Lexmark Z43

Lexmark printers are like buses; you wait ages for one to come along, then suddenly you can't move for them. The Z43 is the latest Lexmark printer to arrive, and it succeeds the Z42 as the cheapest model in the range marketed for photo enthusiasts.

Traditionally though, Lexmark printers have struggled to match the photo printing prowess of the market-leading Epsons and HPs, and the Z43 is no exception. Don't get us wrong - it manages adequate prints but they are a long way from the quality of dedicated photo printers, lacking the fine definition of better models. They have only one advantage over these printers and that's price - £99 compared with more than £200 for a quality photo printer.

We got our printer set up, but not without difficulty. We were initially unable to select USB from the menus when setting up the driver software, which was a pain.

On the plus side, there is a metallic voice to let you know when things are going wrong. With its help we were able to rectify the problem later on in our install, but it was far from ideal.

The Z43 has further fleshed out the already ample body of the Z42 and weighs in at a hefty 4.7kg. Its similarity to the Z42 was further confirmed when we saw that both models use the same cartridges. These aren't cheap, at £32 for a colour cartridge and £27 for black.

All in all, the Z43 represents a small but unspectacular improvement on the Z42, the main point being that it's a bit faster, particularly when printing photos. It's a decent all-rounder, producing up to five pages per minute and offers excellent text quality. In fact, the quality of text is pretty close to that of some laser printers we've recently tested, which is no mean achievement for an inkjet.

The Z43's baby sister, the Z33, performs nearly as well as the Z43, costs £20 less and looks cuter. The Z33 is the wise man's Lexmark purchase, as the Z43 simply isn't that much better. Contact
Lexmark: 01628 481500 www.lexmark.co.uk

ALSO CONSIDER

Lexmark Z33
Worth considering for new buyers and upgraders alike.
£79 ****
Reviewed in Computeractive, Issue 89.