Print quality, print colour, paper feeding, banding, gaps
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
After my trusty Epson finally printed it's last, I took a trip to PC World in order to buy a replacement. After looking over the printers on offer I decided to opt for the Z65 due to it's high specification and special offer reduced price. This was not a wise decision.
The printer itself is cheap and flimsy, although this seems to be a common feature amongst most modern printers. The USB connection and driver setup was simple, and the printer was up and running in no time. In fact, things went very well right up to the point I began to print.
The paper feeder rips sheets of A4 through at such a stupidly high speed that it frequently bends the corners and prints at an angle. Running the printer with less than 10 sheets of paper in the feeder is not an option as it exacerbates the previous problems and frequently causes jams. The actual print detail is good, but ruined by frequent gaps in the black print and occasional colour banding. However, the colour is the largest problem - even prints on photo paper are flat and dull. Skin tones are especially bad, appearing muted and brown. The drivers are the worst I've ever seen, offering virtually no chance to alter the printer settings - you can merely select the quality of your print. There is a single setting for "photo colour" hidden away, but activating it makes no noticeable difference.
On top of this the ink cartridges are extremely expensive and have only an average lifespan.
I really could not recommend this printer to anyone. Everything is shoddy from the build quality to the drivers. The money I spent on my Z65 has been wasted - I am actually going to have to buy another printer to achieve competent results. This is the top of the range Lexmark inkjet printer - I shudder to think what the others must be like...
More details
Reliability
Poor
Design
Satisfactory
Range of extra features / functions
Very poor
Instruction manual
Satisfactory
Manufacturer Support
Satisfactory
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