# lexmark x73[a piece of ----]



## zip316 (Jan 3, 2003)

hi ,has anyone had problems with lexmark x73[a real piece of ----]? i should have known when the price dropped so fast,the company will not stand behind their junk either


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## torgo (Jan 13, 2003)

my experience with lexmark has been: 1)produce crappy product

2)lower price to try and get rid of it
3)laugh at stupid consumers with useless brick of a printer

i have 2 totally new, totally crap lexmarks-never again


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## tomlunt (Feb 9, 2001)

Zip316

I've got a lexmark z43 and am pleased with it. It wasn't expensive.

I think lexmark pretty much gives away the printers and overcharges for the ink cartridges - that's their business model.

i don't print in color all that much so i guess i doesn't bother me too much. 

Sorry about your printer troubles. My suggestion - go with HP next time - you rarely hear any one complaining about an HP Printer (or in your case, multi-function device).

TL


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## gotrootdude (Feb 19, 2003)

Never had a problem with lexmark, EXCEPT, the X73 and the X75, I tried to buy some X75's for the company and ended up taking them back due to them not working well with XP.. 

As far as ink cartridge cost, Lexmark Cartridges are probably the easiest ink cartridges to refill, just don't use the "cracker" that comes with the refill kits. Instead, use a razor blade knife to remove the top from the cartridges.


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## bartholimew (Jul 9, 2003)

HAHA I got a story about the Lexmark X-73. My buddy gave it to me, said he had to reload the drivers weekly , It would just stop working, and he would have to uninstall and reload weekly.

So here I am a month later thinkin there's nothing wrong with this printer and sure enough it stopped functioning, I had to install the X-73 cleaner and then reload the drivers.

Microsoft has officially washed its hands of the X-73 too. They are well aware of its problems and blame Lexmark out right. A little finger pointing between Lexmark and Microsoft.

Lexmark is junk folks. Bad engineering. Period. Crackerjack box engineering diplomas in their think tank I guess.

Edit: The problem is with the win XP security protocols not allowing the lexmark registry entries to update on shutdown. XP will not change this for obvious reasons and the firmware chip in the lexmark needs to be unplugged to erase and rewrite itself. No driver patch can fix that.


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## Old Coot (Jul 17, 2003)

My girlfriend has a Lexmark Z52 connected to her system that she absolutely LOVES!!! No problems with it whatsoever.

She recently bought a Lexmark All-In-One X75 that I've had no problems with. (connected to my system via USB)

I have an HP Photosmart 1000 (connected via parallel) that my system can't see half the time and I have to reboot both my system and the printer endlessly and hope they see each other then. If not, I have to re & re the drivers.

The best printer I've ever used is the one I have connected to my son's system and is available to every system in the house over my network via Win 98 file and printer sharing. It's a Brother HL 660 laser printer that's about 8 years old. It was the cheapest laser in it's day when 600 dpi lasers first became available. It was 1/2 the price of an HP Laserjet at the time.
It costs about 1/10 to operate compared to any inkjet (I get about 3000 pages per $50 toner), the printer refuses to die and I've never had any issues with it, and the five personal systems in the house have never had any problems printing to it.

I came across this forum looking for a FEMALE voice for Lexmark's "printer voice notification". Looks like I'm stuck with the male voice. On Lexmark's site there's no reference to it at all. 

Is anyone aware of anything out there or if changing the voice is even possible? A link or URL to any info would be much appreciated.

Old Coot


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## zip316 (Jan 3, 2003)

hi , here is all i could find, hope it helps you. go to the bottom of the page to links for more help at eventsounds.www.eventsounds.com/miscellaneous.htm


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## kiss_n_puss (Aug 9, 2003)

We have one of each and I have never had so many problems installing or uninstalling printers.

Currently we have two Z45 drivers installed on an WinXp Home pc and we cannot remove either of them, the icons will show "offline' in the Control panel window...and I now use my HP.

I have deleted all of the Lexmark REGEDIT entries except one that will not go away.


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## lisaa7002 (Jul 14, 2003)

Bought lexmark x1150 (all-in-one) with my dell. Love it so far. Thanks for tip on refill!!! My one compliant was that NO ONE told me I would need to buy a seperate usb cable for it... You would think dell would have mentioned it didn't come with one. (for us first time computer buyers!) or, how much would it cost lexmark to throw one in Geez !


