If you want a fast scanner that produces high-quality prints, this is the one. But for overall speed and fax capabilities, look elsewhere.The Dell Photo All-in-One Printer 922 is an affordable colour inkjet multifunction with a flatbed scanner that is based on the Lexmark X5270. Although the Dell rates the 922's print speed at a fast 19 pages per minute monochrome and a speedy 14 pages per minute colour, in CNET Labs, the Dell 922 was one of the slowest-printing, yet fastest-scanning multifunction inkjets we've tested. For inexpensive and high-quality flatbed scanning, copying, and image-manipulation tools, the Dell 922 is a good choice. However, if you need fast printing and/or advanced fax options, you'll be better off with the Canon MultiPass MP390 flatbed multifunction printer instead.
Carrying Dell's trademark colours, the Dell Photo All-in-One Printer 922 has a wide, silver lid -- resembling the hood of a 1960s car, with a black underbelly and paper trays; it's utilitarian, not beautiful. At 4.1kg, the lightweight Dell 922 is nonetheless a bit bulky for a multifunction in its class, measuring 43.7 by 32.3 by 16.8 centimeters (W, D, H). Since extending the paper trays increases the Dell 922's height and depth by about 12.7 centimeters, this is a not a machine made for small spaces. A small control panel with a two-line LCD is on the top right.
Although this is a photo-quality multifunction printer, Dell doesn't include media-card slots or direct camera-to-printer ports -- a big omission, we think. A single USB 2.0 port (cable not included) is located on the back of the machine along with the power-cord connector, and despite its lack of a network interface, the printer can function as part of a peer-to-peer network.
The Dell 922 also includes high-yield black and colour inkjet cartridges. An optional photo cartridge is available separately. The multifunction printer's 8MB of RAM is not upgradable.
The Dell 922's input tray, located in the back of the machine, holds 100 sheets, while the output tray that extends from the front holds 50 sheets -- fairly standard for a home-based multifunction printer but inadequate for most small businesses. The small control panel on the right-hand top contains one button to copy and one to scan, plus a small, amber error light, and a menu button to manually adjust the printout quality and other factors. Information appears on a small LCD above the buttons, but the screen can be difficult to read because it is set back at an awkward angle and is not backlit. It's generally easier to adjust settings through the software than on the control panel.
The Dell 922 is limited to Windows 2000 or XP operating systems, and it isn't compatible with Macs. Installation is simple using the enclosed setup sheet and CD, although the LCD language selection on our test unit initially defaulted to French at setup. To change the language on the Dell 922's display, turn on the printer, then press and hold the Power and Cancel buttons at the same time for about 10 seconds. The language choices will then scroll across the LCD.
The Dell Photo All-in-One Printer 922 is primarily designed for printing, copying, and scanning, offering only light fax capabilities. Since the printer is built around a Lexmark engine, many of its features (and its software) will be familiar to Lexmark owners, such as N-up printing, which allows multiple images to print on one page; borderless photo printing; and poster, booklet, and greeting card options. The default pop-up screen that appears while printing can be distracting, though its ink level reminders are handy. Unfortunately, the print speed is pretty slow.
The Dell 922 is a reliable standalone copier for occasions where you need a quick copy and don't want to boot up your computer. It can produce up to 99 copies at once, offering various speed and print-quality options for greater ease of use. Most impressive, though, is the preview option -- available through the All-in-One Center software -- which lets you scan, fax, copy, edit photos, and perform other tasks from your PC desktop. A preview option lets you crop a document or descreen (remove) images electronically, if necessary.
As a scanner, the Dell 922 will import text or images directly to file, fax, or e-mail. The Dell 922 uses Microsoft e-mail apps, such as Outlook, or non-Microsoft e-mail programs, such as Eudora, by adding them to the list of default destination choices on the All-In-One Center software. To edit your scanned images, you can use the bundled Jasc Software Paint Shop Pro 8.0 or Microsoft Word or Paint. For editing scanned text, Dell provides Abbyy Fine Reader 5.0 Sprint Plus optical character recognition (OCR) software. Other bundled software includes the Printer Solution Center, providing thorough troubleshooting, maintenance, and how-to tips; and Dell Picture Studio 2.0, which offers quick access to Paint Shop Pro 8.0 and Dell-branded image-management options.
Unfortunately, the Dell 922 doesn't provide PC-free fax capabilities for those occasions when you don't want to fire up the PC. To fax, the Dell 922 relies on Microsoft software and the modem on your computer, so its only fax addition is its ability to incorporate scans.
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Will Lexmark cartridge fit this printer? Dell are out of stock!