The Z52 Color Jetprinter provides accurate color reproduction, quiet operation, and fast output. Plus, it prints black text documents at about five pages per minute, which rivals the speed of many more expensive printers. Plus, it offers 2,400 x 1,200 dpi black and color printing and a rated speed of up to 15 pages per minute in black and seven pages per minute in color.We set up the Z52 by connecting it to our PC's parallel port. The setup process included a useful cartridge alignment test, which allowed us to make adjustments to find the optimal cartridge positions. In our tests, it took a surprisingly long two minutes and 45 seconds to print a 54 KB color JPEG image. However, the Z52 made up for that by printing text documents much faster. The five ppm it produced at that setting suggested fast throughput despite the parallel connection. Also, the Z52's color reproduction was extremely accurate compared to similarly priced ink-jet printers. When printing smaller images as part of a highly designed document, such as a Web site, the results showed little ink saturation even on plain paper.
Fans of the Lexmark Z42, the Z52's subordinate twin, will note the same helpful print status window that measures the elapsed printing time; they'll also appreciate the Z52's swifter printing speed. Overall, among similarly classed color ink jets, including those by other manufacturers, the Lexmark Z52 stands out as a cut above the rest. --John Frederick Moore
