I love this printer.
I bought this printer to replace an old HP printer that was giving me headaches.
I couldn't be happier; the setup program is the greatest installation wizard I've seen in a while for a printer: It takes you step by step with crisp and clear illustrations through the whole process of unpacking the printer installing the cartridges and getting the wireless working.
I was especially concerned about the wireless the installation process had to deal with my Windows Vista my router my network security settings my antivirus and my firewall ... I was expecting some trouble but it just worked seamlessly.
I was so happy I even registered the printer with Lexmark which apparently gives you ink discounts.
Printing quality is great so far but I've only printed business documents I'll update this review after I print some pictures.
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A lot for a littleAfter building my latest computer I discovered that the GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P P45 775 R motherboard did not have a serial connector anymore. Rather than to mess with serial to USB conversion schemes I decided to put my still perfectly functional Epson Stylus 760 out to pasture. After seeing the [...] reviews and the price I got the Lexmark S305. It virtually set itself up as soon as I had power and the USB cable connected. It ran a complete self test and was up and ready for more before I even loaded the included CD. It's fast ready to go in seconds after I hit the power switch and for my limited printing and scanning needs it is perfect. I never use printers to reproduce photos there are better and more professional ways to do that. I noticed just one little oddity that is far from a show stopper. When I switched it to B&W it still reproduced colors that were on the original. It is fast way faster than what it replaced. I like the fact that it can use WiFi and I also like the HD card and flash memory ports. Cnet pinged on the minimal display screen but also said that if you need more of a display you will have to buy a much more expensive printer. I never had a LCD display at all so I don't miss it and the small screen it does have provides whatever info I need. The only minor complaint I have since I use the USB connection rather than WiFI at this time was that the included USB cable was too short for my particular equipment layout. Luckily I had an extension cable around and did not have to rearrange equipment.
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Solid full featured printer.
I have primarily owned HP printers for the last 15 years but was having sporadic problems with my main printer an HP D360 photo printer. I was tired of troubleshooting with HP so I decided to give in and go with the Lexmark Prevail Pro705. I shopped around and didn't really do much research prior to buying. I knew I wanted to try a new manufacturer and was hoping to get a multi-function unit. I was in an office supply store and asked if Lexmark was comparable to HP quality and saw for myself that there wasn't a lot of difference in quality.
The Prevail Pro705 was the new model at the time of purchase (Oct 14th 2009). This is my first purchase from Lexmark and I am very pleased. The most appealing things to me about this particular model were the number of features (Fax Scanner Copier Printer) the 5 year warranty and the slightly lower costs per print than the HP model. The color cartridge claims to get about 200 prints more than the HP 02 color cartridges so that (ideally) means more prints for less.
After unboxing the printer I first tried to set it up on Windows Vista Ultimate PC connecting via USB cable (included). I was able to print a test page but had difficulty printing pictures- the progress bar would only go to about 30% or so. I contacted tech support help troubleshoot my issue. They spent 4 hours trying to tweak things while remotely connected to my computer with no luck. At the end of the first support session I was worse off- the printer was struggling to print a complete test page. Fortunately my issue was escalated to second level support whom I was able to get in touch with the next day. After another two hours of trouble shooting I was told this was an issue that may need to be submitted to the software engineering team. I was getting ready to pack up the printer to return it but I decided to mention to the technician that I had another computer (a netbook) that had Windows XP on it and if that would make any difference. The tech recommended that I try to install the printer on that using the USB cable. I followed his instructions later that night and was able to get the printer installed and it printed everything including pictures perfectly. After that I thought I'd try printing using wireless (instead of the USB) from my Vista computer and everything worked perfectly. Apparently there are still some bugs that need to be worked out for Vista or it is possible that my Vista computer has other issues that prevent the printer from functioning properly over USB. Since I also had issues with HP printer I think it is possible that my computer settings are the culprit. The Lexmark support technician said the issues seemed to be related to a firewall on my computer though we disabled that and still had the problem. The tech support people were very helpful and spoke good English despite being in another country.
Had it not been for the trouble that I ran into while installing the printer on Vista and the lengthy tech support calls I would have given a 5 star review. There are many pro's: the photo prints are very comparable in quality to my HP D360. The printer makes some noise when printing but a lot less than my old printer. The wireless capability of this printer was a life saver and it was very easy to get set up with the software included (I am using a dlink wireless N router with WPA security). It seems that it is also possible to set up the wireless capability from the printer but I didn't try that.
The copy functionality of the printer works well. It took less than 30 seconds to make a copy and it looks very clean though some colors (like light grays) seemed to be a little darker on the copy. There is also an "eco" setting that will automatically make copies on two sides of the page. This is a nice feature and saves paper which I like. The eco mode also puts the printer into sleep mode after a certain amount of time.
I would recommend this to anyone looking for a solid multi-function printer. It seems to have similar quality and capability to the more expensive HP printers.
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Was surprised with the featuresI have this printer only for about 10 days now - thats one of the reasons I have rated it at 4 stars as it has not proven itself over a long period yet.
Overall I found this to be really good! This is my first Lexmark product and I was a bit skeptical initially. The instalation was a bit rough as its driver clashed with my Logitech webcam's driver. The Lexmark support was friendly and trying to be helpful but they had no clue why the installation was failing. After digging deep into the Windows error I found from the web what the possible problem could be. Once I uninstalled the Logitec driver the Lexmark installation was a breeze. (I am yet to re-install the logitech webcam - so don't know what would happen then :))
The installation document and s/w are really top notch - with good graphics and explanations. I set it up as a wireless printer (ofcourse!) for my home with 2 desktops and 2 laptops.
This printer's features have surprised me no end. It comes with full (XL sized) ink cartridges which is a big plus. Its a true wireless multifunction. I can scan and send the PDF to any of my desktops / laptops wirelessly. It does dual side printing. Its controls are very intuitive.
Lexmark gives a whopping 5 year warranty on their printers which is a big plus. (Mind you I have had bad experiences with extended warranties from Comp USA Good Guys Wards (remember any of them????) etc. as they folded before their warranty expired :) - hopefully Lexmark is more stable than them.
Overall I am a happy Lexmark customer now. I keep checking on my printer once in a while and so far can't stop admiring it.
Hope this was helpful.
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Be warned on ink usage and cartridges
I purchased this printer the other day to replace my Lexmark X74. The X74 printer still works perfectly (in WinXP) but will not work with the new Windows 7 OS. There is no new driver available for it. Lexmark has determined that the printer is too old and they will not develop a new printer driver for it. So I was basically forced to upgrade my printer.
I really liked my old Lexmark so I decided to purchase another one. I did some research and settled on the S605. I liked the look of it and the wireless feature so I purchased it and took it home to set up on my wireless network.
I have to tell you that the installation went flawlessly. As mentioned in some of the reviews I read that reading and following the directions made it go smoothly. In about 30 mins. I had all THREE of our computers setup and printing with this printer.
I gave this printer a 3 star rating due to it's printer cartridges. I am a little disappointed that the cartridges can't be refilled and are a little pricey. The cartridges (#100) have a chip installed in them that prevents the cartridges from being refilled. I've had my X74's cartridges refilled in the past and they worked perfectly - and cost a lot less than new cartridges. I only hope that I can at least get close to the number of pages printed that Lexmark says I should get. Somehow I don't believe that's going to happen. Probably will turn out like the estimated mpg your supposed to get on your new car - time will tell.
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