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Does Lexmark's X6570 Wi-fi Printer Hit the Mark?

The Lexmark X6570

Not too long ago, my old all-in-one printer/scanner/copier gave up the ghost. I wasn't surprised; it was at least 6 years old. My wife and I set out to get a new one on a spur-of-the-moment basis (after all, I had stuff to do!). With no chance to research it, I found myself in the store looking at sub-$100 modern versions of the same item I had been using. I was all set to pick one out when the missus commented that I should get one that can more easily be used with my laptop.

She was right, of course (isn't she always?). I was being thick and just getting the same-old, same-old that I was used to... including a clunky way of printing from my laptop should I need to, while using it around the house (I have two desktops wired to a wireless router, and then my laptop). Hey, there're wireless printers on the market, and I'm thinking (now that my wife made me think) that my laptop does Bluetooth. So I headed down the aisle to see what else was available for that situation, and I saw something I didn't know existed.

Wi-Fi printers. Yes, there were a handful of them there from various manufacturers. And, of course, my laptop does Wi-Fi, so I figured "Wi not?" But the best-looking ones in terms of price vs. performance for my price range, seemed to be the Lexmark line. So I focused in on those pretty quickly... and it didn't hurt my feelings to know (from a previous job experience) that Lexmark is a spin-off company of IBM and tends to have a culture of high-quality products and service as a result.

I saw one model that was similar to what I used to have, printer/scanner/copier, but with Wi-Fi ability. Plus it also had photo printing. But for just $20 more at the time, thanks to a sale price, I saw that the next model up added fax capability to all of that, and because of this feature it then also added a paper feeder for the scanning plate, plus a more robust-looking button panel. And it did two-sided printing as well! Very cool! I decided to go for the Lexmark X6570.

The scoop: The Lexmark X6570 Wireless All-in-One with fax, to sum up its features, offers wireless printing via Wi-Fi, faxing (if you need it; I don't, so I am not reviewing that aspect of this unit), wireless photo printing (can be borderless), wireless scanning (48-bit color), and copying. The unit can print or copy "double-sided" (on both sides of the same sheet of paper). It has two slots on the front for your digital camera cards: one for CompactFlash and one that will take SD, MMC, XD or MS (memory stick). There's also a USB port below those, which can be used for connecting a thumb drive or for PictBridge straight from your digital camera. Using these ports, you can plug in your media and print straight from them, or transfer files wirelessly to your computer.

It uses Lexmark's ink cartridges No. 41 (multicolor) and 42 (black) for the most part, and No. 40 for photo printing ink. Cartridge Nos. 41A, 42A, 43 and 44 are all compatible as well. From what I've seen so far, these should be readily available in most areas and aren't too expensive. Printing speed is stated to be 28 PPM for black and 24 PPM for color printing. The unit comes with the printer, one black cartridge and one color cartridge, setup sheet, user guide (a too-simple booklet and a more in-depth guide on a CD), installation software (on a separate CD), power supply, phone cord, and a USB cable needed for installation and setup (since your PC can't see the Wi-Fi on the printer until setup is complete).

The design: Is it bigger than a breadbox? Of course it is, but it's not as big as my last all-in-one printer. This one measures 1.5 feet wide, and a foot from front to back. Allow for about a foot and a half height, if this is going under an overhang. I'll admit that the exterior of the unit has a "cheap plastic" kind of look to it, but that's just the look on first impression, I'm happy to say. It's been pretty solid so far... and I haven't exactly been gentle with it.

As you can see from the picture above, it has a vertical paper feeder at the top rear for your main paper stock (it adjusts easily from standard paper to photo paper to envelopes), a horizontal feeder across the top for faxing/scanning (holds up to 25 pages), a flip-up top (copier-style) to access the scanning glass, a good control panel (with readout) on the front that you lock in at a 45-degree angle during setup, and below that is the catch tray for printouts (with extendable arm). Card slots are to the right of the panel, along with a lightable Wi-Fi symbol that shows status (green is good, red or dark not so good). The entire top half rises at midsection to change ink. On the back are ports for power, phone and line jacks for fax, wired USB connection (needed for setup, as mentioned above), and a duplex cover for the two-sided printing (it comes off to clear paper jams).

