The Lexmark Z1300 is a very inexpensive inkjet printer. In fact, if you consider the cost of a replacement tricolor ink cartridge, the Lexmark Z1300 is either free or very nearly free. Of course, because the Lexmark Z1300 also uses a black ink cartridge, but the package doesn’t include one, the upfront cost is actually higher than you think, at least if you want to achieve the best possible print quality. A tricolor ink cartridge can create a credible black, using cyan, magenta, and yellow, but nothing approaching what you’d get from a black ink cartridge, something that’s particularly noticeable when you print text.
- Low upfront cost.
- Color photo output quality is reasonably good.
- Four-color and six-color printing options.
- Package doesn’t include a black ink cartridge.
- Replacement ink is expensive.
- Text output quality is average to fair.
- No PictBridge or card reader capabilities.
- No output tray.
- Mac and Windows compatible
- 100-sheet input tray
- Optional 6-color printing
- Up to 1200x1200 dpi resolution (monochrome)
- Up to 4800x1200 dpi resolution (color)
- USB 2.0 compatible
- Up to 3000 pages per month
- One-year warranty
When is a bargain not a bargain? When its upkeep costs more than the original purchase. The Lexmark Z1300 isn’t the only inkjet printer (or laser printer, for that matter) that’s guilty of costing more for a set of replacement ink or toner cartridges than you paid for the printer itself. But it may be one of the few that doesn’t offer enough in the way of print quality to be worth the tradeoff. Unless you’re desperate for a printer, and desperately short on cash, you’re probably better off spending more and getting more for your money.
Overall output quality with the Lexmark Z1300 is uneven at best, with text faring the worst on my tests; grayscale and color images doing better, but still below average; and color photos scoring surprisingly well. Black text is average (with a black ink cartridge) at normal font sizes, but quickly tends to jaggedness at smaller font sizes. Fine lines in line art, such as illustrations and maps, are similarly subject to breaking up. Grayscale and color images and photos tend to be grainy, particularly on plain paper, and are subject to banding. Most of these problems disappear on glossy photo paper, however.
One point in the Lexmark Z1300’s favor is that it has the potential to be a six-color printer. Rather than pop a black ink cartridge into the second slot, you could opt for a photo tricolor cartridge instead, and end up with one of the cheapest six-color printers available. It still can’t compare with most other inkjet or photo printers, but if your budget is tight, and your output needs are infrequent, the Lexmark Z1300 may not be a bad tradeoff.
Connectivity is limited to a single USB 2.0 port. The Lexmark Z1300 doesn’t have a PictBridge-compatible USB port or a card reader. It also doesn’t have an output tray. Printed pages exit from a front slot onto your desk or table.
