Lexmark is a well known developer and manufacturer of printing solutions and products, including laser, inkjet, and dot matrix printers for the office and home markets. The Lexmark Z705 seems to have been specifically created for digital camera users who want to take full-page borderless photo quality prints.

Features
The Z705 is a compact printer, with dimensions of 11.3 x 17.3 x 14.8 inches. It can print up to a resolution of 4800 x 1200 dpi for true photo quality, at speeds of 17 pages per minute (ppm) in black and 10 ppm in colour. On other paper types, it can print at a resolution of 2400 x 1200 dpi. It can load paper from A6 to A4 format, and is compatible with a wide range of operating systems on both PC and Mac computers. An optional photo cartridge can be added, for professional quality prints with better colour and detail.

Package Contents
The printer came with a USB cable, a setup sheet, a power supply with a cord, an online user's guide, Lexmark Photo Center Software, installation software CD (drivers and software), a 20 Colour and a 50 Black print cartridge. The Lexmark Photo Center Software lets you edit, manage and share images.

At the first glance, this printer looks neat, simple, and well organized. There is a paper-loading tray to the back, and two buttons, one for powering the printer on and one for feeding the paper. The printer connects to the PC via the USB port, and it does not have a printer port option. Once unpacked, connected and powered up, the printer takes no time to get up and running. So we connected the printer to our USB port and loaded the drivers from the driver CD, it was simple as that.

Automatic cartridge alignment and paper type sensing, combined with Accu-Feed paper handling technology makes the printer user friendly to even the novice. The installation was hassle free, and the calibration tests got the printer up to shape. The drivers are very helpful, and offer a high level of customization, while keeping it simple and easy to understand. The drivers can sense the type of paper that you have fed, and change the quality accordingly. There's no chance of human error this way.

Print Tests
We ran a series of tests to test printer resolution, sharpness, reproduction and photo printing quality, text readability and sharpness, and print speeds. We started off with the colour photo print test; the printer does a fine job but at close scrutiny, the quality of the printout was a little granular. This printer uses two cartridges, whereas HP printers tend to have three different cartridges, with a separate cartridge for photo printing. On closer inspection we could see dots and patterns. In the black and white pattern tests, there was quite a bit of smudging at places. In the multi-sized font test the printer could do a legible print till the 2-point font. The 1-point font could not be read, and all the letters looked generic after a point. At the speed tests, the Z705 managed to print at the rate of 11 ppm, this was up to manufacturing specification, considering that the page had colour in it. Through all the tests this printer was pretty silent.

Conclusion
With good looks and decent print quality, this printer makes an ideal SOHO or a mid-ranged home printer. Ideal for digital camera users, the printer is available at the street price of Rs. 4,499.

Test Unit Sourced From: Lexmark International (India) Pvt Ltd Mumbai.