Lexmark X2350? Get it? or get something else?

[GLO]

My neighbour has received a Lexmark X2350 all in one printer/scanner and would like to know if its worth keeping or changing it to a Canon pixma or similar value?

What is ink usage like with the Lexmark X2350???

Aparently it uses the 18C0781 single ink cartridge for black and colour. ( i think that is a negative already) but what have you got to say!

Cheers!

Thanks

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<b>GLO</b>
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[Osage]

My take on the x2350 is that its an ink hog.

Based on the Lexmark x735 printer engine, the x2350 adds a flatbed scanner.

I have just spent the past hour looking at reviews and specifications. A concensus point is that the three color
cartridge which uses all color to produce black resulting in a slate grey muddy black rather than a vibrant black. Suprisingly, paired with photo paper, it looks like this printer can do a decent job on photo's. By decent I mean about on a par with other printers.

But ink jet consumables costs are difficult to run down. Found one site that claimed that the $20.00 cartidge can print up to 165 pages of B/W text ( listed as the lexmark claimed rating even though I found no spec on the Lexmark web site ), another site that reported low ink warning at 38 pages and ran out at 75 pages. But one can assume you are probably dealing with an inkjet that is going to cost 25 cents or so a page in practice.---way way too high in my opinion

Another universal complaint is that the 15 pages per minute Lexmark claims is overrated by a factor of three.

If your neigbor can take the printer back for a refund I recommend they do. Almost any all manufacturer offers more economical printers.

But for ultimate economy, especially when paired with non-oem cartridges, I would recommend looking to the Canon line.

The rough Canon equivalent to the X2350 is the MP370 and priced about the same. According to CU, the B/W text costs come in at about six cents per page with OEM cartridges. For a little more the MP390 adds a fax.

Sadly, to get a better more economical printer, copy scan all in one in the Canon line, you are looking at a MP750, MP760, or 780( to get a fax bundled in ) and will pay more than $70.00. Although I have seen the MP750 on sale at $100 and the MP780 on sale at $150.00.

As for me, I bought a new Canon ip4000 for my wife and a used MP730 for myself.

The only bright spot I can see the x735/x2350 printers is for someone who just prints a few pages a year. Even if the cartridge in the printer dries up from non-use, at $20.00 a pop, you can put in a new cartridge and be back in business.
For anyone printing even 150 pages or more a year, my guess is the printer will eat you out of house and home.