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## kamakazze15 (Dec 14, 2002)

Hey, ur crazy...the lemark x73 is the #1 printer/copier/scanner ect on the list rite now...


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## bartholimew (Jul 9, 2003)

> _Originally posted by kiss_n_puss:_
> *We have one of each and I have never had so many problems installing or uninstalling printers.
> 
> Currently we have two Z45 drivers installed on an WinXp Home pc and we cannot remove either of them, the icons will show "offline' in the Control panel window...and I now use my HP.
> ...


Did you try the"Lxkx73clean" file you can dl from lexmark? It was developed for that reason, its on their site. HeHe, Lexmark even had create an uninstall file because their original one didn't get everything.

Oh and hey folks the original post was in reference to the x-73, I'm happy your x-75 works well, but its only because the bugs were in the x-73


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## PCvirgin (Aug 18, 2003)

As for myself, I am currently using a the Z33 Lexmark. It has worked well for me so far.


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## j1mmyd (Sep 16, 2003)

On XP (I hope no one I know sees this) the .wav files for all the sounds are in: "C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3"

Just record or pick new ones, but keep the filenames the same.


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## sharky (Jul 9, 2001)

i have had no problems with my lexmark 75,then again i just bought it yesterday. now i'm all worried


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## cammi (Jan 9, 2003)

i have a lexmark z13... the only problem i have with it is that the cartridges are just expensive and finish quickly.

either that, or my printer hates my lecture slides and homework...


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## sharky (Jul 9, 2001)

cammi, about your post on ink cartridges running out quickly:

i heard a national report about 3 weeks ago,i think it originated out of england. the report was many different name brand printers were prematurely telling a user the ink cartridge was almost empty---at 50%.

also,there is a RETAIL PROBLEM with ink cartridges. Fradulent customers (especially at W-mart) will buy a new FULL ink cartridge package and return the package to the store for a return WITH thier old EMPTY ink cartiridge inside. many times the empty or almost empty packages make it beck on the selling floor.


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## PCvirgin (Aug 18, 2003)

Sharky:

You definitely shared some interesting facts about the Lexmark Ink situation. I agree with your comment about the ink. It definitely runs out fast with these printers.


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## zip316 (Jan 3, 2003)

has anyone looked at the original date of this post??.i still say the lexmark x73!! is a piece of **$%^&$*


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## cammi (Jan 9, 2003)

lol yes i have zip316

we dont have a w-mart here.  but the ink... well it runs out really, really quickly. i really do wonder how much ink they put in there sometimes.


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## harv1008 (Nov 8, 2003)

I owned a Z11 (bottom of the line) a few years back and it worked fine. Upgraded to the X83 for more speed and more features. After about one year the product no longer prints in color. I have been playing e-mail tag with "support" for months and have not anything close to help. I do not believe they read (or can read) what I relate to them. Very frustrated with the personnel working there (overworked, underpaid, don't care???). The ink is overpriced and the support is nonexistent. Never again a Lexmark in my possession. Canon is currently looking good.


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## PCvirgin (Aug 18, 2003)

Harv:
I currently have a Z33 and I was thinking about upgrading to a printer in your range. After reading you post, I think that I will stick to what I currently have for now.


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## sleekluxury (Oct 5, 2003)

I dont know about Lexmark, but i think there an ok company, so long as you buy there new printers.


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## sleekluxury (Oct 5, 2003)

That's why i bought a HP!!!


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## catgurl (Nov 19, 2003)

I have an x75 and can't get it to scan or copy, but it wil print, any ideas?


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## Servant of Eru (Sep 13, 2003)

We've had two Lexmarks, one we've owned for seven years, and except for the fact that we lost the installation cd it'd still be running. Yes, you can run off many pages after it says the ink is low, by my count with the Z-33 in B/W approximately ninety!  My Epson C-60 on the other hand is a PoS that I've never been able to get to run properly, you spend more time cleaning the heads (due to banding) then you do printing. And it takes up ink to clean the heads too.  B/W printouts are barely acceptable on it, and color has never printed right.  I like Lexmark.


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## brite750 (Mar 16, 2002)

I had a lexmark and it burst into flames, exploded and blew my house up. Now I'm living with my dog in a creater that was left by the explosion, boy, talk about ironic.


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## PCvirgin (Aug 18, 2003)

Servant of ERu:
I agree with your statements about the Z33.Once you get it to work, it works well.


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## PCvirgin (Aug 18, 2003)

Brite:

I am sorry to hear about your expereince with Lexmark. I wish you better luck with printers.


