Lexmark X85

[GeorgeM]

I am considering purchase of a Lexmark X85 combination printer, scanner and copier. I need a scanner to scan some old photographs to supplement the new pictures I am taking with my A40. My question is...is the scanning capability of the Lexmark X85 very good in terms of picture reproduction? The scan resolution is 600 x 1200 DPI. Print resolution is 4800 x 1200 DPI. Will the X85 due justice to reproducing my
old photographs which are mostly smaller than 8 x 10 inches?
Thanks in advance,
George
A40

[tommy_t]

I think the Lexmark X85 prints a good photo. However, its a fortune on the ink.

[mikebegley]

GeorgeM wrote:
I am considering purchase of a Lexmark X85 combination printer, scanner and copier. I need a scanner to scan some old photographs to supplement the new pictures I am taking with my A40. My question is...is the scanning capability of the Lexmark X85 very good in terms of picture reproduction? The scan resolution is 600 x 1200 DPI. Print resolution is 4800 x 1200 DPI. Will the X85 due justice to reproducing my
old photographs which are mostly smaller than 8 x 10 inches?
Thanks in advance,
George
A40

George,

Personally I wold stay away from Lexmark. My company switched over to Lexmark about 3 years ago and it is a bad situation. The quality of the output is OK (not great but OK), but they are SLOW, slower than slow. And their customer service stinks.

To add to that, the sanning capabilities of this unit are really for documents not photos.

Here are some suggestions. I would get 2 units, a printer and a scanner seperate. If you really need to make copies you can scan and then print out multiples.

The price of the Lexmark at Amazon is $149.99 which is low so I don't know what your budget is.

Assuming it is low I would go with:

For the printer the Canon i850 printer which has very high user marks and is fast. The cost at Amazon is $146.99 with free shipping.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006CBDX/mjbdesign-20

For the scanner Epson Perfection 1260 Scanner. 1,200 x 2,400 dpi optical resolution, 9,600 dpi enhanced with
True 48-bit color depth. The cost is only $49.99 with free shipping.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006AMSC/mjbdesign-20

This is only a combined $46.99 more expensive than you were looking at and will give you WAY more for you money.

If you can spend more the i950 which is $222.94 with free shipping is very nice. I have one and it produces unbelievable prints.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008CMUB/mjbdesign-20

And not sure if you will scan negatives or slides but if so the same scanner can be purchases with a transparancy adapter in the lid for $79.99.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006AMSD/mjbdesign-20

I think any combo of these will be good for you.

Just my 2 cents. Hope this helps you.

Good luck with it,
Mike

[GeorgeM]

Mike,
Have to say one of the most informative replies I have read on this forum. Thank you so much for taking the time to put together such a comprehensive review. As it turns out I do have a stand alone printer..an HP 960c..about a year old..which has worked relatively well with my Dell computer..and was thinking of giving this to my girl friend and going with the Lexmark all in one. You have set me straight however. You validated a concern I had about the dilution of function by purchasing a "combined" unit..in this case scanning resolution. Looks like the inexpensive scanner you referenced has superior resolution to the combined Lexmark unit..so I will clearly pursuit that route.
Thanks again Mike for setting me straight and taking the time to put together such a great response.
Best Regards,
George
A40