Product Reviews

If we gave awards for 'strangest looking printer', the Z55 would win by a country mile. It looks more like an entrant into Robot Wars than an inkjet, and I fully expected it to have an axe or two hidden away. Disappointingly, it doesn't. Instead, Lexmark concentrates on the weaponry of a modern-day inkjet, with a 3,600x1,200dpi resolution, claimed print speeds of 17ppm and the added bonus of automatic print head alignment.

This last feature is something of a new departure for Lexmark, and the company is promoting it heavily - despite the fact that HP has provided exactly the same feature for some time now. In short, it means you don't need to worry about checking that the different ink colours line up with the black, which avoids problems like pie charts having colours overlap the outline - always a plus.

The other benefit of Lexmark's new system is that it automatically detects the paper you're using and will adjust its printing style accordingly. You just have to choose between Draft, Normal, Better or Best settings, making the whole process painless. There's also an 'I want to' wizard, which guides you through printing photos, envelopes and more.

So when it comes to ease of use, the Z55 can't be faulted. Unfortunately, when it comes to quality of print, it can. Take text, a traditional stronghold of Lexmark printers. Indeed, we're so used to

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sharp edges and minimal bleeding from Lexmark's Z series that the feathery characters produced by the Z55 are slightly shocking. Things improve if you switch to coated paper, but the Canon S300 - priced at £90 compared to the Z55's £93 - is the clear winner here.

We saw a similar pattern when printing graphics, with obvious banding on plain paper that were greatly, but not entirely, reduced on coated paper. The Z55 wouldn't be my first choice for photo printing either. Although images look good from a distance, any sort of close examination reveals the dots that form the photo. This is disappointing, especially as Lexmark boasts about a new and improved print head that's supposed to produce its smallest and most indiscernible dots ever.

But all this could have been forgiven if Lexmark's 17 page per minute claims were proved true. We gave it every chance to shine, dropping the quality down to Draft and printing multiple copies of the same page. Even then it couldn't break the 10ppm barrier. What's more, the results were extremely poor - faded text that was so feathery it was a wonder it didn't fly away. If you want readable text, you'll need the standard settings, which reduces the page rate to just over 5ppm. Worse was to come when we printed out an A4 photo at top resolution on glossy photo paper, as we were forced to wait 14 minutes.

In fact, the only key area in which the Lexmark beats the Canon S300 is running costs. Where the S300 works out at 8.3p per colour page and 5p per mono, the Z55 will cost you a much more reasonable 5.7p and 3.7p respectively. And the cartridges last longer too, which means less nipping back and forth to Staples.

But we could only recommend the Z55 if running costs and ease of use are your absolute top priorities. Print quality is too disappointing, while its speed falls some way short of Lexmark's claims. If you're on a budget, choose the Canon S300; if you can afford it, opt for the S750.