Lexmark Introduces Greener Printers

While we're having a little trouble finding this particular characterization on Lexmark's web site, CNet's Alpha blog reported last week that the electronics company has launched a line of laser printers it's touting as "green machines." According to CNet's Felisa Yang, the E series mono lasers and the C530 color printers not only feature duplexers for printing on both sides of a sheet of paper, but also put a new spin on some old components to reduce material waste and energy use:

Another "green" feature of these new printers is their new printhead technology. Lexmark claims that its new laser scanning units are smaller and more energy efficient than the traditional scanning units, with fewer moving parts that need to be powered. Also, Lexmark's toner units come in two pieces: The first is just the toner, and the second piece houses the photoconductor. The largest toner cartridge Lexmark makes for the E series has a life of about 11,000 pages, but the photoconductors are good for about 20,000 pages. When your toner cartridge finally bites the dust, you can switch out only that component and keep the still-good photoconductor until it meets its demise. Again, less waste, which we like.
Finally, the E series uses Lexmark's instant warm-up fuser, which reduces the time to print to 6.5 seconds. On the other end, instant cool-down reduces the amount of power spent cooling the machine and also moves less air, which cuts down on the amount of dust and cat hair that clog your machine, resulting in a longer life for your printer.

As you might expect, there's a bit of a premium on these printers: prices range from $200 to $600, depending on features. Still, they're not much more expensive -- a quick scan showed other basic laser printers costing $125-175 -- so one that can save you money on paper and power, as well as last longer, may end up being quite a deal. We look forward to seeing CNet's reviews of these printers. ::Alpha -- The CNet Blog