Review: Lexmark X3480 multi-function device

Lexmark is certainly making the most of its all-in-one printer design. The ‘box with a chunk cut out’ look of all its budget multifunction machines is continued in the X3480, though here there’s a small control panel added and memory card slots on the right of the front panel.

The slots support most of the major formats of memory card, including xD and MicroDrive, but not the older SmartMedia. There's PictBridge too, so you can print directly from compatible digital camera.

The control panel includes a button to select between copy, scan and image upload modes. Two others will start and cancel jobs and three are used to navigate the menu system.

A small LCD screen displays menu items and options in real English, which is an improvement over the simple indicator lights most machines in this price bracket use.

The X3480 feeds paper from a hopper at the back to a rather flimsy telescopic output tray at the front. It can also be used without a PC, printing out photos from a memory card or making photocopies from the scanner.

Although it has no colour LCD display to preview images, you can print out a sheet of thumbnails and choose (by ticking boxes) which ones to print, how many and the required size. Scan the sheet back into the X3480 and photos will be printed.

Prints from the single, three-colour ink cartridge are not too bad. Text comes out a sort of dark, bluey-grey rather than black, but photo prints are lively and reasonably lifelike.

With just a single cartridge to replace, print costs are variable. A text page costs just under 8p, which is high even for an inkjet printer, while a colour one, at around 23p, is pretty reasonable.

The main advantage Lexmark used to have over the opposition was price, but there are now several all-in-one printers in the £50 to £60 range, all of which print blacker text and several of which print cleaner photos.

Therefore, it's hard to recommend the X3480 against these devices.

Related reviews
Canon Pixma MP150
Overall: Great value for money but prints are not perfect and scan time is a bit slow
Rating: 3/5
Price: £70

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