The Nations Leading Independent Buyers Guides for Office Equipment

Lexmark

Lexmark X644e MFP Lexmark X646dte MFP Laser Print at up to 50ppm Sum-up: High-speed black-and-white enterprise laser MFPs with very user-friendly features.
These two new 50ppm multifunctionals are based on the excellent T644 printer. The X644e MFP and X646dte MFP print at 1,200dpi. Both start with a hefty 256MB of memory, and this can be upgraded to a very generous 768MB. This extended amount of memory may be needed if you use the machine for complex jobs involving PostScript or require digital collation of very large multipage jobs. You can copy at 600dpi resolution, and theres a 50-sheet document feeder along with a flatbed platen that supports up to legal-sized documents. In the scanner department, this model scans at 600dpi black-and-white and 600 x 300dpi in color (even though you cant print in color). It scans easily to PDF, JPEG, and TIFF formats and has an easy-to-use email and fax address book interface. Unlike other comparable mid-level machines, these units platen scanners are fully integrated into the units, meaning quick plug-and-play operation with minimal customer assembly required. Faxing is at 33.6 kbps, and it can scan in color. Incoming faxes can be forwarded to another fax machine, emial, or an FTP site. Connectivity is strong on these models, with standard parallel, USB, and Ethernet on both. Optional Wi-Fi external servers are available as well. The X644e and X646dte start with one 500sheet paper tray and a 100-sheet bypass tray. Beyond that, you have a choice of input options, including a 250-sheet paper tray, a 500sheet paper tray, and a 2,000-sheet large-capacity tray. The maximum configuration is 3,100 sheets. If you get the most economical option (the 32,000-page all-in-one cartridge), you can print pages for around 1.2 cents per page,

Editors Choice Reprint

Lexmark X644e MFP 50ppm laser multifunctional with top features and good ease-of-use. which is quite good. Of these two models, the X644e ($2,499) has optional duplexing. The X646dte ($3,499) has standard duplexing and adds a second 500sheet drawer out of the box. Lexmark has gone out of its way to make these units helpful, practical, and user-friendly. Among their key features are a copier-style CD interface that makes using the X644e and X646dte easier and quicker. It utilizes a Javabased program to enhance scanning, faxing, copying, and email. As we went to press, we were informed of a third model in this family, the X646e MFP, which has a $2,999 street price and comes with a 40GB hard drive, as well as a higher-capacity toner cartridge than the one included with the X644e MFP. These units clearly represent an excellent value for their $2,500 price point. They offer faster print speed than comparably priced models from other companies, as well as a superb user interface and excellent software to help users manage printing, copying, scan-

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ning, and networking functions and maximize the machines usefulness. These are superior multifunctional machines for intense office use in terms of both speed and features. Their generous features and ample computing power ensure theyll give you great value for your money. Theyre such a good value, in fact, that were giving them our Editors Choice Award. Lexmark X850e MFP Laser Prints at up to 35ppm Lexmark X852e MFP Laser Prints at up to 45ppm Lexmark X854e MFP Laser Prints at up to 55ppm
option of adding a high-capacity (2,000 sheet) feeder for 5,100 sheets of total input. On the output side, all three models start with a 500-sheet offset stacker. You can also add a 3,250-sheet finisher that can staple up to 50 pages and features a 2- or 3-hole punch. They also boast a solid duty cycle of 250,000 pages per month, along with an excellent cost per page of.95 cents. Copying is also at 35 pages per minute on the X850e, 45 ppm on the X852e, and 55ppm on the X854e, though copying resolution is limited to 600dpi on all three. A 75-sheet document feeder is standard, along with the platen. Scanning is also at 600dpi for black-and-white, 600 x 300dpi for color, and as with other Lexmark laser models, you can scan directly to PDF files. These can then be attached to emails. The model also supports creating an email address book, and you can use the LDAP protocol to maintain that list across the network. Color scanning is supported as well. This is one of the many Lexmark models that offer a walk-up touch-screen interface, making using the extended functions easy for any user. Faxing at 33.6 kbps is supported. There is, however, no color faxing capability. The X850e, X852e, and X854e have a few enhanced features that affect scanning and security. These include improved authentication and compatibility with some advanced features for Windows Active Directory users. It also includes selectable bit depth for network scanning as well as tabloid-size scanning and an excellent scan preview function. More important is the cost of consumables. The machines 30,000-sheet print cartridge sells for $163 (list), while the 48,000-sheet drum costs $198. That means a cost of about 0.95 cents a page. The combination of high speed, ledger-size format, and well-designed touch-screen interface makes these MFP models good choices. The familys very good paper handling is also a plus. For these reasons, were giving these models our Editors Choice Award. Excerpted from The Printer Multifunctional Guide, volume 182, April 2006. 2006 Progressive Business Publications, Inc.

Sum-up: Ledger-size laser multifunctionals with a rugged duty cycle.
All of the models in this new family of multifunctional laser printers are based on the W840 series of ledger-size printers, which are some of the better buys in their category on the market. The base unit of this family, the X850e MFP ($8,760 street), prints at up to 35ppm, while the X852e MFP ($9,759 street) prints at 45ppm and the X854e MFP ($10,799 street) at 55ppm. They are among the few multifunctionals in this guide that can handle 11" x 17" paper. Like a few other machines from HP and Lexmark, these are serious departmental machines with sophisticated finishing features approaching those of a copier. These MFPs have some very good printing features. The models include:
256MB of memory expandable to 768MB 1,200dpi printing resolution USB, parallel, and Ethernet connections standard with

optional Wi-Fi

An out-of-the-box input capacity of 3,100 sheets with the
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