Lexmark Z52 JetPrinter
The Z52 is a relatively cheap photo-quality inkjet printer from Lexmark. It
prints at resolutions up to 2400 by 1200 dpi. It uses four inks (CMYK) in one
colour and one black cartridge. Running costs are quite high as the ink
cartridges cost up to 30 GPB each. Connection is via bi-directional parallel
or USB.
Windows Support
The printer comes with drivers for Windows 98. XP drivers can be downloaded
from Lexmark's website. There are two
types of driver for XP, System and Custom. I found that the Custom driver
gives the best results. The System driver is still useful as it does not pop
up windows all over the place when printing. I also found that the USB
connection dramatically improved the speed of printing.
Linux Support
The Z52 is supported in RedHat 7.3 and works very well over both USB and
parallel. The USB connection uses the usb/printer module and is recognised
automatically, showing up as /dev/usb/lp0. One problem is changing print
resolution - this is set globally in printtool and all applications use that
setting - I will be looking a CUPS and other printer daemons than lpd to see
if this can be set more easily.