In the middle of last year, Lexmark had an idea for an entry-level all-in-one printer based on a single-cartridge design.

Using pretty much the same case and mechanics, the company has now introduced a similar machine but with a couple of interesting extras.

The design of the new Lexmark X2470 is conventional. A rather square-cut case with what looks like a chunk cut out of the front has a slim-line A4, flat-bed scanner built into the top, with an inkjet printer engine underneath.

This feeds paper from a near-vertical tray at the rear to a pull-out output tray at the front.

Text print quality is quite a bit better than from Lexmark’s first models using the single-cartridge design. Black text is much darker than the browny-grey of early devices, though still couldn't be called truly black.

Photo prints look very good when we used one of the X2470’s new features - to copy a 15 by 10cm print from the flatbed - it produced noticeable lightening of bright colours and increased speckling, known as 'noise'.

The other new feature is to print images from a digital camera by connecting it directly to the PictBridge socket on the front of X2470. This increases the versatility of the machine, which can now sensibly be used for standalone photo printing.

Lift the whole scanner section and there's access to the cartridge carrier, where a single Lexmark Inkjet Cartridge No 1 cartridge can be inserted

Our calculated page costs came out at around 6.5p for a black text page and around 26p for a 15 by 10cm photo print. Both these costs are comparatively high, even for an entry-level device.

The X2470 is a much better attempt at an inexpensive all-in-one than its predecessor. Print quality has been improved and the extra facilities to connect a PictBridge camera and to copy photo prints are both worthwhile.

However, its relatively high printing costs don't look such good value.

Also consider
Canon Pixma MP 150 [/2145725]
Verdict: At this price, the Pixma MP150 is great value for money, but don’t expect pixel-perfect prints
Rating: 4
Price: £69