2. Lexmark Z1420 Wireless Color Printer

The Lexmark Z1420 comes equipped with a built-in 802.11 b/g interface, so most notebook PCs can interact with it as long as they are in range - and properly configured, of course. This color inkjet is no slouch, either. With maximum page rates of 24 ppm for monochrome black and 18 ppm for color, it can toss out drafts faster than students can create them. It also handles regular black-and-white documents, color documents, and photo-quality graphics output with equal facility, though the higher the output resolution, the longer things take to print, as with all inkjets.

The Lexmark Z1420 looks like just another off-white plastic box, but handles all kinds of printing pretty well.

Here are a few of the Z1420’s more inspiring features and capabilities. First, it accepts an impressive array of media types, such as card stock, coated and glossy papers, transparencies, banners, iron-on transfers, photographic papers, labels and envelopes, in lots of different shapes and sizes. Its maximum duty cycle is only 3,000 pages a month, but that should be more than enough for students who don’t try to run printing presses out of their dorm rooms. And of course, wireless 802.11 b/g support makes it a snap to plunk down a notebook, print a few pages, and then dash off to the next class.

The Z1420’s dimensions are 4.75" x 18.07" x 7.82" (12.1 cm x 45.9 cm x 19.8 cm), and it tips the scales at 5.75 pounds (2.61 kg), which certainly makes it small enough even for pretty cramped quarters. It’s readily available for under $100, which makes it pretty nice on the purchaser’s pocketbook, too. Consumables come in standard and high yield capacities; a high yield black cartridge will set you back $25, and the color equivalent $30, for up to 475 pages of output. Standard black goes for $20 and color for $26 and can produce up to 225 pages of output; extra savings are possible if you buy return cartridges with pre-paid shipping back to Lexmark.

The Z1420 works with Windows XP, Vista and 2000, and various versions of Apple’s Mac OS X (10.4.x running either Intel or PowerPC processors). All in all, this is a very nice, portable, usable little printer that students and home users should be glad to put to work with their PCs. For more information on the Z1420, please visit the vendor’s