The Lexmark Company offers quite competitive and reliable devices. That time we got to test Lexmark x203n, a monochrome laser MFP with network access, a key feature of which is high speed and fast first page out time.

Design of this model is very interesting; despite the apparent angularity, there are many curved panels, which are why the device seems less than it actually is, although its dimensions are not too different from the size of a normal laser printer with comparable printing speed. Main body material is white and gray plastic.

Paper is loaded through the tray capable of accepting 250 sheets and resides in the lower part of the front side. There are paper size regulators on the tray that enable accommodation of various formats, from A4 to Legal. The handle in the center front part of the tray helps pulling it out. You can also find an auxiliary slot for inserting envelopes and other custom-sized media.

The printer incorporates a plain CIS scanner maximum resolution of 600×600 dpi. This resolution is OK for most everyday tasks. The scanner lid is very lightweight, yet it’s durable and hard to brake. Strictly speaking, the offline mode (printer not connected to a computer) is not available, because USB ports for memory sticks are not provided. Nonetheless, the Lexmark x203n can transmit scanned documents to one or several emails not being coupled with a PC – simply connect it to Internet via local network.

If the printer has not been in used for a while, to start working again, the scanner requires about 4 seconds. An intriguing feature of the MFP was discovered during the tests. It takes only two seconds to start scanning in “b/w” and “grayscale” mode, but eight seconds for the color mode. 15 seconds are required for the pre-scanning procedure.

The Lexmark x203n is very quick, and once the print job is sent, the printing begins a few moments later. It takes about 2.6 seconds on average to produce one page in “draft” and “normal” quality modes; this figure matches the manufacturer’s specifications. When you set the printer into high quality mode, 5.5 seconds are required to print single page.

The device supports 4 quality modes: “Draft 600 dpi”, “normal 1200 IQ”, “high 1200 dpi” and 2400 IQ (“IQ” is for image quality). You can adjust setting to amplification the printing of dots and fine lines. There is no automatic toner economy mode, but you can adjust the toner density manually. Paper saving mode makes it possible to print 2, 4, 8 or 16 pages on one sheet. The printer supports custom settings for type and source of paper for front and back covers, as well as the first and last page of the document.

The representatives of the company said that copying is one of the main functions of the device, yet the copy mode is very plain. Naturally, only black-and-white copying is supported, but there are many copying options to choose from: format conversion, scaling, selection of paper source, indication of the size of the original, adjustment of intensity, activation of paper economy mode, breakdown of copies, as well as selection of one of three quality modes (text, photo & text, photo). A feature to point out is the maximum number of copies: you can specify up to 999, while most competitor model are limited to 99 copies.

Lexmark x203n MFP is a pure office workaholic, which is unlikely to take root at home, despite his rather “home” design and compact size. But when used in the office, the MFP has a major plus – the high speed of printing and scanning in “b/w” and “grayscale” modes. The high-speed copying is advantageous, too: the first copy is already obtained in 9 seconds, and every subsequent one – in 2.6 seconds.

Among other features and advantages of the model, worth noting are: an additional manual tray, network access, quality toner. The disadvantages of the model are: not too comfortable monochrome display, a modest amount of scan settings, the cost of the original Lexmark toner is a little higher than those of competitors.

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