Lexmark’s latest multifunction product (MFP) to come to market is its X560n colour laser printer, designed for businesses in the medium to large sized-range with high monthly print volume output.
The X560n features print, copy, fax and scan capabilities and also comes network ready so if required, the printer can also be shared amongst multiple users. The printer requires a sufficient amount of table-top space since it measures 28.7 by 18.1 by 20.67 inches and weighs 88.2 pounds.
Not being so set-up savvy with printers, when I first saw the X560n, I wasn’t sure how easy or hard it would be to get it up and running. Much to my relief, the printer didn’t come with written instructions, but rather all of the instructions were laid out in diagrams. I found the graphics helped because it was easy to see what was to be taken off and what went where by looking at the printer and its corresponding picture instructions.
The only thing that was missing during the set-up was a USB cable to connect the printer to my desktop. Perhaps since the printer’s targeted at medium to large businesses, Lexmark assumes that they have USB printer cables lying around, however, I had to go to our company’s IT department for this in order to complete the installation process.
When it was time to load the toner and ink cartridges, everything was fairly straight-forward since the cartridges are loaded from the front of the printer, which is also colour-coded on the inside to ensure fool-proof loading.
The printer’s display panel also features buttons that select copy, fax and scan jobs with the press of a button. The panel also includes a four-line monochrome LCD display screen that makes it easy for users to view options and print jobs. While the panel also has buttons to wake up the printer, clear, stop and start jobs and also has buttons that let users switch between black and colour print modes, the only thing I didn’t like were the sounds the buttons would make when being pressed. I later realized the button volume could be adjusted; however there are only three volume settings for this, soft, normal or loud. I would have liked to have seen a mute or silent option for this as well.
Paper capacity for the X560n includes a 250-sheet input tray, a 350-sheet output bin in addition to a 150-sheet multipurpose feeder. Lexmark is targeting customers in the medium to large business sized-range who expect to print anywhere between 1,000 and 5,500 pages per month.
Lexmark boasts that its X560n offers business-class performance by printing up to 31 pages per minute (ppm) in black and 20 ppm in colour.
I found the copy and scan capabilities were pretty quick considering the X560n is an MFP. However, the only drawback is the copy bed is only big enough to fit a document that’s slightly larger than an 8.5 by 11 inch sheet of paper. I can see this causing issues if businesses want to copy or scan something bigger than what the printer can physically allow.
Overall as an MFP, I felt Lexmark’s X560n was sufficient in all areas and did what it was designed to do.
Lexmark’s X560n has a MSRP of $1,125 and also comes with a one-year, onsite repair product warranty. Also, for its partners, Lexmark is offering a free Apple iPod touch for every X560n MFP sold. This promotion ends on March 31, 2008 and is limited to one per reseller.
