Lexmark Prevail Pro705

Black and Color Ink Required

I have not had any problems with this printer until the color ink ran out. I do not print much in color and just wanted to print a black document. The printer is designed to NOT print anything, even if you have black ink, until you pay to replace the color ink as well. I could never print anything else in color, but I still have to have full color ink sitting there in the machine for the printer to work. This is just a way for Lexmark to continue to suck money out of their consumers. Technical service chat was no help either. None of this information is included in their documentation they send with the printer. If you want a printer to print documents in black ink, make sure you are willing to always front the bill for the color ink as well.

Beware--Lexmark limits your ink choices

This is a decent printer with some nice features like automatic double side printing and power conservation. However, Lexmark uses a proprietary firmware code to assure that you can only purchase their ink. If you purchase another brand of ink cartridge, even if it's made to work in this printer, Lexmark will lock it out and you will get an error message saying the ink cartridge could not be authenticated. Since one of my reasons for buying this was to reduce my ink purchasing costs, I am sorely disappointed and wish I had known this before I purchased Lexmark. Don't get me wrong, it works fine but I will have to shell out more money than I anticipated to purchase Lexmark brand ink. Buyer beware.

Nothing new to report, same issues as others

Went through the cyan cartridge that cam with the printer after about two dozen pages. Bought a OEM (not remanufactured) Lexmark ink cartridge and went though it in about the same amount of regular color print pages (no photos) just text with simple graphics.
Now the black text has blank lines through it although the cartridge shows a little more than 1/4 full.

ANY OTHER PRINTER WILL BE BETTER THAN THIS

I have never been able to do anything with this printer without it taking at least 5 minutes of fussing. The printhead needed to be replaced after only a few weeks with very low usage. The firmware needed to be upgraded almost immediately for the printer to work - not an easy procedure to begin with. I write software for a living. If I wasn't computer savvy I never would have been able to print even one thing with this junk. DO NOT BUY!!!!

Great... When it Works.

I have enjoyed this printer when it works. I have had the print head fail several times. The last time, I was informed that the engineers had re-designed the print head (March 2011) as it failed regularly (as I personally can attest). So I finally have a new, upgraded print head. Unfortunately, as I lugged it from the wireless router to the room with my computer to plug in USB for customer support on the print head, the top slipped and a small plastic clasp on the left hinge broke. Now the doc feeder is useless, and manual scan and copy are problematic as the lid does not close well. The hinges always seemed over-engineered and like a weak point. I guess they are. Sigh.

I do have to say, the service & support has been good. Although you have to go through lengthy routine (usually 1 hour to get back to the problem ... e.g., Hi, my print head has failed ... [insert 1 hour of checking firmware, a dozen on/off toggles, etc.] ... "I've determined your print head has failed" ... They do seem to want to make good on their product.

The good: I had no trouble setting it up with a wireless router, the print quality is quite good.

The bad (excluding the reliability problems): The doc feeder has always been temperamental. Also, the cover sits flush with the glass plate, which means I constantly open the machine to the internal mechanics vs. just the lid.

Would I recommend? Yes, but make sure you get a newer model with a new print head and don't be surprised if you end up on with tech support.

EDIT 7/22/11

I revised my stars down to 1. Would I recommend? No. After trying to get the refurb replacement to work, it is clear it is a worse lemon than the prior printer. Wireless is flaky, and not on at all. Now it won't print at all. I will never buy a Lexmark again. So frustrating.

Garbage

I purchased this printer primarily because it is a wireless model. From the start it's integration to my home network was sporadic. Customer Service suggested updating the spooler. Improvement was brief at best. After about 5 months it stopped working wirelessly altogether. Now all 4 members of my family need to connect by USB for all print jobs.

Additionally, this printer will not recognize any print cartridges other than the more expensive Lexmark cartridges.

I find myself evaluating other printers for purchase only 9 months after buying this Lexmark. Regardless of reviews I am skipping the Lexmark brand.

Run, don't walk away from this printer!

I really wanted to like this printer. After replacing my less than stellar HP all-in-one with the Prevail Pro705, I couldn't have been happier...for the first three weeks, then the problems started. I received an error message on the display indicating a problem with the printer head. A call to Lexmark and a new one was in my mailbox in two days. I was impressed. The tech help also updated my software online while I was on the phone, even more impressed. For two months all was fine, until I made a copy (something I obviously don't do very often). Down the left side edge was a printed black band a quarter inch wide. A few tests of the scanner and I determined something was wrong with the scanner, not a printing error. Another call to Lexmark and a week later I had a refurbished printer in hand. The manufacturing date was only a month earlier and it had only printed about 300 pages according to the status sheet I printed out, so I felt like it was a fair exchange. Lexmark didn't send a new print head or ink cartridges, but since the ones I had were essentially brand new I figured I was good to go. Oddly enough, I had to update the firmware to the latest version, but it was easy enough...much easier than getting the new printer to correctly align the print head and getting it reconnected to the network. I had to completely uninstall the software from three computers and reinstall in order for it to forget the old printer and recognized the new one. Anyway, all was well for 90 pages of printing then the color problems and black streaks started for a few pages. Then the black and yellow stopped printing all together despite half full XL cartridges. Another call to Lexmark and a new print head and cartridges are suppose to be here in two days.

Lexmark is pretty good at sending out parts, but needing replacements every other month is beyond acceptable. I'll continue using the printer for as long as the parts keep coming, which is 5 years under warranty. How much do you think Lexmark will loose on this $100 printer before they just upgrade me with something that works? The shipping alone on the replacement probably ate a good bit of their profit margin.

Poor!

I purchased this item 3 months ago and it is completely unreliable. The device goes into sleep mode and when it turns back on, the computer cannot find it. I have to reboot the computer and the printer so they sync again. This is a daily occurrence!! I havent been able to use the wireless capability since I bought it. I hooked it up so it was wireless and the first time it went into sleep mode(the printer that is) it disconnected from the wireless router. Had to sync it again to the router. The day after that, it become disconnected from the router AGAIN! So i gave up. Looking at giving this printer to someone I DONT like or maybe as a gag gift. TWO thumbs down. Now I remember why I dont buy Lexmark.

Ink Cartridges Dry Out - WIFI Connections Disable

I realize that people usually only post negative comments, and I hate to add to it, but in this case I think it is worth my time. I have had this printer for about 1 year. I replaced an HP that had WiFi issues - only to find the same issue with this printer. After uninstalling and reinstalling 3 times, I have removed the WiFi setup and have a USB cable hanging off it to hook up the laptop for printing. However, the ink cartridges dry out very quickly. Basically I cannot get 10 pages out of the printer without replacing at least 1 ink cartridge ($10 minimum cost for cartridge and it has 5). So that works out to a cost of about $10 per page for printing. It has gotten so bad that I email documents to neighbors to print for me. Unfortunately -this printer is going in the trash. I contacted Lexmark over 1 month ago and never heard a word from them. I assume they are aware of the issue. A 5 year warranty is great for a broken printer - but it won't fix one that was junk to begin with. I gave the printer a new black cartridge (it showed only black as low), I tried to print and it said it needed a Cyan cartridge. I have refused to feed it. I just checked and it now needs a yellow cartridge in less than a month and not 1 page printed in that time.

Yep, print head issues

Pros: cheap ink, eco mode, holds a lot of paper. Cons: I too had print head issues, after printing maybe 5 pages. The company was very fast about sending replacement head and cartriges, though, so we'll see how long it lasts this time. Also, the photo print quality is not as nice as with my 8-year old HP that this was replacing. The colors aren't as uniform.