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More…The Lexmark C500n is the new baby in the company's family of networked color lasers. It's similar to the Lexmark C510n, C522n, and C524n models we've reviewed in the past, but it achieves a lower price of just $400 (as of 10/6/2006) by using a Windows GDI-based driver that renders pages on your PC. This lets Lexmark economize with a less powerful processor, less memory, and no licensing fees for PCL and PostScript. However, it still has a two-line LCD as part of its well-designed control panel, which competitors don't yet offer at this price. Lexmark also supplies drivers for the Mac, and the printer works with Lexmark's free MarkVision Professional, a good tool for managing a network of printers.
Lexmark LEXMARK C500N COLOR PRINTER
Pricing
Latest Price: $261.75
- Spec Navigator
- Core Components
- Media Handling
- Network
- Connectivity
- Platform Support
- Dimensions
- General Features
- Green
- Included Hardware
- Resolutions
- Scanning
- Faxing
Media Handling
| Manual Feed Slot | No |
| Maximum Number of Input Trays | 2 |
| Maximum paper size, height | 14.0 inches |
| Maximum Sheets With All Paper Trays | 780 |
| Output Tray Capacity | 250 |
| Standard Number of Input Trays | 1 |
| Maximum paper size, width | 8.5 inches |
| Standard input sheet capacity | 250 |
| Duplex printing | No |
Connectivity
| Other Interfaces |
|
| Parallel Port | No |
| Serial Port | No |
| USB 1.1 | No |
| USB 2.0 | Yes |
Platform Support
| Operating System Support |
|
- Lab Tested
- How We Test Printers »
Pros
Fast text printing, low price
Extra 530-sheet tray costs only $199
Cons
No manual paper tray
Legal paper requires $129 upgrade
Bottom Line
The C500n prints fast, high-quality text at a competitive price, though color graphics quality was disappointing.
Lexmark C500n
LEXMARK C500N COLOR PRINTER Review, by Paul Jasper October 19, 2006
The C500n's GDI-based design doesn't compromise its performance. In our speed tests, it printed text at a sprightly 19.0 pages per minute--faster than the other Lexmark printers we've reviewed recently, which are all in the 14-ppm range that's average for color lasers. Color pages arrived at a more sedate 3.6 ppm on plain paper and 1.9 ppm on glossy paper, which are close to average times.
Text print quality was superb in our tests. Our panel of judges noted crisply formed characters, smooth diagonals, and consistently dark solids. Line art came out a little dark, but straight and sharp. Our grayscale image also appeared too dark, with grainy mid-tones. Color printing was a disappointment, though.
On plain paper, graphics looked oversaturated and had strange diagonal patterns in lighter tones. Unnatural colors and odd dithering patterns were also a problem on Lexmark's Glossy Laser Paper.
For paper management, the C500n lacks a manual paper tray and comes with just a single 250-sheet paper tray. At least it's a real paper drawer, integrated into the base of the printer, unlike the oversized manual tray of some low-priced competitors. It's also capable of holding up to ten envelopes. If you often print on two types of paper, or you just want to refill the tray less frequently, the optional 530-sheet paper drawer is an excellent value at $199. The C500n isn't a good choice if you print on legal-size paper, because you have to pay an extra $129 in order to replace the standard tray with a larger one. (The 530-sheet drawer doesn't accommodate legal paper at all.) Lexmark offers no duplexer for the C500n. The only other option is an 802.11g wireless print adapter, which costs $249.
The printer arrives with four toner cartridges rated for just 1000 pages each. The standard replacements yield 2500 pages for black and 1500 for color. However, the best value are the high-yield cartridges rated for 5000 pages black ($135) and 3000 pages color ($120). You also need to replace the photo developer cartridge ($212) every 120,000 black pages or 30,000 color pages, the fuser unit ($231) every 60,000 pages, and the $7 waste toner bottle every 30,000 pages. With the standard cartridges, this gives you costs per page of 3.3 cents for text and 15.8 cents for color, which are higher than those of most other printers tested this month.
Paul Jasper
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PCWorld Lab Results
- Rating Breakdown
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76
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64
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76
- See Complete Lab Results »
Performance Comparison with Similar Printers
76
74
82
82
Performance
| 300dpi Line Art Image (secs) | 16.65 |
| 4 by 6 Color Photo (secs) | 26.4 |
| 4 by 6 Grayscale Photo (secs) | 24.19 |
| Color Output Quality | Fair |
| Color Photo Quality | Good |
| Grayscale Glossy Output Quality | n/a |
| Grayscale Output Quality | Fair |
| Line Art Output Quality | Very Good |
| One-Page Webpage (secs) | 21.59 |
| Output Score, Color Graphics, Default Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-Color-Default) | Poor |
| Output Score, Color Photo, Best Quality Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-Color-Best) | Fair |
| Output Score, Grayscale Graphics, Best Quality Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-Grayscale-Best) | Fair |
| Output Score, Line Art, Default Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-LineArt-Default) | Very Good |
| Output Score, Text, Default Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-Text-Default) | Superior |
| Overall Scan Quality | n/a |
| Sports Action Shot (secs) | 32.77 |
| Ten-Page Word Document | 31.38 |
| Ten-Page Word Document (secs) | 31.38 |
| Tested Color Graphics Speed (formerly pf-PCWColorSpeed) | 3.6 |
| Tested Color Speed (ppm) | 3 |
| Tested Glossy Photo Speed (ppm) | 1.8 |
| Tested Grayscale Speed (ppm) | 2.5 |
| Tested Lineart Speed (ppm) | 3.6 |
| Tested Photo Speed (formerly pf-PCWPhotoSpeed) | 1.9 |
| Tested Text Speed (formerly pf-PCWBWSpeed) | 19 |
| Tested Text Speed (ppm) | 24.9 |
| Text Output Quality | Superior |
| Three-Page Word Document | 31.99 |
| Three-Page Word Document (secs) | 31.99 |
| Two-Page Excel Document | 31.32 |
| Two-Page Excel Document (secs) | 31.32 |
Text Printing
| Text output quality | Superior |
User Reviews
Average User Reviews for Lexmark LEXMARK C500N COLOR PRINTER
1 Review Add your own »
- Latest User Reviews 1 review
-
Reviewed by: andrewb
Duration of ownership: 3 Months
Strengths: Quick warm-up time Easy setup
Weaknesses: Extremely poor support Streaky printing Greenish to gray print Lack of Mac support for ethernet printing
Overall: Despite what the documentation may say, you will not be able to print to this printer from a Mac using the ethernet connection. It may work over USB, but there is no networking printing support on a Mac. Every third or fourth sheet that comes out has black streaks on it. My support requests have been answered with canned responses that do not address the problem. After my third reply asking for more help in getting rid of the streaks, I have not received any further support. Search and you will find similar stories to mine. I only wish I had done the search before buying this printer. Although it is fast, the print quality is similar to a $79 inkjet. If you use a high quality inkjet paper, the inkjet quality will be much better than anything you print with this printer.
Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
User Reviews From Around the Web
-
Reviewed by:
Weaknesses: No network support for intel macs
Overall: Even though Intel Macs have been on the market for at least 8 months. Lexmark has no drivers for Intel Macs. Support says that their engineers are working on it with no real date horizon. I wish someone would prove me wrong.
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