Lexmark International
740 New Circle Road NW
Lexington, KY 40511-1876
606-232-2000
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The prices of desktop color printers have been falling rapidly with many color inkjet printers available for under $500. Color laser printers offerring 600 dpi output are now well under $10,000 and may soon be in the $5,000 range. As desktop color printers become more common, users are becoming color sophisticated and are learning to compare output qua;ity and not just price. Users are begining to expect more from a color printer and low price alone is no longer enough to close the sale. Most desktop color printers are used for adding spot color to everyday business documents, preparing overhead transparencies, and pre-press proofing. For occasional spot color in business letters, proposals, and reports, the inexpensive color inkjets like the Lexmark ExecJet IIc for around $350 are quite adequate. However, if you have used one of the inexpensive inkjets for color proofing or for creating color transparencies you know they don't quite make the grade.
Transparencies need rich, solid color so that blends and screened backgrounds don't look washed out. If it looks washed out when you take it out of the printer it's going to look even more washed out up on the screen. It's important to use the best quality transparency film that is made specifically for inkjets so the ink will stick and the transparencies will hold up to mild abuse. If you want bright, clear solids and smooth, glowing background screens the cheap inkjet printers won't do the job.
For color proofing, accuracy, fidelity, and Pantone compatibility are essential. The chances are great that if you're doing color proofing you're going to need PostScript output and nobody likes to fool around with PostScript cartridges or kludgy PostScript emulation software. Printers used for PostScript work need to have PostScript built in. high resolution, and both PC and Mac compatibility are also important.
For serious work, then, we've pretty much eliminated the cheap inkjets. Sure, they're cheap but to coin a phrase you get what you pay for and you won't be happy with them after the original lambent glow from your new purchase wears off. Nourish no illusionsūcheap inkjets have very solid uses but are not suitable for high end, professional quality output.
The next step up is commonly thought to be thermal wax or, to get even a little more plush, dye sublimation. But these types of printers are mostly in the $4,000 and up range and don't allow the 11x17 output that inkjets offer unless you are willing to kick in another 3 or 4 thousand. Lexmark's JetPrinter PS 4079 offers all of the features necesary for professional work that I've mentioned. PostScript built in, Pantone lisencsed, 11x17 capacity, true 4-color CYMK, 360 x 360 dpi resolution, and PC/Mac compatibility set the 4079 up to fill the market between the cheap inkjets and expensive thermal wax printers. Suggested retail is $3,199 so this isn't a printer that will end up on everybody's desk for adding color pie charts to their memos. But the feature set and price will place it on the desks of graphics professionals and anyone needing high quality overheads.
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