Lexmark E321

Lexmark's predecessor to the E321 was a nice-looking device let down by a high price tag and high running costs.

The E321 is £71 cheaper than its E320 sibling and looks almost identical, apart from an extra function button and a striking black exterior.

It's quicker than its predecessor too, churning out 19 pages of black text per minute: only one page short of Lexmark's quoted speed of 20ppm. Two paper trays allow two paper types to be loaded simultaneously, such as A4 paper and envelopes.

Despite being quite a chunky printer, it's well designed. Printed documents come out the top of the unit, so no extruding output trays occupy valuable desk space.

Print quality is crisp but, because this is a monochrome laser printer, photo reproduction is poor.

Images can be printed but they are very grainy and much detail is lost, making this is an excellent accessory to, rather than a replacement for, a colour inkjet printer.

USB and parallel ports are available and the replacement toner is simple to replace. The printer drivers are also very clear, with options for most printing procedures.

A replacement toner capable of printing 3,000 pages costs £65, making the cost per page as little as 2p.

All in all, the E321 improves on the previous model in every way.

Contact: Lexmark 0870 444 0044
www.lexmark.co.uk