Lexmark X520 Toner Cartridges

Lexmark X520 Printer Review

The Lexmark X520 laser printer is a multifunction device designed for the small or medium office environment. Its fast speeds and high-quality prints are impressive, and its faxing and networking options are icing on the cake. Its high upfront cost is only somewhat offset by low toner costs. The cost per page is reasonably lower as well, more so than competing models that use lower yielding HP C9720A toner.

The Lexmark X520 can print, scan, copy, and fax. It also includes built-in networking for sharing across a network, and most of its functions are accessible remotely. Scans can be sent to a variety of locations, including a computer on the network, a network folder, or an FTP server. It can even scan in color, despite the fact that the printing engine is monochrome-only.

Paper capacity is 350 sheets, divided among a 250-sheet main drawer and a 100-sheet multipurpose tray. Faxing at speeds up to 33.6 kbps is supported. The initial memory capacity of 40 MB can be upgraded to a maximum of 264 MB. The unit also includes a 25-page automatic document feeder for scanning, copying, or faxing multiple pages at once quickly and easily.

Lexmark X520 toner cartridges have a capacity of 20,000 pages, which is consideraly larger than other color of products, such as HP Q5951A toner. This large capacity for each X520 laser toner cartridge means a lower cost per page. The printer toner cartridges are also very affordably-priced. Users can get more from each cartridge by enabling the toner save mode as the default, reducing the amount of toner needed for each page.

Print speed is fast, at 20 pages per minute, though competing units offer faster speeds for the price. Print quality is excellent. Text is sharp and defined, with dark and readable characters even at the smallest font sizes. Photo and graphics quality is average for a laser, but still very usable.

Overall, the Lexmark X520 will impress with its many functions and its expandability, but competing units offer similar features at lower prices. Its ADF could also be a little larger, but large offices will still get a lot of use out of this machine. For those looking for a personal printer, try a Canon MF8350 which uses Canon 2662B001AA toner.