An all-in-one inkjet printer with a scanner, copier, fax, card slots, built-in Wi-Fi, a duplexer, individual ink cartridges, a sheet feeder and great output should cost about 300. So why then Lexmark just want 170 for the Prospect Pro205? It is equipped with a lot more capabilities than you can shake a significant number of sticks at, however the elephant in the room is its more affordable, considerably ambitious brother.
The term 'Pro' in this particular printer's moniker points to its business emphasis. Apart from the regular printing and scanning capability, this as well carries a built-in fax with specific dialling buttons placed at the front-mounted panel, along with a sheet feeder at the top of the scanner. This unit will allow you to allow it to get on with the task while you head off to get coffee. Sadly, on most occasions, there is no need to dash back.
The Pro205, performance wise, trails by a large margin compared to the cheaper, less feature-rich Lexmark Impact S305, not to mention that latter lacks a fax and feeder.. The Pro205 completed our 10-page text test in 1 minute and 43 seconds on draft quality while it only took 58 seconds for the S305. On normal mode, the pro205 took 2 minutes and 6 seconds to complete our test, and 5 minutes and 44 seconds at best quality.
On the brighter side, the results of the Pro205 are outstanding, therefore you may not mind waiting for them to arrive. We would be absolutely happy using the draft results in a business framework, and utilizing the best quality configurations delivers results as good as a laser printer's output.
White text on a black background looks sharp and unfeathered right down to eight points at the normal- and best-quality settings on photocopy paper, and the blacks themselves are solid. Set to draft quality, we saw some misalignment in blocks of solid colour where the head passed in each direction, therefore business graphics ought to be printed in this setting for testing and proofing reason only.
When we printed black characters on coloured background, there aren't any visible signs of bleeding, but we did notice lack of differentiation in mid-tone greys. With a 21-step scale operating among pure black and white, the steps between 35% and 50% were hard to distinguish, which runs in to each other. In the same way, 95% and 100% black were definitely each rendered solid black. Colours looked natural though, with strong primary and secondary lines even on ordinary paper.
With its outstanding photo prints, the Pro205 also catches the attention of home users inspite of being so well-suited for business use. Once again, taking 3 minutes and 12 seconds per page, it is just not fast in comparison to the s305, which requires less than half the time to generate identical outcomes. But, if you do not mind waiting as well as using ideal photo paper, you will be rewarded with vibrant, natural colours, satisfyingly strong blacks, as well as super-smooth transitions between neighbouring, corresponding tones.
There are two available volumes of 100 ink cartridges for the Lexmark Pro205, the 100Xl cartridges which is in return program format will cost you less.
The Pro205's build quality is excellent, and there's no denying that it's a visually attractive device. Our only complaint is that the mechanics of the scanner's sheet feeder don't enable you to lift the lid to scan fat originals such as periodicals, in the way you can on the S305.
By judging on its end product solely, the Lexmark Prospect Pro205 is a superb printer, and its extensive feature set - in particular the sheet feeder, built-in duplexer and fax - it justifies more than just the price.. It's a shame, then, that direct comparison with the cheaper Impact S305 dents its appeal.
Lexmark Prospect Pro205 printer ink cartridges can be found here.
