Lexmark Z605 Photo Color Jet Printer (18K0000)

To stop this darn printer from saying "printing started/completed" you need to go to the Lexmark SOftware Center. There should be a voice option in it. In mine, I had to click on "troubleshooting" then "voice/skins" and then I had the option of unclicking the sound option.

printer was used but its satisfing my needs, it is also compatilbe with windows vista.

The title pretty much sums up my feelings about this printer. To begin with, as others have noted the cartridges for this model cost too much and you will find yourself buying a lot of them. I do a lot of text printing and even though I use the most ink-economical settings I can expect to go through an ink cartridge every two months or so. Also, after a year and a half of use, the piece of plastic that holds in the printer cartridge broke. I don't know if this is typical or not, but the way the plastic is designed to flex in order to lock the cartridge in place seems like it would inevitably break with day-to-day use (can you say "planned obsolescence"). This product waste's money in the long run even if it is cheaper to start.

I've now owned and used this little printer for almost two years. There are a few things I like about it, but one major thing I do not like.

First, the positives...

It's easy to use. The software included with the printer, which monitors the print jobs and lets you choose various print options, is nicely designed. All the options are clearly presented. The tool for cleaning and/or aligning the print nozzles also works well, although it takes some time to go through the test.

The text quality is fine, and in "best" mode it can be very nice, especially on good paper.

Now, the negatives...

There is a voice that announces, "Printing started!" when the job loads, and "Printing complete!" when the job is done. This is rather unnecessary, and a little annoying.

The printer is rather slow, even slower than a five-year-old Epson I owned prior to this one. But I knew this when I bought the printer. Speed is not that important to me -- I don't mind waiting an extra two minutes for something to print! Even five extra minutes, believe it or not, will not be the end of the world!! More important to me was economy, and I bought the Z605 because I wanted a simple printer that produces good-enough quality at a reasonable price.

Which brings me to my biggest complaint about this printer, what I call "real economy." What at first appears to be an inexpensive printer actually turns out to be more expensive in the long run. The reason? This printer goes through ink like water. I try as often as possible to use the "quick print" option, which saves ink. But still, in a very short time I'm running low on ink. At $20 to $30 each, those ink cartriges add up! I had to buy three black and one color cartrige in just one year. Another printer, which costs even $100 more to start with but which uses ink more efficiently, would quickly become equal to this one, and within two years would be a better value.

The bottom line is, you get a printer with average print quality, decent software, but in the end costs as much as a more expensive printer that manages ink better.

I bought this printer because it was the cheapest available, and I was in a situation where I needed a printer for just a few weeks and then I had to abandon it.

Unfortunately, this turned into a bit of false economy on my part: I failed to consider the cost of the cartridges (with this thing, you'll need the 17 for Black and the 27 for color). Together MORE than the cost of the printer itself.

The cartridges are used up so quickly that any money you saved on the machine will be lost on the cartridges.

You're better off buying a middle-of-the-road HP printer, as the quality is slightly better and their cartridges last so much longer that in the end you probably will end up spending the same amount of money.

Another thing I hate about this printer is that there's no way to stop that irritating voice from saying "Printing started!" etc. You've just got to endure him.