13 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
Please Don't Trust Lexmark!
Date of Review: Feb 16, 2009
The Bottom Line: I wouldn't recommend this product to my enemy if I had one!
I was in desperate need of a printer two years back because I always had to resort to either going to libraries, school or friends houses to get print jobs done.
So while at a local future shop with my cousin I saw a lot of printers and for the first time I saw all in one printers and fell in love with them.
Despite my parents telling me to wait and do my research I went ahead and bought the Lexmark X5470 which was on sale for just $99.
The setup was a breeze and the wireless network printing made it easier on me because I use a desktop PC and a Laptop.
Maybe after a week in, the printer kept turning on by it's self and then off again at the same time the printer would disconnect from my pc and re-connect again. How I would know this is because my PC would constantly make that distinctive noise when a USB cable is unplugged. The Lexmark X5470 is rather loud and makes this horrid sound when it turns on almost like it's going to break. I was woken up countless times in the middle of the night due to its noise that I had to keep it unplugged at times.
The printer also requires you to have the paper crazy aligned or if it's slightly misaligned it grabs more than one sheet causing a paper jam.
The double sided print jobs were very time consuming to do and they love to waste your ink by printing useless junk. It automatically prints this sheet with this large arrow for double sided print jobs instructing you how to properly insert the paper instead of asking you or showing you on your pc. However you do have the option of not printing this page by unselecting the option of having the instructions but this has to be done each time you do a double sided print.
I started constantly getting Ink Low signs when I've only maybe done 20 prints and the Cartridge was fine. They keep pestering you to buy new ink online and replace it even when it isn't done. But when the ink does truly finish, it is quite inexcusable because it's only after maybe 50 prints.
After 7 months of use I started getting a Paper Jam warning when there wasn't any. When I called customer service, they were even worse than the printer. Because they seemed more concerned in wanting you to try out these random tests and keeping their machine than hearing you out and providing a proper justifying solution for your problem. I was on the phone with technician for more than an hour until he was out of ideas and started going off topic and asking where I lived and how the weather was.
I returned the printer to my near by staples and they said that Lexmark only replaces the printer for the first problem.
I received the replacement printer and it too had the similar problems like the original, where it'd turn on and off on it's own and keep disconnecting it self from the PC. The replacement was even worse because after maybe three months of use, I had to always make sure that every thing was connected right and the proper settings were in place when it came time to taking a simple print out. Very rarely did I have the golden opportunity to just print out what I needed with out having to check any settings. Then another month after (making it five months in total now) the software started freezing on my desk top and I had no idea why. I ended up talking to another tech and they informed me that this could be a computer problem. So I thought maybe that's what it was because it copied fine and I was able to network print from my laptop.
Then another three to four months after (totaling it to 7-8 months) the printer started crumpling the paper each time it tried to feed the paper. This happened when I tried to print and copy. Unfortunately my warranty had expired and I didn't even want to try calling Lexmark seeing as how unhelpful they were when it came to my previous printer. That was the last straw for me because I will never ever trust Lexmark products again!
I am currently warning people about Lexmark and their faulty products. I found out that I wasn't alone when I spoke to a lot of friends, coworkers and from reading a lot of online reviews. They informed me that they had gone through similar experiences if not worse and now they have converted to Canon printers and they are very happy.
After my Lexmark incidents I ended up doing my research and this time I decided that instead of going with Inkjet again that I'm going to spend and get a LaserJet printer and trust canon because all their products that I own are on their 3rd or 4th year.
Throwing this printer out to the curb was the best feeling ever because that's where Junk deserves to be.
Today I'm a happy and proud owner of a Canon Image Class MF4370dn LaserJet printer and I highly recommend it to every one who is looking to buy a new printer.
