Lexmark T 642n > Reviews > A bigger tray but the printer is only ok!

Author's product rating:   

Picture quality	Excellent
Printing speed	Fast
Colour sensitivity	Satisfactory
Ease of use	Easy
Value For Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Fast effficient print quality
Disadvantages:	Too many additional items, expensive toners

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

those of you that have read my opinions on here know that our printer choice at work is limited to a few suppliers thanks to our software house. Yes, they only tend to write a few drivers for printers and those printers are normally cheap to buy buy expensive on consumables.

The same goes for our T642n printers in the office from Lexmark.

REASON FOR PURCHASE

After years of running Lexmark T522s and T610s, we recently replaced our entire fleet with the T64X models. The X stands for either 0 in our T640 range or 2 in our T642n Range. Differences between the 2 are very insignificant to some but not to others. Its basically that the T642 has a 500 Sheet Paper drawer built in as opposed to the 250 Sheet drawer on the T640. Doen not sound much but it means you only have to restock the drawer half as often. We need a good supply of paper in our drawer as it is one of 3 drawers per printer we use of equal capacity. It also needed to have built in network connectivity. We have had enough of the lttle jet direct boxes. These printers come with fully integrated NICs for adding to your office network.

LOOK AND FEEL

Not a bad unit to be honest if only cosmetically enhanced over the last 4 or 5 years. The rounded corners of the old lexmarks seems to have gone and been replaced an angled and sharp look. The warm Beige plastic casings have also gone for a colder-looking grey and graphite look. Weight is still as heavy as ever for a laser printer evewn though it does not ship with many of the functions you would expect.

WHAT I DONT LIKE

What I dont like is paying through the nose for consumables. Unfortunately that is exactly what you do when buying laser toners for Lexmark Printers. Compared to similar toners from Epson, Cannon and HP, the Lexmark toners yield less and cost more per page. OK, initial outlay is cheaper but you will soon end up regretting the consumables if you print loads.
Add to this the additional costs if I want my printer to Duplex. For those of you that dont know, Duplexing is printing on both sides. Most modern Laser printers are able to cope with this internally. The paper is refed through the printer before emerging in the printed bay. The T642, like the T640 cannot do this alone. Instead it requires the purchase of a "duplexing unit" that is roughly the same size again as the printer itself. This makes the operation expensive (buying the duplexer) and requires more space. Quite a pain.
My last dislike is the standard bin capacity. This is the area where the printed material sits when it exits the printer. If it gets too full, the printer will just stop. There is no override for this problem so you often arrive in the morning to a jammed printer halfway through a job. We need to be able to empty our bin somehow while not in the office. Not sure how this can be done!

WHAT I DO LIKE

I like the big improvements on configuration and set up. The LCD screen on the front has been expanded to 3 lines of text as opposed to 2 in the past with a great range of programming functions available on the numeric keypad and directional buttons. ITs made the entire usability of the printer much better. I also like the new USB connectivity on the front which can allow direct printing or connection to a PC.

WHAT THEY FORGOT TO CHANGE

The existing design fault with these printers were their inaccessible ON/OFF switch right on the side. Place 2 of these printers right next to each other and you cannot reach the button. Why did they not put the button at the front. Also the power cord enters these printers at the side which again is a maintenance nightmare when plugging and unplugging.

PRINT QUALITY

You cannot really knock the print quality of this printer. It simply is fantastic. As long as the document has gone right through the fuser unit correctly and sealed the toner, you will be able to produce quick and professional printed documents with ease. Only problem with these printers are the print can become streaky as the toner fades. To make it last longer, take the toner out and give it a good shake. It should get you throug hanother few hundred prints! Dont forget though this is a black toner printer only. No colour here.

PRICE

OK, the printer itself retails around £500-600 with the ability to add an extra 2 x 500 sheet paper bins. A paper bin is around £150 as is the duplexer unit. A high yield toner capable of 30,000 prints is around £179 for a genuine Lexmark unit or around £139 for an after market remanufacturered unit.

RELIABILITY

Not bad for the amount of hammer it takes. These printers are normally in constant use and obviously do from time to time need genuine servicing which the printer is clever enough to remind you of. This all happens via the LCD screen and normally will refuse to print any more until you have it looked at. Many of the problems we have experienced with the printer have come from heavy handed staff breaking parts rather than genuine failures of mechanical items!

OVERALL

Not bad but still has toom many parts not included as standard that you can find as standard in competitor printers.