Lexmark X3470 Multifunction Printer Review
In today’s review we’ll take a look at the Lexmark X3470 Multifunction Printer. This printer is being sold for very low prices on the closeout market right now and may be a tempting purchase back-to-school. Does this cheap all-in-one color inkjet printer deliver or is it yet another disappointment from Lexmark? Let’s find out…
Review continued below…
The Lexmark X3470 is your typical multifunction printer. It prints, it scans, it copies. It has the usual memory card slots and supports the PictBridge digital camera interface. Nothing really standard out as a special or unique feature except that the price is quite low, often under $50. Keeping in mind that the unit I tested was a returned unit, let’s see how it performed.
When we started up the Lexmark X3470 the reason for the customer returning it was obvious. The unit was getting a ‘cover open’ error even when the cover was apparently properly. A quick Internet search revealed that this was a very common problem with the X3470. My friend, a computer tech at a local electronics closeout retailer, found that there was a small rocker pressure switch that wasn’t seating properly. He did a little delicate jiggling and prodding with the switch and got it reseated properly, at least for the time being. I wouldn’t recommend this fix for the average person without a bit of electronics repair experience. This plastic switch seems like it would be prone to breakage, perhaps even from normal use. Since other switches in the unit seem to be the same weak plastic it’s likely that other switches would break or misalign as well over the life of the unit.
OK, with the Lexmark X3470 fixed we decided to see if it would print OK. What ensued was almost like the printer scene from the movie Office Space. The paper feed kept inexplicably jamming and, when we got a page to print after some jiggling the output page was too light and poor quality. We fiddled with the settings but still did not get decent output from the printer. Perhaps some other switch or alignment guide is broken as well.
I thought perhaps that we had an atypical, defective printer but doing a search for info on the Lexmark X3470 revealed that our experience was common. This very cheap printer seems to have made a lot of people want to take a baseball bat to it with its ‘cover open’ error, paper jams and other problems. Not only that, the ink cartridges are relatively expensive and run out quickly. I guess the idea is to make and sell the printer as cheaply as possible and make a profit on the ink cartridge sales.
The bottom line on the Lexmark X3470 Multifunction Printer is that this bargain printer is no bargain. Even if you paid about $20-25 for it it wouldn’t be good deal. I’d go as far to say that if you got this printer for free with the purchase of a laptop or desktop that you should sell it and buy yourself a decent printer.
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I have a Lexmark multi function color printer that I got free about 4 years ago when I purchased my laptop. The Lexmark printer I have has been great! Now, I don’t use it much: just some school projects for the kids and such, but for the money I paid for it (like free) it is great!
I would buy Lexmark printers for home and in-frequent use again, but probably not for heavy business applications.
AL
Hi Allyn,
I wonder if there has been a decline in quality of printers or just general cost cutting on manufacturing costs. Since they’re practically giving away the printers, partially to increase sales of consumables, you have to think that some accounting suit somewhere came up with the idea to spend 5 cents on an inferior switch instead of 25 cents on a quality switch.
LOL the crazy Lexmark X3470 Multifunction Printer - designed to up your blood pressure but easy on the pocket? I feel like its a crap shot these days whether a printer works or not - but my last one was about A$40 so I don’t really care!
Lexmark? Didn’t heard about that company much so might not be the choice for me.
I had to change the ink cartridge on my Lexmark X3470 printer and not the display says “cover open” and I don’t know how to clear it.
i have a toshiba satellite with windows vista and ive been looking for a good wireless printer for it. but when reading reviews on printers theres always something wrong with all of them.
Right now whenever I want to scan and fax, I have to disconnect my phone line and plug it into the computer which is attached to the printer. Everyone who calls get the fax sound and I cannot get messages.
That is very funny because I had a Lexmark X3470 Multifunction Printer before and I had the same problem “The unit was getting a ‘cover open’ error even when the cover was apparently properly.” I thought the machine was getting crazy
It can be sold for very low price but in another hand I think the color inks are so expensive.