Design
These days, many consumer products look like they come from the iPod school of design -- simple, streamlined and white. The Lexmark Z1420 is no exception. Although it won't be mistaken for the infamous MP3 player, this photo printer definitely wouldn't look out of place in an Apple showroom.
Its glossy white body is accented with grey ends which match the paper input and output trays. Minimal branding sees the Lexmark logo printed across the top, and embossed on each end of the printer. A lone power button sits to the right of the paper tray while a small badge boasting Wi-Fi functionality adorns the front.
The rectangular unit measures 120.6mm high, 459mm wide, 198.5mm deep and weighs a light 2.61 kilograms. While the size and heft of the Z1420 make it easy to move or carry, the build quality is rather cheap and plasticky -- we don't think it would take well to much knocking around.
Features
Built-in wireless capability is definitely the selling point of the Z1420. The printer supports 802.11g/b wireless standards, and can easily be set up to run on your wireless network. It is also possible to connect the printer using the included USB cable. However, if you're not interested in Wi-Fi, there isn't much reason to choose this model. It's a very basic inkjet printer.
The Z1420 employs a two-cartridge ink system, one black and one tricolour. For photo prints, the black tank can be swapped for a tricolour photo cartridge to increase the output to six colours. Lexmark offers high yield ink cartridges to maximise your cost-per-page.
Bundled software comes in the form of Lexmark Imaging Studio which lets you crop, rotate and resize images, as well as perform colour correction and remove red-eye from photos. The Lexmark Toolbar can be installed to simplify printing direct from online sources, however we're not particularly keen on adding toolbars to our browser when Firefox handles the job just fine.
Performance
Setting up the Lexmark Z1420 was a simple, straightforward process. In our tests, it achieved fast print speeds over the wireless connection as well as via USB. While we were pleased with the ease of use and speedy output times, we were let down by the print quality. Colours weren't as saturated as we expected and often black text didn't look as sharp as it should.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Text speed |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Performance graphs courtesy of CNET.com
Although we didn't expect too much from a printer with its price, there are cheaper offerings available which produce better quality prints. Put simply, you're paying for the stylish design and freedom of a wireless device that fares alright for printing personal documents and occasional images, but it doesn't inspire us to hang our photo prints on the wall.
The Z1420 includes a one-year replacement warranty. Technical support is available via e-mail and telephone, although hours are not specified. Lexmark's Web site offers drivers, downloads and a knowledge base for a wide selection of printers across its ranges, however at the time of writing these had not been updated to include the Z1420.
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