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Lexmark refers to its X7170 multifunction printer as an Office Productivity All-in-One and has outfitted it with lots of features and a solid software bundle. But some documents that the $249 unit produces won't make a very professional impression.

The X7170 feels sturdy, and in our tests it worked at a businesslike pace, printing color graphics at 1.5 pages per minute and text at 7.7 ppm, which ties for the fastest text speed mark we've seen recently from an inkjet multifunction unit.

Alphanumeric characters looked fairly sharp, but text sometimes didn't align properly. Glossy photos retained details nicely, with vivid color.

The X7170's copying and scanning speeds were above average, and its expansive control panel and function buttons let you operate it easily without a PC. But when we used the function buttons to make scans and copies, the text seemed jagged. Documents we made at the Normal quality setting were lackluster, and when we switched to Best quality, the copies turned out even worse.

Scans of photographs that we printed on glossy photo paper in Best quality mode looked awful and got worse when we swapped in the unit's optional photo ink cartridge.

The X7170 offers business-worthy speeds and acceptable printouts, but it fails to deliver copying and scanning quality that any office demands.

Eric Butterfield