Lexmark X9575

By some distance the most expensive printer of the group, the Lexmark X9575 nevertheless goes some way towards justifying the outlay. It's a large device with an automatic document feeder on top and a flat paper tray at its base, and, like the X4875, comes with a set of high yield XL cartridges in the box.

You get the choice of standard USB, 10/100 Ethernet or 802.11g Wi-Fi connections - with Lexmark's thorough setup CD to guide you - as well as a duplex unit for double-sided prints, a 2.4in colour LCD for easy navigation when copying or scanning, an integrated fax unit and a card reader on the front that supports all formats. With a five-year RTB warranty as well, there can be few complaints over the X9575's features.

And the good news is that the printer and scanner perform better than those of the X4875. It churned out normal quality mono text at a decent 8.5ppm, putting it in third place, and managed an acceptable 2.3ppm when we switched to colour documents. But the scanner showed the greater improvement: while certainly not the fastest, it beat its cheaper sibling by 22 seconds on our photo scan, and nine seconds at A4; this translated to quicker copy speeds too.

Photo quality is just as mediocre as the X4875, but text is better, with more definition to character edges and more solid blacks. The scanner is also vastly better than its sibling: it produced our A4 photo scan at a quality behind only the HP in this group, and our 6 x 4in photo scan was almost as sharp and natural as the leaders. Copying was similar to printing, with good text quality, but the scanner couldn't do much to improve the printouts of our copied photos.

All in all the Lexmark is a solid office printer, and its huge array of features is unparalleled in this group. The hefty £120 price tag is a barrier, and it's not the cheapest of printers to run, but the Lexmark wins out in the business stakes as none of the other office models come close to matching its versatility.

Author: David Bayon