Lexmark X5150

Lexmark has made real inroads into the all-in-one market over the past six months. The X5150 is more high end than previous offerings, using the printing and scanning technology from Lexmark's latest standalone devices, offering 4,800 x 1,200 dots per inch (dpi) on photos, and 48bit scanning.

The latter is a bit of a mystery though as, while the CIS sensor inputs at 48bit, the output image is 24bit. Even though only a few programs, like the Photoshops of this world, can handle 48bit images, we're not sure why there isn't an option to output as 48bit.

The nippily-produced 300dpi scans are pretty decent anyway, though ours were a little pale and seemed to be lacking in the blue tones.

Photo print quality is up there with the best all-in-ones, and would give some standalones a run for their money as well - we really struggled to find fault with the output. It's also one of the fastest in its class, taking roughly three minutes per page.

Text was less impressive, as it was a little smudged and poorly defined, but it is reasonably fast, if a lot less than the quoted 19 pages per minute (ppm), at 6.5ppm.

When we ran a 200dpi scan through the copy function at the default settings the output was pretty poor, especially with text - the settings definitely needed a tweak before we got a decent copy.

Average looking, this device is simple to use, with all the functions you will require on the right hand side. The cartridges are also easy to access, though running costs are quite high.

The driver interface is a great improvement over those of previous Lexmark devices, as it's very easy to use. However, the options are very limited, particularly the scan and print resolution options.

The Lexmark X5150 isn't perfect, but at £170 it really is a superb value and easy-to-use all-in-one, with photo-quality prints and fast output times.

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

Specifications:

• 4,800 x 2,400 print resolution, 600 x 2,400dpi 48bit scanning
• Thermal inkjet printing CIS scanning
• Up to 19ppm mono and 14ppm colour print speed
• 6.6kg
• 469 x 395 x 240mm (w x d x h)
• Compatible with Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP and Mac OS 9.2/10.1
• USB2 connection