Lexmark E460dw

The first thing you notice about the Lexmark E460dw’s design is that it doesn’t look that good. Even though we weren’t particularly fond of the Samsung ML-2851ND’s design, when compared to the Lexmark E460dw’s, we like it even less. Its 10 inches high by 16 inches wide by 15 inches deep (2 inches larger than the Samsung ML-2851ND) with a white and grey case. It’s somewhat boring and forgettable.

Design and Features

The printer is cube shaped with a printer output tray on top of the box with a sizeable frontal panel on which you’ll find a number of menu buttons and a 3 inch grayscale LCD. The backlit LCD shows users status updates, operational messaging and printer settings, so it’s a somewhat handy design element. You have the option of making direct modifications to the printer settings via the four way directional pad (which is an advantage over the Samsung ML-2851ND, which lacks a LCD screen in order to cut back on the price).

A tray in the middle of the printer lets users access the removable toner cartridge and a extendable bottom loading input drawer which can take up to 250 sheets of 20 pound paper.

One of the Lexmark E460dw’s upsides is the built I 802.11b/g/n wireless print server and antenna (which in order to locate Wi-Fi networks). You’ll also find an Ethernet port on the back should you decide to connect to a wired network. You can make the choice regarding which type of connection you desire (local, wired, wireless) during the initial connection but any of the three are require (at first) you to connect the printer to a host PC via a USB 2.0 cord.

Once you have connected the printer, you’ll be able to access auto-duplexing, paper size function and several other settings through the display.

Performance

According to its specs, the E460dw is supposed to print a at least 38 pages per minute (sheets of black text), however, during our tests we noticed that that’s unfortunately not the case, the printer only managing to print out about 17 pages per minute, which is noticeably lower when compared to the Samsung ML-2851ND, that printed around 20 pages per minute of the same document.

Another downside of the Lexmark E460dw is the print quality itself, graphics and simple text coming out considerably fuzzy with blurred lines and half formed graphics. Horizontal lines are very visible throughout the majority of the photos and graphics and the shading percentages are less than acceptable. The E460dw ‘s overall print quality doesn’t even come close to other printers of this price range.

Pros

The Lexmark E460dw has a built in wireless print server and auto-duplexing.

Cons

The Lexmark E460dw has some notable flaws that are hard to overlook, namely, slow print speeds, poor output quality, the design isn’t very pleasing to the eye and last but not least, its high price.

Review Conclusion

Overly expensive, mediocre quality printing and slow printing speeds make the E460dw a difficult choice to consider, so if you’re looking for a single function mono-laser you might be better off with a Samsung ML-2851 ND.

Specs

• Manufacturer: Lexmark
• Print Speed: up to 38 ppm
• Print Speed: up to 18 ppm – B/W duplex – A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in)
• Print Speed: up to 40 ppm – B/W – Letter A Size (8.5 in x 11 in)
• Print Speed: up to 18 ppm – B/W duplex – Letter A Size (8.5 in x 11 in)
• Connectivity Technology: Wired

• Media Sizes:
  - Statement (5.5 in x 8.5 in)
  - A6 (4.13 in x 5.83 in)
  - Executive (7.25 in x 10.5 in)
  - A5 (5.83 in x 8.25 in)
  - Legal (8.5 in x 14 in)
  - Folio (8.5 in x 13 in)
  - A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in)
  - JIS B5 (7.17 in x 10.12 in)
  - Letter A Size (8.5 in x 11 in)
• Width: 16 in
• Depth: 14.6 in
• Height: 10.2 in
• Weight: 30.9 lbs