Lexmark X6150

Multi-function devices have often looked like home DIY projects that combine a printer with a scanner, with little thought to design. With its X6150, Lexmark has put a lot more work in at the drawing board stage and given us a sleek all-in-one.

Metallic grey in colour, the X6150 looks great and is fairly compact compared with most multi-function devices so it won't take up much space on your desk. It's also been well designed - the scanner lid can be lifted off for scanning bulky documents and while the paper tray feels a little flimsy it does hold 50 sheets.

The well-designed control panel has several one-step buttons so without much trouble you can copy, scan and fax documents with a single key press.

With each of these modes there are further control options including selecting the number of copies, enlarging documents and choosing colour or black and white prints.

As the X6150 connects directly to your phone line, there is also a numeric keypad so you can fax without having to power your PC up.

To make the most out of the device you really need to hook it up to a PC via a USB port. Once all of the software is installed, each component of the X6150 - fax, printer and scanner - can be used individually.

In our tests, it took slightly less than 13 seconds to scan an A4 image at a resolution of 300dpi. This is pretty much what we'd expect from a modern scanner. The same can be said of the printer, which can print text at a rate of just under 7ppm. The quality was also good.

Printing an A4 colour photo took a lot longer at 105 seconds, which is still on par with other printers. We found that the X6150 produced rich colours, although we did notice some slight banding. There's no option for borderless printingeither so the X6150 is unlikely to suffice if you're into digital photography.

For a Jack of all trades that looks great and doesn't take up much desk space though, the X6150 is a good choice.

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