Review: Lexmark Z65n Color Jetprinter

Reviewed By: Kirk Hiner

Review Date: May 19, 2002

Product: Networkable color ink jet printer

Developer: Lexmark

Minimum Requirements: Mac OS 8.6, USB or ethernet port

Specs: See full specs at Lexmark's website

Mac OS X Compatible: Yes (Mac OS X v10.0.3)

Retail Price: $229.99 ($199.99 for Z65 without ethernet)

Availability: Out now

Some people said that it could not be done
Some even said they knew it
But he stood up to what could not be done
And he couldn't bloody do it!

The above quote, as much as I can remember, is the closing stanza of a poem by Benny Hill. I have no idea why it's stuck with me lo these many years, since Benny has unfortunately not been in syndication in my area for about a decade now. But there it is, the poem about the guy who tried the impossible and found it to be impossible.

I was reminded of this poem when I spoke with Lexmark about their new line of color ink jet printers. 4800x1200 dpi, you say? 21 pages per minute, you say? Ethernet, you say? $229.99, you say?

Some people said that it could not be done.

Well, if anyone was up the task, it was Lexmark. Aside from the lackluster X73 PrintCenter, we at Applelinks have been impressed with each of their Jetprinters we've evaluated, namely the Z52 and Z32 Color Jetprinters. Lexmark has quickly developed a reputation for delivering high quality ink jet printers at a reasonable price.

Right out of the box, the Z65n was working hard to earn my respect. Lexmark has finally come up a sharp looking design for its printer models (with colors named polar frost and Nordic night, you know they're serious). Epson and HP are still ahead in this department, but Lexmark is now delivering models that look good sitting beside Macintosh computers. The design is functional as well. The dual paper trays (nice touch for those who regularly print on multiple media types) are easy to access and close up nicely when the printer's not in use, requiring minimal desk space. The ink cartridges are very easy to access; they automatically slide into place when the cover is opened so you don't have to press any buttons. Unfortunately, you don't get the same easy access to the USB and ethernet ports. These are located underneath a lip in the back, making them difficult to reach without turning the printer around. The minimal controls on the printer itself (on/off and a paper feed button for each tray) are easy to access and lit very well without being distracting.

Installation was as simple as can be. I started off in OS X (Lexmark is dedicated to offering OS X compatibility right out of the box), and was able to get everything up and running with a few simple clicks. My only problem is that the installer set the Z65n to be the system's default printer. I would rather it left that alone, or at least ask first.

After the OS X installation was complete, the installer asked me if I wanted to install the Classic drivers as well. Very nice touch. I told it to go ahead, so it launched Classic and performed the installation. The printer was ready to go in both OSes in under fifteen minutes, including set-up time. As with other Lexmark printers (and ink jets in general), set-up is very simple no matter what operating system you're running...for USB connectivity, anyway. It gets a little more complex for a network installation, the instructions being deferred from the set-up sheet to the actual instruction manual. Mon Dieu! The manual! Still, you need only figure out how you want the printer to behave on your network and follow those instructions. Even with networking, the printer will basically install itself.

Now, let's talk about this 4800x1200 dpi. What's impressive here isn't that number, but that you get that number with both color and black ink...no more printing grayscale images with the color ink cartridge just to achieve better results. And the results here, by the way, are fantastic. I've used many low cost ink jet printers in my time, and I have never seen one lay down color so well. The colors are solid, and even all manner of drop shadows appear smooth. The Z65n does a great job of capturing detail. When my wife viewed the Lexmark test page of the peacock, her response was, "The feathers look feathery." That could've been my whole review. I did find that some colors tended to lean a little more to the neutral side; some text I printed in indigo, for instance, appeared gray on paper.

One of my favorite features of Lexmark printers is the relatively quiet print run. The Z65n is no exception; it prints documents at a whisper. However, turning the printer on does produce quite a racket as everything gets in place. Luckily, this doesn't take long. Lexmark printers warm up much more quickly than other ink jets I've used. The Z65n also tends to require less maintenance. The Z52 and X73 models quite often required us to clean the print heads multiple times after not using the printer for a week or so. I've been using the Z65n off and on for a month now, and I haven't had to clean the heads once. I realize this can't go on forever, but it's good to be able to print and get back to work without wasting the time and paper required to clean the printer.

Speaking of time, the Lexmark Z65n boasts 21 pages per minute in black and 15 pages per minute in color. These are extremely optimistic numbers, of course. I was able to achieve them, but only when printing the most basic of documents at the lowest possible quality. For text proofs, this is fine. For photo and color document proofs, forget about it. At that speed, there'll be nothing on the paper worth proofing.

The higher resolutions look amazing, but this comes at a price. Printing a 9 1/2" by 4 3/4" 240 dpi color document out of Photoshop took a little over six minutes on the Better setting. Curiously enough, it took basically the same amount of time on the Best setting. Text prints at a decent clip at higher quality settings, and it looks great. If you use the right paper and the right printer setting, the text generated from the Z65n easily rivals that of laser printers. It doesn't rival the speed or toner longevity, though, so ink jets are still not a low cost solution for people/companies with plenty of documents to print.

Let's talk of longevity for a minute. In an unusual turn of events, the first unit I tested died out on me. I kept getting print dialogue errors stating there was a paper jam, yet no jam existed. I was also told I was out of ink, but the ink cartridges would not move into place to allow me to reinstall new ones. This is where Lexmark's excellent LexExpress™ warranty comes into play. Should your printer suffer the same early fate as mine, Lexmark will get you a new one the next business day. Put the old unit in the new box and ship it back. Simple as that, and you've only been without a printer for 24 hours. This warranty lasts for one full year, so that'll make sure you don't get stuck with a lemon.

My only other concern with the Z65n is the paper feeding. There's a wonderful feature here called Accu-Feed™ that automatically detects the paper type in use and adjusts your print setting accordingly (these can still be set manually, of course). It also claims to eliminate paper jams and multiple page feeds, which it's done just fine so far. It's final claim is that it stops paper skews, but I had some problems with this. Only once did the paper feed in completely out of whack (it still managed to go through), but it quite often fed at a slight angle, perhaps just a few degrees to the right. This only happened with the special paper I used to print CD lable stickers, but it happened consistently. It wasn't enough to ruin the print run, but those seeking pinpoint precision on specialty papers may want to proceed with caution.

And finally, here's a request. The Z65n is a fantastic printer; Lexmark's best color Jetprinter yet. The problems mentioned above are easily outweighed by the quality of the prints and the simple networkability--the fact that I can get ethernet capabilities for only $30 more than the USB-only model still boggles my mind. What I'd like to see now is a PostScript version (at least in emulation). If Lexmark would begin bundling or selling separately a PostScript RIP along the lines of Epson's StylusRIP, they'd have one of the most powerful and functional color ink jet printers on the market.

Some people say that it cannot be done. I have a feeling that none of these people work at Lexmark.

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