Lexmark Z615 Printer: In-Depth Review and User Opinions

The Lexmark Z615 is an inkjet all-in-one printer aimed at home office and small business users who need a versatile printer with basic printing, scanning and copying functionality. Released in 2006, it is a more affordable alternative to higher-end Lexmark models with fewer bells and whistles.

The Z615 features a sleek, compact design with a small footprint, making it a good option if desk space is limited. It can print at up to 36 pages per minute in black and 28 pages per minute in color. Print resolution goes up to 4800 x 1200 dpi for sharp, detailed prints. The printer also offers built-in scanning and copying capabilities.

Overall, the Lexmark Z615 is ideal for home and small office users looking for an affordable, no-frills inkjet printer that can handle basic day-to-day document printing, scanning and copying needs. Its compact size, fast print speeds and decent print quality make it a solid, budget-friendly choice.

Design

The Lexmark Z615 has a sleek and compact design that won't take up much space on your desk. It measures 16.9 x 8.3 x 12.4 inches and weighs a light 12.1 pounds. While it only comes in black, the matte plastic casing still looks modern and stylish.

The printer has a simple control panel on the front with buttons for power, cancel, ink, and wireless as well as indicator lights. The input and output trays are straightforward and located at the top and bottom. Overall, the printer is designed to neatly fit into any home or small office.

Print Quality

The Z615 offers excellent print quality for both text and graphics. It has a maximum print resolution of 4800 x 1200 dpi, producing sharp, detailed prints.

Text prints come out crisp and clear at the highest print quality setting. Even small font sizes remain legible. Graphics and photos also print with good detail, minimizing pixelation.

In terms of print speed, the Z615 performs well. It can print black text documents at speeds up to 33 pages per minute. For color graphics and mixed text/graphics, print speeds are slightly slower at up to 28 pages per minute, but still good for home use.

Output quality remains consistent even when printing multiple pages or copies in a row. The Z615 does not show any reduction in print quality from first page to last. It can reliably produce high quality output for home, school, and home office use.

Overall, print quality is a standout feature for the Z615. It provides excellent resolution, fast print speeds, and consistent results whether printing text or graphics. Users who print a high volume of documents will appreciate the sharp, detailed output.

Connectivity

The Lexmark Z615 offers both wired and wireless connectivity options. For wired connectivity, it has a built-in Ethernet port that allows you to connect it directly to your router using an Ethernet cable. This provides a fast and reliable connection without relying on WiFi.

For wireless connectivity, the Z615 supports WiFi 802.11b/g/n, allowing you to connect it to your wireless network. Setup is straightforward using the printer's display panel to enter your WiFi name and password. Once connected over WiFi, you can print from anywhere in your home as long as you are within range of your wireless router. The WiFi connection is generally reliable, though the range may be reduced if there are thick walls or interference from other devices. Overall, the wired and wireless connectivity options provide flexible setup according to your home network environment.

Print Features

The Lexmark Z615 is equipped with some useful print features that improve the printing experience.

• Duplex Printing: The printer has automatic duplex printing, allowing you to easily print on both sides of the paper to save paper. This is useful for longer print jobs.

• Borderless Printing: You can print borderless photos and documents up to 8.5 x 11 inches in size. This produces prints that bleed right to the edges without any white borders, perfect for photos.

• Photo Printing: The Z615 has a dedicated photo tray that holds thicker photo paper stocks. It can print high quality photos with resolutions up to 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi when printing from a computer. There are also various photo printing modes to optimize for the type of photo paper being used.

• Other Features: Some other handy print features include fit-to-page to scale documents to different paper sizes, poster printing to enlarge and tile images across multiple pages, and booklet printing which arranges pages to be folded into a booklet. The Z615 also has templates for printing calendars, posters, newsletters and more.

Scan and Copy Features

The Lexmark Z615 has decent scan and copy capabilities for a home printer. The scanner has an optical resolution of 1200 x 1200 dpi, which should be sufficient for scanning documents and photos.