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## kath100 (Aug 20, 2003)

Brite750
So it was your house that landed on mine... I phoned Lexmark and they said it was my fault, all the time it was you !!!


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## evenstarjm (Sep 20, 2003)

I agree with everyone. Lexmark X73 is a piece of junk. Just bought two (nominally priced; high shipping of course) from eBay and cannot get one of them to work; haven't tried the other. Terrible installation, no printing, scanned okay for 2 pictures, then went dead. I'm tired of it already and have only had it 3 days. Sorry I wasted my money and my "positive" feedback.


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## paddykn (Feb 18, 2003)

I threw my Lexmark in the garbage and bought a Cannon . Better copy, better photos and much cheaper ink.


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## sleekluxury (Oct 5, 2003)

That is true, canon does getter a lot cheaper ink, & epson is even cheaper, and i think better than Lexmark.


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## sleekluxury (Oct 5, 2003)

I got the HP OfficeJet 710 Printer/Scanner/Copier/Fax, never given me a problem. 










:up::up: :up: :up: :up:


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## Quietus (Jul 18, 2004)

For those of you that buy a Lexmark product I wish to take the time now to offer my condolences. 

I bought the lex73. The paper jams and the inks smear. I called there tech support or lack thereof. By the time(3.75hours) we were done not only did my lex73 not work but the plastic magnetic ribbon that the printer head rides on Broke. 

Lexmark tech support refused to take responsibility for the printer, despite, the small and obvious fact I was following there instructions. The customer support personnel were even more useless. MY EXPERIENCE'S WITH LEXMARK HAVE BEEN AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY. Man they are useless.

Approximately two months later as I was carrying the lex73 outside to the trash I decided to open it and see if i could fix it. Dangest(Texan for damnedest) thing, I did. The plastic ribbon just popped off. As I reinstalled the ribbon, cleaned it the ink pads, and put it all back together except for the little plastic thingys I broke taking it apart. LOL. I installed the printer in WIN 98 NO PROBLEMS runs great. XP is a FRAPPING(you know the real word) nightmare. 

There is no way I as an IT/Computer professional can recommend a Lexmark. There customer service and refusal to accept responsibility for their products make any Lexmark purchase a mute point.

Good Luck to all that was suckered into the LEXMARK cesspool.

Q


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## dr20 (Apr 11, 2003)

My biggest beef with Lexmark are their drivers. I've got a Z53 which prints fine in 98SE but the drivers suck big time. And it doesn't take much to get them running either even though they're disabled at startup. Just open up a Word document or go to Windows Update and out pop the drivers, draining my resources and causing my sound to get choppy. On XP forget it, they were so bad had to take them off. 

The cartridges on the other hand are the easy part, I've only bought one black and one color so far in two years because I manually refill them when they get low. The ink is cheap too.


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## sharky (Jul 9, 2001)

i recall reading the lexmark x73 had some sort of issue with winXP. the lexmark 75 i bought as i posted above,i ended up returning. i found out it was a refurbished printer. 

guess what? i bought it at that 'big retailer' and thought it was new but apparently printer companies are placing refurbished printers in new boxes and selling as new. 

something i might start a new thread on.


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## evenstarjm (Sep 20, 2003)

Here's my 2-bits worth. I have the X73 and it sucks.....I cannot, for the life of me, get it to work to my satisfaction. I can scan only through ViewBooth, then it won't let me save the scanned file.......gives me an error message. Then when I try to scan form the copy/scan icon...it will act like it is scanning but never brings up a picture. When I have printed pics from it, directly from internet, I love the copies, but I'm tired of this. Guess I won't try to fix it. I'll just buy another.


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## sharky (Jul 9, 2001)

hp1210 was rated number one and got a best buy on consumer reports


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## hotrodder39 (Jun 27, 2005)

j1mmyd said:


> On XP (I hope no one I know sees this) the .wav files for all the sounds are in: "C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3"
> 
> Just record or pick new ones, but keep the filenames the same.


Man, that worked like a champ, thanks for the tip...:up:
Lexmark X3350


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## charliegirl (May 19, 2006)

hello just wondering if anyone can shed some light on the lexmark x73....
i had been using refill and comp cartridges which it did not like and now wont let me
print in black at all. i have taken cartridges out wiped along bottom printed test pages
and still nothing....HELP PLEASE it is driving me nuts


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