cost you $...
Summary: Don't buy unless you like paying $25 per cartridge that only gets about 20 pages of printing before it runs out of ink. This printer may only cost you $75, but you will quickly find your self spending that every 2 months in cartridge replacements.
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Outstanding WI-FI Printer
by overdrive4444 on November 13, 2007
Pros: Product quality is a 10, color print quality is a 10, ease of set-up is a 10, price is a 10
Cons: None, none at all
Summary: I wanted to go wireless printing on my network. I purchased a D-Link wireless print server, it was a nightmare, I could not get it to work, tech support could ...
Summary: I wanted to go wireless printing on my network. I purchased a D-Link wireless print server, it was a nightmare, I could not get it to work, tech support could not get it to work. I paid $80 for the server because I already had 3 printers (all of which were supposed to be compatable with the server and my operating system) and did not want to buy another printer. Then I found the Lexmark Z1420 for $80, the same price as the server, I said what the hell let's give it a try. Here is what happened. The set-up was a snap, I was up and running in ten minutes, the quality in all respects was far superior to my other 3 printers, 2 HP's and a cannon. If you want to go to wireless printing, buy this printer it is a dream.
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EASY setup; wireless easy; prints nicely; good value.
by eelsema on September 30, 2007
Pros: Great bang for your buck --easy to use --nice quality
Cons: could be faster...
Summary: if you have your shared key and the printer's mac address -- assuming you have a secure wireless conection-- setup was easy. added printer to mac accepted list, supplied ...
Summary: if you have your shared key and the printer's mac address -- assuming you have a secure wireless conection-- setup was easy. added printer to mac accepted list, supplied passsword and got a coke while the setup program did the rest. Adding printer to my laptop was even easier once it was already on network! Prints great from poolside! only con is that it's not the fastest printer available, but the price and wireless connectivity along with the nice quality printing makes it a good value.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Lexmark
- Part number: 10M0900
- Bottom Line: With its built-in wireless capability, the Lexmark Z1420 looks like a bargain until you see the prints it outputs. If you value print quality, look elsewhere.
CNET Labs' Benchmarks
- CNET Labs Photo Speed Test (pages per minute) 0.72
- CNET Labs Presentation Speed Test (pages per minute) 1.2
- CNET Labs Printer Graphics Speed Test (pages per minute) 0.99
- CNET Labs Text Speed Test (pages per minute) 6.68
Manufacturer info
- Lexmark
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Lexmark products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.lexmark.com/
- Address:
740 New Circle Rd. NW
Lexington, KY 40511 - Phone: 800/539-6275
- Email: CorpComm@lexmark.com
