Review: Lexmark X4650, 3 in 1 Wireless Printer

For close to 8 or 9 years I have been using an enormous old school Lexmark X73 printer. I have used this printer without any issues, but seeing that today's technology now offers wireless printing, I figured could use an upgrade.

As much as I loved the X73, it was time to add a baby brother to the family. The plan was to keep the X73 for massive printing because is is excellent when it comes to ink. I however wanted to add a wireless printer upstairs for family use. Basically I got sick and tired of having to type and print up everyones work on my PC, and then having to replace the ink when it ran out. I figured a wireless printer added to the house, and everyone could finally do their own work, and print their own documents.

My boyfriend was the one who actually took me to Sam's Club to check out wireless printers, and the prices slapped on to them. I was assuming they'd come to around $400, because 9 years ago thats what the X73 came to.

I was happy to see that there was a huge selection of printers, only 5 of them though offered the wireless capabilities, and of those printers, all of them had a 4th added feature that I did not need, nor did I want to spend extra money on it. That feature was faxing. Seeing that I have no use for faxing, I skipped out on picking any of them.

Next door at Target though, I found about 3 printers with the wireless capability built into it. I did not want an HP, because the ink cartridges looked like toothpicks. I wanted another Lexmark, because the printer I already had, served me without any issues for years.

I came across the Lexmark X4650, a 3 in 1 wireless printer for only $89.90.

The printer was right up my alley too, because nearly every electronic in my room has a sleek black glossy finish to it. My HDTV, my PC monitor, My PC, my TV stand, and my bed frame, all have this sleek glossy finish. I was glad to see that the Lexmark X4650 also came dressed up in the same sexy finish.

The printer is one of the lowest priced wireless printers in the Lexmark family, and seeing that it came with scanning options, printing and copying options, it was all good by me.

What I especially found interesting was that I could insert my memory card, USB stick, or PictBridge right into the printer for instant printing of pictures. I knew I would likely never use this feature, but it was nice to have it there had anyone else in the house wanted to take advantage of it.

Installation:
 
Installing the Lexmark X4650 was pretty simple and does not really require any guesswork. I simply inserted the included CD, and was guided through the entire set up. The set up was a little lame, but for beginners I find that it is very easy to follow. It tells you how to hook up the printer, how to insert the ink, and it even shows you how to plug it in, which was just silly.

At any rate, within just a few minutes I had the Lexmark X4650 set up.

In order to sync the printer up with my wireless network though, I had to use the included USB wires and plug it into my PC. As soon as I choose my network though, I then removed the USB plug, and I could now plop the printer down anywhere in the home. Simple, easy, wonderful!

After all was said and done, the printer began to print an alignment page, and we were done.

The set up was so simple, that I honestly did not think it would work. However after typing up my documents, and simply hitting the printer icon on my programs tool bar, I was amazed that the printer just up and started printing.

Print Quality:
 
The Lexmark X4650 was pretty decent, and the difference from my ancient X73 to this new X4650 was obvious, but the quality is not jaw dropping stunning. It's nice though, so I have no complaints. Colors are rich, vibrant and look great.

Speed:
 
The printer boasts that it is capable of print 25 pages per minute in black, or 18 pages per minute in color. Although I don't think that's right on par because it took about 1 minutes for it to print out 14 pages in all black text.

It is however a hell of a lot faster than my old school printer was, so it was a major improvement in my opinion.

The scanning option was also very simple to use. I simply lifted the top hatch of the printer, and added in some old photos that I wanted to digitally scan into my PC. It worked with a simple touch of a button, and scanned out the photos in nice high speeds.

What I really liked about the printer, is that it shuts off on its own. I do not have to hit an on button. If the printer is not in use for a few moments, it will power down; however as soon as I hit print on my PC, it wakes up and gets to work effortlessly.

Another swift feature on the printer is that you can directly order ink online with the touch of a button. When you check the ink levels on screen you can click a Buy Ink Now link, and simply place an order on ink.

Overall:
 
The Lexmark X4650 is an excellent printer. It has a classy sleek design, print quality is great, and print speed is also decent. For $89.90, I really couldn't ask for more. It does what I need it to do, when I need it to do it. I also think that this particular printer is an excellent beginners printer for those who are not very computer savvy, and the on screen guide is flawless.