Lexmark – x502n review

Lexmark’s x502n is a multifunctional device which has the same engine as the popular c500 color laser family from Lexmark. However its price is on the higher side and also it’s not very easy to use. These factors limit its usage.
It has the A4 laser engine which produces black prints at a speed of 31 pages per minute. The color prints are printed at a rate of 8 pages per minute. X502n has an in-built document feeder (35 sheets) and a color scanner. The device can thus very well work as a copier. It also has provisions for network faxing and scanning. This is possible by the use of an Ethernet interface (10/100Mbps).

The machine can produce copies at a speed of 21 pages per minute for monochrome. The duty cycle is also huge- 35,000 pages/ month. It has an in-built 250 sheet tray; however you can add an extra 530 sheet paper tray if your print volume per month is huge. The additional tray costs 115 pounds plus VAT. This further raises the price of the machine.

There is no separate manual feeder; which is present in almost all laser printers. One can also load transparencies, cards and envelopes in the paper tray, but this is not very easy to do. The whole process is somehow not convenient. One big surprise with the Lexmark’s x502n is the absence of a duplexer. Such a common and simple thing, which is even there in the cheapest of lasers, is not present here. That definitely is a major disappointment.

The quality of the print is good, even if not the best. It has a resolution of 1,200 X 600 dpi. The device has a driver which supports Apple Mac PCs as well as Windows. Managing the printer is relatively simple. The toner cartridges are situated at the back side of a big door; in the front part of the unit.

The consumables are not very expensive. This is because this device has similar laser has c500 and thus cartridges are available at a cheaper rate. 5,000 black ink cartridge cost 78 pounds (plus VAT). Each color cartridges (of 3,000 pages) cost 68 pounds plus VAT. There is also a photo developer cartridge which works up to 120,000 pages. It costs 122 pounds (plus VAT).

Lexmark’s x502n has a nice control panel. For local operations, there is a LCD. However its interface isn’t that simple to use as claimed by the company. You may need to refer to the manual even for performing some simple tasks. Help is required even when you try to scan an email address or a network PC. This should be been done by the company beforehand.

Faxing, copying and scanning can also be performed with this device. This is simple to do because it has the Presto! PageManager software included in the packaging. The printer also has the OCR tool. The software is relatively easy to understand and follow; though the documentations for these could have been better and more detailed.

The multifunction printer- X502n is a decent performer. It is also good for networking and other related things. However it costs a bit more and also does not have a duplexer. The interface is difficult to understand. Lack of manual feeder just adds to its list of drawbacks. All these factors might force the buyer to look at other options.