Lexmark OfficeEdge Pro 4000 review

Lexmark’s OfficeEdge Pro 4000, while quite large, is very sleek, with lots of blue LEDs and a clear and readable screen. It certainly won’t mess up your classroom.

The OfficeEdge Pro 4000 is very fast. It took just 17 seconds to print our A4 photo at its highest quality settings, while a page of mixed text and graphics arrived in nine seconds. Text documents take just four seconds for the first page to emerge, with subsequent pages coming through at speeds of 15.4ppm. If immediacy is a major requirement, this is the printer for you.

What’s most impressive is that this performance comes with no compromise on quality. Printed photos look superb, with more detail and richer colours than other printers in this test achieved in over a minute. Text is dark and well defined, and graphics look crisp and punchy. Scans also look good, with sharp images and minimal grain, and you can scan an A4 photograph at 600dpi in just six seconds.

The first thing you notice about the Lexmark is just how long it takes to set it up. Obviously you have to do this only once, but when all you want to do is print a document, and a countdown on the printer screen says you have to wait 12 minutes till you can use it, it seems a bit excessive. Still, the process is very simple, with the software handling all the hard work, and you can opt for USB, Ethernet or 802.11n Wi-Fi connections. In our tests these all worked well, and with no problems in communication.

The Lexmark has a 350-sheet input tray, so if you have to share the printer you won’t have to spend much time refilling it. It also features duplex printing, which is surprisingly speedy and quiet. Print costs could be a little more competitive: 4.02p for a colour page isn’t bad, but 1.08p for a black-and-white page is a little high, and that’s with high-capacity cartridges.

The OfficeEdge Pro 4000 is quick, good-looking and reliable, and the only thing that counts against it is that HP’s OfficeJet Pro 8600 Plus is slightly cheaper and more economical to run.

Author: Ian Marks