Like the Xerox DocuPrint M750 we reviewed last month, the J110tn's ink tank has a modular design that allows the cyan, magenta and yellow ink supplies to be replaced individually.
According to Lexmark the print heads need only be replaced once over the expected operating life of the printer, or 30,000 pages. Lexmark says that the printer offers lower cost-per-page printing than most "typical, mid-range colour laser printers", but there are some problems with Lexmark's claim. The first is the company's defintion of 'typical'; the second lies in a disparity between the printer's advertised duty cycles and their engineer's real world expecations of a J110 when placed in the hands of its target market.
If Lexmark's product comparisons provide a useful indication, in this instance 'typical' seems to mean colour laser printer with monthly duty cycles in excess of 30,000 like the colour LaserJet 4550N; it is isn't quite an 'apples and oranges' comparison but you're heading in that direction.
The second problem is more complicated. Despite the fact that the J110tn's advertised duty cycle is 10,000 pages per month, Lexmark's estimates that it will only be called on to print around 2,500 in the field, and that's what its print head replacement forecasts are based on; around 12-18 months service with one print head replacement. The 10,000 page duty cycle is a little meaningless and you'd certainly be looking at a very high maintenance machine if you tested its advertised endurance everyday.
Comparing the J110tn and another colour heavy-duty inkJet printer such as the HP 2500CM gives a more meaningful indication of its abilities. The HP 2500CM specifications and usage-class roughly match that of the Lexmark J110tn. Both are capable of handling multiple print media (transparancies, photo-quality stock and labels) and photo-quality printing. At normal quality the 2500CM prints around 3 A4 letter pages per minute (ppm) and costs around $US1,499. The Lexmark prints around 9 colour pages per minute and costs around $AU2300. To be fair to HP part of what you pay for with the 2500CM goes towards the cost of including Adobe's proprietary post-script printing language, Adobe PostScript 3. The HP's monthly duty cycle is a fraction more robust than the J110tn's at 12,000 -- as opposed to 10,000 -- pages per month (whatever that figure is worth to you).
One feature that helps contribute to the J110tn's cost-per-page economy is Lexmark's PerfectFinish technology. PerfectFinish allows the printer to print at its highest quality on cheaper paper stocks without excessive ink-bleed. We were happy with the J110's print quality but we would be lying if we said that PerfectFinish improved it significantly.
There is a cheaper version of the Lexmark J110tn, the J110, that is identical to the tn sans network integration features. Choosing this version will save you AU$200 but it's hard to imagine anyone but home consumers -- who are unlikely to plant a bulky workhorse like this in the family den -- and some SOHO buyers taking advantage of this modest saving.
Lexmark J110
Company: Lexmark
Phone: 1300 362 192
| Price: |
• J110tn AU$2,499 • J110 AU$2,299 |
Rating:
Distributor:Lexmark Australia
7%
3%