Working it: Setup is most certainly the worst pain about this unit. The fault is clearly that the printed material doesn't tell you enough, and since I managed a computer-related retail store for over a decade in a prior career, I can assure Lexmark that no one is going to take the time to go through the manual on the CD disc first. They need to add more depth to the printed setup info, even if it adds $10 to the cost of the unit (trust me, it would be worth it). Let me try to save you a bit of trouble: If you have a home network, you will only need to hook the printer up to one of your PCs via the included USB connection. Don't do it yet, though! Wait until you've put in the installation CD, and followed the on-screen directions. It will ask you if you're doing the initial network (Wi-Fi) setup. If this is the first PC you're putting it in, say yes, and when the proper time comes, you'll hook up the printer via the USB cable.

After that initial network setup is done, the unit will work on that PC, and only that one. And only with the USB cable connected. Take the cable off, then start the setup all over again with the same install disc, but tell it "no" when it asks if this is for the initial network setup. After that's done, then the unit works wirelessly! At least that's how it worked for me; your mileage may vary. Following all that, do the same on the rest of your home network computers that you want to be able to use this printer with. It won't matter if the PC doesn't have a wireless network card in it, as long as it is wired over to a router that has wireless capabilities. Don't forget that you'll need to input your network security codes at the proper time. It encourages you to gather the info before you start the installation (I recommend that you do that). Allow around a half hour for each run of the setup software (which means around an hour just for setting up that very first one).

Sound like a pain in the you-know-what? Yup, but after all, it's only a onetime effort; once you take care of all that, then it's very easy from there onward! I can sit in the backyard with my laptop and print away... wirelessly. Nothing special to it for printing; it's just like printing anything else is with a wired printer. Inserting the proper paper (or ink, if you switch to photo ink) for the task at hand is a piece of cake.

Beyond printing: For scanning, there's a minor gripe in that I cannot just go straight into my favorite graphical software and scan straight to it. Let's say you use PhotoShop, for example: for a wired scanner you can launch the PhotoShop application and scan straight into a window there, and then manipulate if you need to. You can't do that with the Wi-Fi unit, though. Nor can you insert a memory card or thumb drive into it and read them directly like it was any other drive on your PC. That's a side effect of the way this gets networked in.

But never fear, Lexmark provides the solution with the Lexmark Productivity Studio, installed as standard during the setup. An icon sits in your system tray for it, so you can quick-launch it whenever you need. Once up, you can control the printer from there (test print, clean heads, change setup, etc.) but you can also use it to scan, to control copying of something in the feeder (or on the glass), to scan and send something as an attachment, to send something as a fax, to convert a scan or picture to a PDF file, to "OCR" scan a document (so that you can scan a printed page of words and then edit it as text), to put together "photo packages" (like a portrait studio might), and to easily transfer files off of the memory cards (or thumb drives, or PictBridge device) in the printer's front slots.

This Productivity Studio is a nice, slick application that does more than I have room to describe here. But let me focus on the scanning: I can put something in the feeder, scan it wirelessly from my laptop, save it directly to file, or e-mail it, or save it as a PDF, or tell it I want to transfer the file to any other application I choose. It gives me a nice list of every application on my hard drive that can possibly work with the file, and lets me easily open the scanned document in that application! From there I can do my manipulation. Or, I can do basic manipulation in the Lexmark Productivity Studio app, such as rotating or cropping, etc. The gripes above are a minor trade-off, considering what this does for you.

Pains: Setup, as described above, is obviously the biggest pain. There are also the gripes I mentioned about having to use Lexmark's special application to do scanning, or to transfer files from memory cards placed in the unit's slots... but the coolness of the application they give you is a trade that works in your favor, so we can leave the complaints at mainly being the setup (the lack of good printed documentation to assist you, and the long amount of time it takes to get it done). It would also be nice if there were a readout on the unit that shows the pictures on memory cards inserted, but then again the idea of "Wi-Fi" is that you're not staying in front of the unit while you use it, right?

The price: List price is $149.95, and that's what you'll pay in most places. I got mine for $10 off, thanks to a timely sale, but I would have absolutely no regrets if I had missed the $10 savings. Since your local stores are packed with holiday shoppers, avoid the crowds and just order it from Amazon, where it qualifies for free shipping.

I'll take it!: I've had this unit for several weeks now, and I believe I've really put it through it's paces for printing, copying, scanning, file transfers and all sorts of things (except fax; as I mentioned I have no need for it). I can't believe that I'm printing and scanning so effortlessly from my notebook computer now! How did I ever live without this? The cost is well worth it. If you have a home network that includes a laptop, or any wireless aspect, then don't wait for your old printer to die (like I did!) to treat yourself to an upgrade. This is a great way to go, and an ideal gift for the entire family to use, one way or the other. Or, get it before the holidays and print off some great "photo packages" to enclose with the greeting cards. Or use it to print the greeting cards. It's wonderful.

— Dave L.