Scoring phenomenally in every element of testing criteria we could dish out at it, Lexmark’s X6150 came through with flying colours - high resolution flying colours at that, with the third best colour scale image overall.
Big and bulky, this menacing looking multi functional printer is wrapped in an eye-pleasing black and silver housing which will not to just suit any décor, but also appear smart and stylish in addition to its obvious range of practical uses. The blue backlit buttons and liquid crystal display are easy to read, while the minimalist menu system and number pad for faxing is cleanly laid out and accessible.
We ran into some technical issues testing the other Lexmark P3150, involving the software having trouble with the supplied OCR reader and decoder. Despite using identical software, the X6150 showed absolutely no sign of this problem and scanned and translated a text image to editable words without a hitch.
Solid in all the tests we conducted, it scored well time and time again, with its most impressive results to finish tied first in the monochrome print test with the Canon imageCLASS MP370 by producing well-formed and readable text, good dithering and sharp imagery. Our high resolution colour test on photographic paper showered smooth progressive gradients with only minor signs of blockyness - exactly what we were after.
The software package with the Lexmark and Dell printers include a small application which shows print progress as the pages are printed - letting you know by way of an inchworm bar how many percentiles of your run have been printed - this unit goes even further, and allows you to remove the bar, or change its look by way of three supplied graphical skins of varying styles and shapes. If that’s not enough for you, log onto the Internet to download other skins via the Lexmark website.
An all-round, all-in-one winner with plenty to crow about, this would make a fantastic addition to anyone looking to combine multiple pieces of office equipment into a single unit without forgoing on quality. At $399 the price is unbeatable for a unit of this calibre. In the MFD space, hats off to Dell/Lexmark for attempting to make multi function mainstream and affordable.