The copier can produce monochrome copies at up to 19 pages per minute. This is fairly fast for home use. There is also a 4-page automatic document feeder for scanning or copying multi-page documents.

One handy feature is the ability to scan directly to email. You can scan a document or photo directly from the printer and have it emailed as an attachment. This allows you to easily distribute scanned items without needing a computer.

Overall, the scan and copy functionality provides a nice set of features for home use. The resolution is good, the copy speed is fast enough, and scan-to-email adds an extra level of convenience. For most home office tasks, the Z615's scanning and copying should be more than sufficient.

Ink and Toner

The Lexmark Z615 uses ink cartridges to produce prints. It has individual ink cartridges for black, cyan, magenta, and yellow which allows you to replace only the color that runs out rather than having to replace a tri-color cartridge.

The standard ink cartridges offer approximately 150 pages for black and 100 pages for color. Lexmark also offers high yield ink cartridges with approximately 300 pages for black and 200 pages for color. The high yield cartridges provide a lower cost per page for high volume printing.

Lexmark estimates the cost per page with standard cartridges is around 5 cents for black and white and 13 cents for color pages. The high yield cartridges bring this down to around 3 cents per page for black and white and 8 cents per color page. This makes the cost per print very economical for a home inkjet printer.

Replacement ink cartridges run approximately $15-20 for the standard yields and $25-35 for the high yield options. While not the absolute lowest cost ink, they provide a good balance of quality and affordability. Overall, the ink options make the Lexmark Z615 a very affordable printer to operate in the home.

Software and Apps

The Z615 comes with Lexmark's printing software for Windows and Mac for easy printer management and access to features. This includes the ability to check ink levels, configure print settings, and perform maintenance tasks.

For mobile printing, Lexmark offers mobile apps for both iOS and Android devices. You can print from your phone or tablet through the mobile app over WiFi. The app allows you to preview documents before printing, scan using your device's camera, and manage your print jobs.

Lexmark's software bundle also includes some additional tools like OCR for scanning documents to searchable PDFs, photo editing features, and the ability to create greeting cards, calendars, and more. Overall the included software provides a robust set of features for getting the most out of your printer right from your computer or mobile device.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Compact and lightweight design makes it easy to move around
• Prints high-quality color documents and photos
• WiFi enabled for wireless printing from computers and mobile devices
• Automatic two-sided printing to save paper
• Scans and copies documents quickly
• Compatible with generic ink cartridges to save money
• Comes with OCR software for scanning documents to searchable PDFs

Cons

• Small LCD display can be hard to navigate
• No built-in fax capability
• Only prints up to 18 pages per minute in black and white
• Can only print on letter size paper, no legal or larger sizes
• Lacks advanced features like booklet printing and CD/DVD printing
• Software is very basic compared to higher end printers
• Ink cartridges seem to run out quickly based on some user reviews

Conclusion

The Lexmark Z615 is an inkjet printer that offers decent print quality and performance for home office and student use. While not the highest end model, it provides good value for the price point.

Some key positives are the compact size, quiet operation, auto duplex printing, compatibility with various paper types, and integrated scanning and copying functions. It's easy to set up and the buttons make operation simple. Print speeds are relatively fast for an inkjet and text prints look sharp. The separate ink cartridges are also cost effective.

Downsides are the lack of wireless connectivity, mediocre photo print quality compared to higher end printers, and the small LCD screen. It may not be ideal for printing high volumes frequently. Some users have also reported issues with ink smearing and printhead clogs over time.

Overall, the Lexmark Z615 is a reasonably priced option for basic printing, scanning and copying needs. It offers a balance of useful features without going overboard. If wireless connectivity isn't a must, it's a practical choice for home and student use. Those wanting to print high quality photos or large volumes may want to consider a more robust printer. But for general use, the Z615 gets the job done.