Lexmark E330 Brochure

Buyer’s Guides for Office Equipment © 2005 Better Buys for Business allows both print and electronic reproduction of this document. Better Buys for Business is the leading independent buyer’s guide to office equipment. Our mission is to help buyers of copiers, printers, fax machines, scanners, and duplicators make smarter purchasing decisions. To learn more about Better Buys for Business, including subscription information on independent guide ratings for all vendor models, contact us: 800 247 2185 www.BetterBuys.com Editor’s Choice Reprint Lexmark 2005 EDITOR’S CHOICE EDITOR’S Better Buys for Business CHOICE 2005 Lexmark E330 Lexmark E332n Lexmark E332tn 27ppm Sum-up: The Mercedes of personal/small- workgroup printers. Lexmark’s E-series printers are its entry-level models, but the level of entry keeps going up. A few years ago, a 25ppm printer was sold by Lexmark as a heavy-duty office workgroup printer. Now comes these models that are meant for either personal desktop use or for sharing by a few office mates, and it runs at 27ppm. Like the E232, these are very attrac- tive-looking machines. With sleek black styl- ing, compact size, and low noise levels, they are among the few printers on the market that could win design awards. And in many ways, they are similar to the E232. However, for the added price you get a nice upgrade in fea- tures. The basic engine is the same as the E232’s. There’s a 200MHz processor and print reso- lution is 1,200dpi (600dpi on the E330). A 250- sheet paper tray and a single-sheet bypass (for nonstandard materials such as card stock and transparencies) can be supplemented with an optional 550-sheet paper drawer. That 550-sheet output drawer is standard on the E332tn. Output is limited to 150 sheets, with a single-sheet exit for the bypass. USB connections are standard, and an ex- ternal Ethernet server is optional on the E330, standard on the two E332 models. Wi-Fi con- nectivity is an option on all the models. All three models start with 32MB of memory, expandable to 160MB. All offer PCL and PostScript standard. The duty cycle is rated at 15,000 pages per month. These models have a lower cost per page than the E232. Our estimate, based on the low- est Lexmark prices, is around 2.2 cents, if you use the larger toner cartridge. This is not great, but typical for a personal/small workgroup printer. In many ways, these personal/small workgroup printers are unique. It’s not only their 27ppm speed, but their affordability as well. Comparable printers like the 25ppm Samsung ML-2550 family and Brother HL- 6050 family can claim a cost per page (1.5 cents for the Samsung models) and more to- tal paper capacity (1,100 sheets for both), but they are both priced higher than the corre- sponding Lexmark models. The 25ppm Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 2300 family is signifi- cantly more expensive and has lower paper capacity, but at a slightly better price per page. Be aware that this product family was re- called in 2004. Apparently, Lexmark discov- ered a shock risk that could occur if you (foolishly) plugged the three-pronged (grounded) plug into a two-pronged (un- grounded) socket. Lexmark was obliged to fix the problem with existing users just in case, and so it had a recall. Those currently on the market are deemed in compliance. There is no cause for concern at this point. We applaud these stylish, speedy, and quiet machines. It’s astonishing how the company has raised the bar on desktop printing. The E330/E332 models get our Editor’s Choice Award. Lexmark E330 — Sharp-looking and fast, this model makes a great personal printer.

No Advertising. No Bias. No Compromise. Excerpted from The Office Laser Printer Guide, volume 170, January 2005. © 2005 Progressive Business Publications, Inc. No Advertising. No Bias. No Compromise. No Advertising. No Bias. No Compromise. Better Buys for Business is the nation’s leading independent authority on document imaging equipment (copiers, printers, faxes, scanners and duplicators). To assure its independence, Better Buys for Business accepts no advertising. Need more information? For subscription information on independent guide ratings for all vendor models, please call 800 247 2185, visit us at www.BetterBuys.com or mail at 370 Technology Drive, Malvern, PA 19355. Better Buys for Business Lexmark T430 Lexmark T430d Lexmark T430dn 32ppm Sum-up: Capable mid-range printers, but with very lim- ited output. The T430 models are intended specifically for small workgroups. They are remarkably faster upgrades to the 22ppm T420 family, now discontinued. The T430 models are a step up from the Lexmark E-se- ries models in several ways. They are a little faster, printing at 32ppm. Part of this speed is due to a 366MHz processor. Memory on the all three models starts at 32MB and can be beefed up to 288MB. Lexmark claims a 65,000-pages-per- month maximum duty cycle for the machines. Paper capacity starts at 350 sheets, with a 100-sheet by- pass tray and a 250-sheet paper tray. There are two optional upgrades, 250-sheet and 500-sheet paper trays. You have to add the 250-sheet drawer first if you buy both. The maxi- mum paper capacity is 1,100 sheets. Automatic duplexing is a standard feature on the T430d and T430dn models. It is not available for the T430. On the output side, there is a 20- sheet tray (for the bypass) and a 150-sheet tray. Lexmark stresses this series’ first-page printing speed, something that is important to many of their banking cus- tomers and others. We don’t compare this feature (the ac- tual speed depends on too many extraneous factors). However, if you print many short jobs that you need at once, this might be a consideration. This printer series has the usual standard Lexmark con- nectivity, meaning parallel and USB ports, with an optional serial connector. An external MarkNet Ethernet server is available for the T430 and T430d as an option; it’s standard on the T430dn. A bar-code card is also available. Cost per page is around 1.7 cents if you take the most efficient option (the high-capacity all-in-one cartridge with Lexmark’s cartridge return program). That’s higher than average in its segment. These printers have a serious competitor—namely: HP’s 30ppm LaserJet 2420 family. The T430dn, coming with duplexing and networking, costs $50 less than the compa- rable LaserJet 2430dn. The HP model comes with a some- what faster processor and more memory (64MB versus 32MB). The Lexmark model has more total paper capacity (1,100 sheets versus 850 sheets). Consumables prices are similar. On the whole, there is little to choose from between the two printers. It’s still pretty remarkable that a small-to-medium- workgroup printer series like this is available for between $550 and $850. If finishing is not a requirement and you have moderate throughput, this is a very good office machine, and we give it our Editor’s Choice Award. 20 2005 05 EDITOR’S CHOICE