Lexmark 40 Ink
Optra Color 40 Ink Cartridges

Lexmark 40 Printer Review

The Lexmark 40 is a color inkjet printer designed for the home or small office user. It features built-in networking, but speeds are slow, at up to 8 pages per minute. Lexmark Optra Color 40 ink is also very expensive, and the print quality is not as good as competing models. It is also referred to as the 40N, due to its networking capabilities.

The unit is fairly compact, with a small footprint that should be a good fit for small spaces. The main drawback is the high cost of Lexmark 40 ink cartridges. Both black and color Lexmark 40 ink cartridges are included in the box, but the cost of replacing these cartridges is much higher than competing models. There is also a separate photo cartridge available for printing higher quality photos, but this just adds to the cost of Lexmark 40 ink.

One surprising feature for the price is the inclusion of a network port. The 40N can connect directly to a network for sharing among multiple users. With its small paper capacity of 100 sheets, however, it will be difficult to share among very many users, and the price of Lexmark Optra Color 40 ink will be a problem as well. It will make a very expensive network printer in a busy office.

Maximum printing resolution is only 600 dpi, which is about half the average for modern inkjet models. Consequently, print quality won't be as sharp. The unit does support a wide range of paper types and sizes, so there is a lot of printing flexibility, though the average home user will likely stick to plain paper and photo paper in general.

Overall, the Optra Color 40 is a solid machine with a good feature set, but its print speeds and print quality fall behind the competition. Built-in networking is a nice feature, but not enough to balance out the high cost of Lexmark 40 ink.