Official Lexmark press release - click here
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Prices revealed
Lexmark returns to photo inks
The new Lexmark P707 photo printer
Today, here at its annual European media conference, this year held in Valencia, Spain, Lexmark announced a pair of new 6-colour ink-jet photo printers, the P706 and P707 models. Both feature borderless printing and automatic paper type sensing. And for the first time, Lexmark will market its own-brand photo papers, plus, the company has pledged to reduce its photo ink cartridge price by 40%.
Significant
What makes this news significant is that 12 months ago (click here) Lexmark abandoned its 6-colour photo printing technology, preferring to depend on its new 3-colour 4800dpi cartridge system.
At the time, dpnow.com questioned the validity of this strategy and noted that Lexmark’s 2002 ink-jet line up omitted a photo-specific model. Lexmark’s response was straightforward. The new 3-colour cartridges, combined with small variable droplet sizes and 4800dpi resolution would compensate for the lack of intermediate photo cyan and photo magenta inks. Lexmark was also unconcerned that they did not have a printer that could accept digital camera memory cards.
Unconvinced
We at dpnow.com were unconvinced. Our tests showed that photo prints delivered by the new 3-colour 4800dpi cartridges could not be compared favourably with 6-colour photo prints. We also wondered why, when everyone else was busily introducing photo models, Lexmark, which pioneered the consumer photo ink-jet printer, was leaving that market.
About-face
Barely 6 months later, it seemed Lexmark’s photo-ambivalent strategy was being re-thought. Just in time for Christmas, Lexmark introduced the Z65 Photo, a modified version of its range-topping ink-jet printer, complete with built in memory card reader, but still lacking photo inks. Now the about-face is complete as Lexmark acknowledged that the photo market is the fastest growing ink-jet sector, even exceeding the growth of the other 2002 ink-jet success story, all-in-one printer/scanner/fax/copiers.
Concerns remain
However, some concerns remain. The new P706 and 707 printers use the same ‘90’-series photo ink cartridges with integrated print heads previously employed by Lexmark models going back as far as the late 90s. However, Lexmark has upped the head stepping to deliver 4800x1200dpi printing. We look forward to testing the new printers.
Another issue is that, like the Z65 Photo, the P707’s memory card reader is just that, a card reader; there is no integration with the printer for direct, PC-less printing. Neither is there any sign of support for direct printing from cameras, a feature that Epson, Canon and HP all feature on selected models and for which an industry standard is currently being proposed.
The fact is and it is a perfectly reasonably business choice, Lexmark isn’t gunning for the high end photo printer market. Let’s just hope the new ink pricing and return to photo-inks means the new 706 and 707 Lexmarks can deliver decent photo quality at an acceptable price.
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